There's no obvious connection between an American PR girl raised on the prairies, a Chinese patriot imprisoned for his country in colonial Hong Kong, a famed American humorist planning a crazy car rally from Paris to Beijing right after the Cultural Revolution, and the giant panda. But 30 years ago, these serendipitous links led to China's historic opening to the global conservation movement and the first international scientific project to study - and protect - pandas in the wild.
In a year of anniversaries - from the founding of the People's Republic, to the flight of the Dalai Lama and the Tiananmen crackdown - the story behind China's decision in September 1979 to invite in the (then) World Wildlife Fund (WWF) is probably the least known. It began in Hong Kong with an uncommon friendship between two unorthodox individuals bold enough to cross the political and cultural gulf that isolated China during the Cultural Revolution. One was motivated by a love of animals, the other by a love of country.
Conservation pioneer and long-time Hong Kong resident Nancy Nash was public relations manager at the Hilton Hotel in 1967 when she met Mr 'T.C.' Wu Tai-chow, then president of the left-wing Chinese newspaper The Hong Kong Evening News. Many people in Hong Kong were wary of meeting left-wing figures at that time, recalled Mr Wu, more recently the founding director of the Pets Central veterinary chain. But, with the blessing of shadowy, powerful figures in Beijing, Mr Wu participated in uproarious lunch gatherings at the Hilton with celebrated foreign correspondents such as Richard Hughes of The Sunday Times. Miss Nash facilitated as 'a young and innocent onlooker'.
'Next thing I knew, this charming, funny man was in Stanley prison,' she said. Mr Wu received a three-year sentence for seditious articles published during the 1967 riots in Hong Kong. He said it was the quid pro quo for Anthony Grey, the Reuters correspondent placed under house arrest the previous month in Beijing. On his release, Miss Nash threw a party for him at the Hilton, the site of today's Cheung Kong Centre, in Central.
Later, she introduced Mr Wu to the late American humorist and author S.J. Perelman, who wanted to stage a 'Paris-to-Peking' car rally, recreating - in reverse - an epic rally of a bygone era. Mr Wu instantly grasped that an out-of-the-box idea like this could help foreigners understand China, and vice versa, as the country emerged from the Cultural Revolution. He began opening doors in Beijing.
Miss Nash accompanied Mr Perelman to Beijing in late 1978, a first trip which opened her eyes to the sweeping change coming over China. While illness prevented Mr Perelman from realising his dream, Miss Nash saw the potential to work with China on her life's true passion - saving wildlife.