Six giant pandas left their home in southwest China's Sichuan Province for Guangzhou Wednesday to add cheer to next month's Asian Games -- the biggest sporting event China has seen since the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Pandas eat bamboos at the Xiangjiang Safari Park in Guangzhou, the capital of South China's Guangdong province, Oct 25, 2010. [Xinhua]

The pandas, two females and four males, were all born last year, the Wolong Giant Panda Protection and Research Center said.

They were trucked from the center's Bifeng Gorge Breeding Base in Ya'an City at 10 a.m. and will fly to Guangzhou, host city of the Asian Games, in the afternoon, said Tang Chunxiang, a panda researcher at the base.

A group of experienced panda keepers from the base would accompany the bears to Guangzhou, said Tang.

The pandas will spend about a year at Xiangjiang Safari Park in Panyu District of Guangzhou.

Panyu is also the site of the Asian Games village. It will be home to up to 15,000 athletes and coaches from around 45 nations and regions during the Nov. 12-27 event.

Pandas have been heavily involved in China's major international events in recent years.

In spring 2008, eight Sichuan-born pandas were sent to Beijing for the Olympics. Beijing Zoo authorities said 2.1 million people visited the "Olympic pandas" during their 10-month stay in the capital.

And in the largest display of giant pandas outside their home province Sichuan, 10 giant panda cubs are in Shanghai for the World Expo that is scheduled to conclude on Oct. 31.