Tai Shan and Mei Lan -- beloved by zoo-goers in Washington and Atlanta, where they were born in captivity -- touched down in Chengdu, capital of the southwestern province of Sichuan, to join China's panda breeding programme.

Chinese television carried live footage of their arrival, with a scrum of photographers battling to get a clear shot of the animals, munching on bamboo in their specially fitted travel cages.

The state-run Global Times newspaper ran a huge piece on the female Mei Lan's mating prospects, stating: "It is all about the sex without the guilt."

The paper said breeders wanted her to "get busy as soon as possible", with the help of "panda porn", as the conservation centres try hard to encourage mating by one of the world's most endangered species.

US consul general David Brown said Tai Shan and Mei Lan, along with their parents, hold a "special place in the US-China relationship" -- currently strained by serious divisions over Taiwan, trade and Internet censorship.

Brown said the partnerships built through the panda exchanges were "now a foundation for important joint efforts to continue to advance the conservation of pandas and their habitat," according to remarks released by the US embassy.

The animals flew to China aboard a specially fitted Federal Express Boeing 777 cargo jet, each supplied with 75 kilograms (165 pounds) of bamboo to munch on, after an emotional send-off at Washington's Dulles airport.

"This is the day all of us hoped would never come," said Steve Monfort, acting director of the National Zoo in Washington.

China has used so-called "panda diplomacy" worldwide since the days of the Cold War, often offering the animals at steep rental fees.

Tai Shan, a male, was born in Washington four and a half years ago, to parents loaned to the United States by Beijing. Mei Lan came into the world at the Atlanta zoo three years ago.

The animals were meant to be returned at age two, but both were allowed to stay in the United States longer than planned.

Pandas are viewed as a national treasure in China, but they are extremely poor breeders.

Experts have used extreme measures such as rigorous "sexercises" and even showing them "panda pornography" -- films of pandas mating -- to encourage them to have sex.

"We want them to do it right," Hou Rong, head of the Chengdu panda research centre where Mei Lan will live, told the Global Times.

"We prefer to allow them to watch and learn how the other pandas mate."

On a specially created web page, Chinese panda lovers can cast votes for the animal they think is the best mate for Mei Lan.

Officials say the choice is hers, with Hou pointing out that one possible suitor -- "Superman Kobe" -- has a history of "domestic panda abuse".

"If she chooses no one, then we will turn to artificial insemination," breeding centre worker Yang Xiaoxiao told the paper.

Breeding centre managers are also looking for a "Chinese-language teacher" for Mei Lan, so she gets accustomed to taking directions from Mandarin-speaking staff.

At the Wolong preserve where Tai Shan will live, English-speaking workers will work with the panda's American handlers to ease his transition into a Chinese-speaking world, state media said.

There are nearly 1,600 pandas living in the wild, more than three-quarters of them in Sichuan. Pandas are also found in the northwestern provinces of Gansu and Shaanxi. Another 180 are in captive-breeding programmes in China.

Fans flocked to the zoos in Washington and Atlanta to see the two pandas before their much-publicised departure. Some skipped school with their parents' blessing to see off Tai Shan.

"I'm sad he's leaving, but it's good that he's going home to help make more pandas," said nine-year-old Sarah Boyle.

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