International Panda Awareness Week (PAW) got off to a colorful start on July 4, with 108 costumed "pandas" on hand to perform a tai chi inspired dance in the middle of Trafalgar Square.
Sichuan province in Southwest China is home to the giant panda and boasts the largest population of the animals in the world.
Millions of tourists flocking to London for the Olympic Games this summer can also learn more about China's giant pandas - not by visiting a zoo, but by taking a ride in one of London's iconic black taxies.
With the 2012 Olympic Games just around the corner, a number of London's iconic black cabs, but more vibrant in their newly painted panda outfits, will park at landmarks across the city.
Xie Jinbiao, a one-time teenage terror, is now a prominent post-1980s Chinese businessman who runs what is considered the only panda-themed toy and souvenir store in London.
In China, most giant pandas live in the mountains of Qinling, Minshan, Qionglai, Daxiangling and Xiaoxiangling.
By the end of 2011, the number of wild giant pandas in the world was about 1,590.