Hua Mei, a panda born in the US, will return to China on Thursday after staying in San Diego Zoo in California for more than four years.  

The 4-year-old female panda may find a Mr. Right in Sichuan, birthplace of her parents, the Yangcheng Evening News, based in south China's Guangdong Province's capital Guangzhou, reported.

The daughter of Bai Yun and Shi Shi, who were leased by the San Diego Zoo, Hua Mei is the first panda born in the Western Hemisphere since 1990.

Bai Yun and Shi Shi were sent to San Diego in 1996 as part of a 12-year loan agreement. Under the deal, any offspring were to be sent to China after they matured. Shi Shi, the father, was showing age-related health problems and returned to China in 2003.

Hua Mei is expected to arrive in Chengdu, Sichuan on Friday noon after a stop in Beijing.

The Wolong breeding reserve in Chengdu has prepared a special house, and three potential male panda candidates for Hua Mei, the Yangcheng Evening News reported. Officials there hope that one of the three will mate with Hua Mei.

“Now the most important thing for Hua Mei is to find a spouse,” said Huang Yan with the Wolong reserve.

(Shenzhen Daily February 12, 2004)