A giant salamander named Chun Chun was selected as the mascot of Zhangjiajie, a tourist city in central China's Hunan Province, during the 2007 Zhangjiajie International Forest Protection Festival, which started last Wednesday.

Salamanders, which are under the city's protection, are a rare amphibious animal and are known as living fossils. They can live up to 300 years.

Deng Lijia, vice-mayor of Zhangjiajie, said the city had selected the salamander as its mascot to raise local residents' awareness of the need to protect the environment and further improve Zhangjiajie's reputation as a tourist city.

(Xinhua News Agency March28, 2007)