China Panda Tours, Chengdu Panda Tour, Panda Volunteer Program

Without a doubt, pandas are one of the cutest animals on the planet - seriously! As panda lovers ourselves, we’ve taken a lot of time and care to create China panda tours that are just as special as these delightful animals. With China the only country where pandas can be found living the wild, we’re certain you’ll agree that seeing them up close is a travel memory to treasure.

Why take a China panda tour?

You simply can’t visit China without pandas on your bucket list. Pandas are beautiful animals and are every bit as funny and playful in the flesh as they are on the big screen. Remember Po, the world’s funniest panda from Kung Fu Panda? On a China panda tour, you can meet his namesake at one of the special panda research centers that are included in our tour itineraries. There are plenty of options to suit any time and budget. You can spend a morning observing the progression of a panda’s life from a cute baby to a serious bamboo-devouring adult. For those wanting to get up close, there are full-day experiences, including working as a volunteer. Read more

As the capital of pandas, it makes sense to start your adventure with a Chengdu panda tour. Why? Because it’s the perfect launchpad to visit one of the giant panda bases. Think that a panda volunteer experience might be for you? Then a Chengdu panda tour is perfect. With the opportunity not only to learn more about how these creatures are cared for and reared, as a panda volunteer, you also get hands on, helping researchers and panda keepers feed and clean up the pandas’ living and play areas.

Regardless of which Chengdu panda tour option you choose, we can help you get there.

What’s great about our China panda tours?

When you travel with ChinaTours.com and join a China panda tour with us, our approach and your tour experience will be different to a panda tour with other tour operators. To help ensure you get the best views and most time with these incredible animals, your guide will make arrangements to arrive early. Why is this important? Because pandas are so popular with both domestic and foreign tourists and we don’t want this to impact your experience.

If you take a China panda tour and visit the Chengdu Research and Breeding Centre you’ll discover it’s always busy. By arriving early, you’ll be able to truly enjoy the experience. This is especially important if you’re traveling with children, who will want to see as many pandas as possible on their visit.

Need special arrangements for your China panda tour?

Travelers wanting a unique and memorable experience of their China panda tour can also book with ChinaTours.com to visit Dujiangyan Panda Base. It is here that lovely travel memories are made (as an optional extra). Under special supervision from panda carers, visitors can even be photographed with these special animals and receive a certificate as a memento of the experience.

Special Panda experience at Dujiangyan Panda Park

On ChinaTours.com China panda tours you can make the most of this special experience if you visit Dujiangyan Panda Base. It’s here you can enjoy a Dujiangyan Panda Keeper Experience, which allows travelers to work as a panda volunteer for the day. This is a rare opportunity during which volunteers can:

Clean the panda enclosure
Explore the panda research base
Hand feed pandas
Get involved in afternoon cleaning and feeding
Make panda food.

We offer a visit to Dujiangyan Panda Base as a private tour, allowing you and your friends or family to enjoy this experience together.

China panda tour highlights

Other highlights to be enjoyed when you discover pandas in Chengdu include:

A friendly English-speaking guide to accompany you on tour. Arrangements will be made for pick up from your hotel and for the duration of your tour. You can relax knowing your guide will be there every step of the way to ensure you get the best vantage points for observing the pandas in their enclosures.
A relaxed schedule. Although we like our customers to be on the road early for their panda tour, once there, we like to keep a relaxed schedule. That way you’ll have plenty of photo opportunities – and there’s never enough of those when it comes to the world’s cutest animal!
Flexibility with tour options. Everyone has their own preferences for travel and it’s this very reason we provide so much flexibility around our tour options. Choose from a small group, private, and even your very own personally designed custom tour. Our specially designed small group and private tours include panda visits, while a custom tour can be created to include pandas – and lots more – to suit your time and budget.

Why not combine a panda tour in Chengdu with other destinations in China?

Of course, a Chengdu panda tour is loads of fun, but there’s no need to limit your adventure to one city. China is a vast country and we offer travel to 20 destinations. Many of our tours are delivered over multiple days and allow generous amounts of time in each location. Must-see cities include Beijing, Xi’an, and Shanghai, however, there are many other places where you can learn about and enjoy the local history, culture, people, and cuisines. Whether the attraction for you is big city bustle, the best of nature, or traditions, culture and art, we have a tour to suit. And if you can’t find what you’re after, we’ll help you create the tour of your travel dreams.

On ChinaTours.com China panda tours you can:

Come spend time close up with a panda.
Be a panda volunteer.
Visit pandas and other highlights in China.

The best locations to see pandas in China are the Chengdu Research and Breeding Centre and the Dujiangyan Panda Base. Both are driving distance from Chengdu and offer up close experiences with the beautiful bears.

Can’t make it to Chengdu? No problem. Pandas can also be experienced at zoos in other destinations in ChinaTours.com tour packages, including Beijing Zoo, Chongqing Zoo, Shanghai Zoo, Guilin Zoo and Hong Kong Ocean Park.

A Giant Panda Volunteer Program is the ideal way to experience pandas in Chengdu on another level. There’s no doubt China’s national treasure is a must-see highlight on any China tour. It’s also true that it’s exciting to view the giant pandas the way most travelers do - at the Chengdu Research and Breeding Centre in Chengdu. This place has a real buzz about it. On the downside, though, you’ll find it’s always busy. If you’re an animal lover and don’t like to be one of the crowd, then a better choice for you could be participating in the Giant Panda Volunteer Program.

What’s the Giant Panda Volunteer Program?

Also known as the Giant Panda Internship, this unique program is unlike any other. It is designed to give participants a direct hands-on experience with giant pandas. But more than that, it provides education and raises awareness. If you love animals and care about the protection of pandas, visiting one of the giant panda volunteer programs is special. There’s no doubt the panda volunteer experience is fun, however there’s a serious side to the Giant Panda Volunteer Program too. Volunteers learn about the living conditions and environment that pandas need to thrive. They’re also exposed to the challenges researchers face in the protection and breeding of pandas as they struggle to maintain numbers. Want to know what we love about the Giant Panda Volunteer Program? It inspires the volunteers - most of whom have traveled from around the world! After just one day working as a panda volunteer most feel compelled to share the important message about panda research and protection. For people who love to create beautiful travel memories, we think that’s a win-win!

What happens at the Giant Panda Volunteer Program?

The dedicated panda researchers work hard to make the Giant Panda Volunteer experience truly unique and memorable. Yes, pandas are cute and cuddly animals, but keeping them well (and fed!) is a serious job. It’s why there’s an expectation that every Giant Panda Volunteer Program participant will ‘muck in’. Here’s what you can expect a typical day to look like as a volunteer:

Carry panda food - It’s no secret that pandas in captivity eat bamboo almost exclusively, but did you know they also eat fruit and other feed like specially created ‘panda nests? As a volunteer, you’ll be required to carry large volumes of food to their enclosures and ‘rooms’ for consumption.
Clean up the bamboo mess - While pandas love their bamboo, they mostly eat the roots. Bamboo is low in nutritional value, which means they must eat huge quantities to satisfy their nutritional requirements - and that means a lot of mess. On the Giant Panda Volunteer Program, participants have the job of cleaning up the bamboo so being prepared to get a little dirty is all part of the experience.
Feed the pandas - Certainly one of the highlights of the panda volunteer experience is feeding time. Volunteers get involved in weighing, preparing and serving food. Then it’s time to serve up the fresh bamboo, apples, specially prepared ‘panda's nest’, and vegetables. After mealtimes, volunteers step back in to clean up, weigh any leftover bamboo, milk, and panda poo!
Do the panda household chores - Pandas aren’t fans of housework and that’s why it’s the job of volunteers to clean the panda's house and playground. Maintaining the health of pandas in the research centres is vital so living and indoor play areas are disinfected to provide a clean and comfortable environment for the giant panda.
Share the love - Pandas don’t have a cute and cuddly reputation for nothing. No panda volunteer experience would be complete without showing some love to these beautiful animals, although volunteers are required to wear special protection suits to prevent transfer of germs and to keep pandas healthy.
Get up close - Volunteers have an opportunity to clean the giant panda enclosure and observe their behavior, which changes over time as they mature and depending on different influencing factors like breeding time.

Book a panda tour

Dujiangyan Base

ChinaTours.com has arranged Panda Volunteer experiences at Dujiangyan Base for many years. We love this panda base because it is smaller than Chengdu Giant Panda and Research Base and is located in close proximity to the world heritage area in which giant pandas live naturally. The habitat, climate and natural environment in this area is ideal for a very happy giant panda life and it’s the perfect place for mingling with these giants. Easy to reach from our centrally located hotels, a panda experience here is one you’ll remember for a lifetime.

Panda Volunteer Program - Yes
Located - 67 km from Chengdu city center
Drive time - 90 minutes

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Chengdu Giant Panda and Research Base

The Chengdu Giant Panda and Research Base is one of the main research bases for protection of giant pandas and other endangered wildlife. The base covers a sprawling area, which is beautifully landscaped with bamboo (of course!). Developed by the Chinese government, the Chengdu Giant Panda and Research Base is a unique and highly regarded venue for experiencing pandas first hand. If you are short on time Chengdu or your tour itinerary is too tight, we can organize a visit here instead of visiting the Dujiangyan Base (which is part of all our panda tours). However if you want a panda volunteer experience, you will need to visit the Dujiangyan Base. Either way, the ChinaTours.com team can advise you and take care of every detail.

Located - 10 km from Chengdu city center
Drive time - 40 minutes

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Wolong Panda Research Center

Located within the Wolong Nature Reserve, the Wolong Panda Research Center is divided into three sections. The original center was destroyed in the devastating 2008 Sichuan earthquake and since being rebuilt a new world leading research center has been created. When visiting here volunteers will find zones for panda feeding, training and a vitally important public education zone for wild animals.

Located - 120 km from Chengdu city center
Drive time - 2.5 hours

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Bifengxia Giant Panda Base

You will find the Bifengxia Scenic Area a little further afield from Chengdu than the other panda centers. Covering an area of near 4000 km², Bifengxia Giant Panda Base boasts an established panda research center, giant panda hospital, kindergarten, and breeding center. It also enjoys the benefit of an exhibition center where visitors can learn more about how giant pandas live.

Panda volunteer program - Yes
Located - 150 km from Chengdu city center
Drive time - 2.5 hours

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