Wolong Shenshuping Panda Base
Name in Chinese: 卧龙自然保护区 [wò long zì rán bǎo hù qū]
Location: Wenchuan County, Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan, China.
Opening Hours: 9:30-17:30
Duration of Tour: 1-2 days
Highlights: Giant Panda/ Red Panda Volunteer Program; Hike through the wild pandas’ habitat
Wolong Nature Reserve, which is located in western Sichuan province about 130km (80 mi) away from the capital city Chengdu, is considered to be the real hometown of wild giant pandas.
Frist built in 1963, Wolong is the earliest and best-know panda reserve in the world. Occupying an area of 200,000 hectares, it ranks as China’s third-largest nature reserve and the largest in Sichuan, serving as a critical habitat for more than 120 wild giant pandas and acting as a refuge to a rich diversity of other endemic species like red pandas, the golden snub-nosed monkeys and Sichuan takins, making it a vital stronghold for biodiversity conservation in Southwest China.
Observe Giant Pandas Up-close in Wolong Shenshuping Panda Base
Shenshuping panda Base is located within Wolong Nature Reserve. The base is enclosed by mountains with an elevation of 1700m above the sea level. In the base, lush bamboo groves and vast area with untouched beauties make up the ideal wild habitat for giant pandas. With the world’s largest population of the captive giant pandas in China, it is where more than 30 giant pandas call a home, which consists of the Inside Panda Zone and Outside Panda Zone as well as No1 and No2 Panda Kinder Zones where you can have great fun observing energetic baby pandas eating, climbing trees and rolling down hills, just playing like children surreal.
Take a whole day to be a panda keeper to take care of adorable giant pandas while treating your eyes with vigorous vegetation in this botanical garden with the least tourists is the most popular way to visit Wolong Panda Base for the panda enthusiast. You will have an ultimate fun day by participating in ‘panda babysitting’ which involves cleaning up a panda's enclosure, smashing fresh bamboos, shaping panda bread… Panda volunteers will not be allowed to touch or feed panda, but it is available to watch the keeper feeding panda without taking photos.
First-hand Interactive Experience with Red Pandas in Wolong Hetaoping Panda Base
15 km away from Shenshuping panda base sits Hetaoping, a sanctuary for 60 red pandas (also known as ‘lesser pandas’) and it is the only location offering opportunities to volunteers for engaging with red pandas. Here, you'll gain insights into the red pandas' daily routines, dietary preferences, and ongoing conservation initiatives. Marvel at their agility as they climb and frolic. This experience promises an unparalleled window into the enchanting lives of these remarkable animals. This base also functions as a wildness training area for giant pandas, which would be released in the future.
Panda Keeper Voluntary Program Guidelines
The age restriction of both giant panda and red panda volunteer is between 12-65 years old. Children below that age bracket can be carried along during the program and taken care of by a guide. There is a daily number limit of volunteers up to 50 a day in the base. then it is highly advised to book in advance. The Panda base requires volunteer to have a Health Examination Form filled out prior to arriving to prove a general good health. To save your time and facilitate your applying, we would like to prepare the form and do guarantee for you at no extra charge.
Hike through Dengsheng Gully in Wolong to explore wild panda’s habitat
As a core area of Wolong Nature Reserve with dense forest coverage, Dengsheng Gorge is not only a favorite foraging spot of wild giant pandas, but a haven for some rare birds too. To enrich your experience, you may hike along the 5-kilometer (3-mile) trail to look for an encounter with giant pandas while appreciating delightful landscape.
When is the best time to come
Of the year
Pandas are heat intolerant and they experience heat stress when temperature climb over 25 degrees Celsius. As we know, most animals hibernate during the winter, whereas our furry friends are full of beans during cold temperature.
Spring and Autumn are the best times to watch pandas in Chengdu when the climate is mild and pleasant. However, if traveling to Chengdu in summer time is inevitable, you can be also treated a great panda watching time in Wolong panda base, where the climate is much cooler and the number of tourists is the smallest.
Of the day
It’s best to visit the panda base before 11:30 am when the pandas are at their most active before falling asleep in the early afternoon.
How to get to Wolong Panda Base
Wolong Panda Base is 130 kilometers from Chengdu with a travel time of 2 hours. Tourists can fly to Chengdu from most of major cities within Mainland China. Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport (CTU) is one of two airports serving Chengdu, which now mainly serves domestic flights around China. The other one is Chengdu Tianfu International Airport (TFU), which also operates domestic flights and took over all international routes from Shuangliu International Airport. Currently, there are 30 international routes to most of major cities abroad, such as, Hongkong, Moscow, Taibei, Seoul, Phuket, Istanbul, Sydney, Cairo, Los Angeles, Bangkok, Osaka, Hanoi,Singapore, Tashkent, Kuala Lumpur, Nha Trang, Toronto, Vancouver, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Paris, Chicago, San Francisco, Washington.
Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport is located 18 km (11 mi) south of the city center, the journey from the airport to the city center takes about 35min while Tianfu International Airport is 65 kilometers (40 mi) southeast of the city center, taking about one hour.
As the major rail hub in southwest China, Chengdu possesses an extensive rail network, operating around 250 high-speed trains on a daily basis. It well connects to over 100 cities nationwide, making it super convenient to reach Chengdu from other popular tourist destinations, such as Xi’an, Chongqing, Beijing, Shanghai, Guilin, Zhangjiajie, Lanzhou, Hongkong, etc.
