First 'panda post office' opens in SW China

The world's first panda-themed post office started operations on Wednesday in Chengdu City, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province, local postal authorities said on Thursday.

The post office will use special postmarks showing six different panda images, said Peng Yu, deputy director of the city's post bureau.

The panda post office will set up more branches in the city, and online "panda post offices" will also be launched to sell postal products such as postcards with special panda postmarks, the city's post bureau said.

One of the online panda post offices will open on eBay.com to make the panda products available to the international market.

The panda post offices are intended to promote local tourism and make pandas more popular throughout the world.