As the first Westerner who described the Giant Panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) to the world, David is remembered more as a naturalist than as a Catholic priest in Baoxing County, four hours' drive southwest of the provincial capital of Chengdu, where he served as a missionary between 1867 and 1872.

It was in that county in western Sichuan that he learned about the special mammal species and introduced it to the world in 1869.

Besides the giant panda, David, who first came to China in 1862, presented the West with the first descriptions of more than 180 plants and animals unique to China, of which over 80 were discovered in Baoxing.

"We could disapprove of the way he got those specimens out of China back in the 19th century," says Jiang Xiaolin, head of the county where mountains account for 99.6 per cent of the land area. "Nevertheless we cannot help admiring David for his achievements as a naturalist."

In honor of those achievements, the 180-plus Chinese plant and animal species David described have been inscribed on the stone rails along the banks of Baoxing River at Muping Town, the county seat.

Jiang and many local officials believe that David's discovery 130 years ago justifies the status of Baoxing as the "indisputable home of the giant panda."

She says the county which lies in the Qionglai Mountain Range -- a transition zone between the Sichuan Basin and the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau -- may then draw more visitors from other parts of the country and world.

The county is now home to a nature reserve covering 40,000 hectares, or nearly 13 per cent of its land area, which serves as habitat for the giant panda.

The Catholic cathedral where David spent his five apostolic and exploratory years is also unique to Baoxing.

The church, a timber structure built in 1839 by the Lazarists Congregation of France, stands in a small village called Qingping at 1,750 meters above sea level. Some 28 kilometers from the county seat, a dirt road off the highway zigzags 6 kilometers to the village high up on a mountain slope.

Called Dengchi Valley Cathedral under the Leshan Diocese of the Chinese Catholic Church, the building is one of the oldest Catholic churches in Sichuan, according to Benedict Yang Mankang, the priest of the cathedral since 1994.

The square structure looks no different from the neighboring tile-roofed residential houses, but the main hall inside is of a typical Roman Catholic style.

The earliest priests were all French, says Father Yang, who claims to be the 23rd priest to serve at Dengchi Valley since 1839.

But David is certainly the best remembered by the local Christian farmers. "It is here that Pere David saw the Giant Panda for the first time," says Paul Xu Renlu, a 70-year-old villager and gatekeeper of the church.

Benedict Yang, 33, is now in charge of four of the nine cathedrals in Ya'an City, which serve Baoxing and six other counties plus one urban district.

In Baoxing, with a population of 57,000, Yang says there are about 5,000 Catholics, with most living around the Dengchi Valley Cathedral. Throughout Ya'an, the church has more than 30,000 followers out of a population of 1.5 million.

"Most of the believers, or 64 per cent of them, are over 60 years of age," says Yang. "The middle aged group accounts for 15 per cent and the rest are under 30."

He acknowledges that there is a "fault in the age group of 40-60 due to the 'cultural revolution' (1966-76), when the church was forced to stop functioning."

The majority of the believers have adhered to the church due to family influence.

Xu Renlu, whose ancestors converted when the French missionaries were here, is one of them.

Song Chengren, another Qingping villager, says he and his mother converted when they moved to the village more than 50 years ago.

The 65-year-old man lives in a wooden house next door to the church.

"My mother became blind after she was widowed, and the church offered her a job to work on the millstone," says Song, who chose not to reveal his Christian name.

Song says he prefers the Catholic Church because it is clean.

"You don't have to burn incense sticks or buy the nether paper money to be burned for the dead," he observed.

The church is open to local believers once a week. But when the priest is present, says Xu Renlu, there is a bigger attendance.

Father Yang comes to host mass and take confessions from believers about once a month.

At other times the faithful pray at home, says Song.

"We did not stop praying even during the 'cultural revolution,' when the church was closed and served as the dorm for workers at an asbestos mine."

That special service left the building free of vandalism, says Xu Renlu.

In the village of over 180 people, Song says about half are Catholics. "There are no conflicts between believers and non-believers."

Out of Poverty

Song's top concern is how to escape poverty. Suffering from sciatica, he is among the five most impoverished people in the village.

"That is why my son chose not to believe in the church," he sighs. "At 25, he still has no girl to date because we are too poor."

The issue of poverty has also troubled Father Yang. As the local farmers are barely able to feed and clothe themselves, he says: "You can hardly expect to collect any contributions or donations from them. So it's very hard to keep the church going."

Fortunately, he says, the cathedral has been listed as a cultural site protected by the provincial government.

"For that the government has allocated 10,000 yuan (US$1,200) annually to maintain the church over the past three years. And an additional fund has just been granted to update the church's fire prevention facilities."

Yang, who takes pride in serving at Dengchi Valley, says he is developing a plan to attract more funding for the church from new channels. "I have answered the call of the Lord to devote myself to a church with such a long tradition," he says.

To his delight, with the help of the Ya'an city government, Baoxing County has formed sisterly relations with Ezpeleta, the hometown of Pere David in Basque of France.

The church received a 46-member delegation from Ezpeleta in November 2000, while a delegation from Ya'an visited the late missionary's home last January.

Will such exchanges bear sweet fruits for the church where David used to serve?

Benedict Yang is praying for the best.

(China Daily April 16, 2003)