A college teacher in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province, says he wants to grow tea using panda excrement as fertilizer and then sell the leaves for 219,865 yuan ($34,500) per 500 g.

An Yanshi has patented his idea with the Sichuan copyright bureau, although he admits he has no idea how he can get his hands on enough panda waste or what effect it will have on the tea.

"Excrement is better than chemical fertilizers, and I wanted to use panda feces to produce green tea," he said.

"Green tea has properties that can prevent cancer, while bamboo leaf, the staple food for pandas, contains the same ingredient that can combat cancer."

He added that, as panda excrement is rare, the price of the tea should be 10 times that of ordinary teas.

Tang Chunxiang, a senior engineer at the China Conservation and Research Center for Giant Pandas, said it is unclear what effect the animal's waste might have on the tea.

(West China Metropolis Daily)