Wolong National Nature Reserve

About 120 km (75 mi) northwest of downtown Chengdu, the Wolong National Nature Reserve is nearly 200 giant pandas’ natural habitat with majestic mountains, deep gorges, and vast native forests. Nearly one-tenth of giant pandas in China live in this reserve. To provide giant pandas here with the peaceful and undisturbed habitat they deserve, more than 90% of the area has been designated as a wildlife reserve. Meanwhile, to enable tourists to admire cute pandas, the Wolong China Giant Panda Garden, also called the Wolong Shenshuping Base, is opened.

Lovely Gaint Pandas in Wolong Nature Reserve

 
The base is constructed in a mountain-ringed valley with luxuriant vegetation and clear air. Throughout the base, about 50 giant pandas including cubs and grown-up ones are being taken good care of. It’s further one of the few bases that allows participation in the panda volunteer program. Instead of standing behind the fence like any other tourists, why not join in the program and do your part in caring for the giant pandas?
 Fu Bao and Xiao Qi Ji are star pandas in the Wolong National Nature Reserve, having returned from South Korea and America, respectively.

Fu Bao has become many people’s favorite panda by virtue of her iconic “smile”. When she slightly opens her mouth and raises one paw, it looks as if she is friendly greeting you. Moreover, a small tuft of fur directly above her head stands up, making her even more endearing.

Xiao Qi Ji is one of the most active pandas in the base, because he really enjoys rolling all over the ground and climbing trees. He’ll definitely amaze you when rolling backward or hanging upside down from a tree branch.

Star Panda Eating Bamboo

Cute Panda in the Tree

 

Panda Cubs Living Together

In the base, there are two adorable scenes that cannot be missed. One is in the No.1 Outer-ring Panda Pavilion, which is the den of Hong Dou, Yun Dou, and Xiu Chen. These three pandas are all 2-year-old cubs, and need to experience communal living. Therefore, you’re very likely to see them play-fighting with each other.

The other lovely scene is in the No. 6 Outer-ring Panda Pavilion, where Jia Mei and her baby Qing Si live together. When Jia Mei wanders around the enclosure, the smaller-sized Qing Si will follow her and make physical contact with her from time to time. What’s even more lovable is that Jia Mei cuddles and gently caresses the baby.
 The most interesting and meaningful thing to do here is to participate in the volunteer program and experience a day as a panda keeper. In the morning, under the guidance of professional panda keepers, you can shovel pandas’ feces and help to clean their dens. Besides, please don’t save your strength and just drop a section of bamboo heavily on the ground to select the best parts as panda’s food.

After lunch, you can see panda keepers feeding pandas at a quite close distance, and that’s an experience that ordinary tourists cannot get. Afterward, to prepare food for pandas, all the volunteers will gather together to make Panda Cakes. When you finish all the volunteer activities, you can choose to tour around the base and admire more pandas.

Making Delicious Panda Cakes

Volunteers Cleaning Panda Pavilion

 The Wolong Shenshuping Base in the reserve is composed of 6 outer-ring panda pavilions, 3 inner-ring panda pavilions, and 2 panda kindergartens. You can either take your time and fully visit the base on foot all the way or take the shuttle bus to save energy and time and view some celebrity pandas.
  Route: Entrance → Take the Shuttle Bus Uphill to its Stop → No. 2 Panda Kindergarten → No.1 to No.3 Inner-ring Panda Pavilions → No.1 Panda Kindergarten → Return to the Entrance.
 Duration: 1.5 - 2.5 hours.

This route is suitable for Fu Bao enthusiasts, and if you set off early, you can see it having breakfast. Moreover, since you have taken the shuttle bus to the highest point of the base, it’ll be effortless to visit all the pavilions along the route.
  Route: Entrance → No.6 to No.1 Outer-ring Panda Pavilions → No.2 Panda Kindergarten → No.1 to No.3 Inner-ring Panda Pavilions → No.1 Panda Kindergarten → Return to the Entrance.
 Duration: 3 - 4 hours.

This route is suitable for those who want to admire each single panda in the base. It’s noteworthy that the trail to all the outer-ring panda pavilions is generally uphill, and it’s wise to wear comfortable shoes and take your tour at an appropriate pace.
 Spring months from March to May and autumn months from October to November are the best times to visit Wolong National Nature Reserve. The weather conditions in these months are generally pleasant for people to enjoy their outdoor tours in the reserve and admire pandas.

Moreover, the reserve is at its peak autumn beauty from late October to early November, during which maple forests on the surrounding mountains are in golden and fiery red. The scene of pandas living in the background of foliage scenery is quite impressive.

In a day, the pandas are more active during and just after their feeding times, from 9:00 to 11:00 and from 14:00 to 16:00.

Tourists Viewing Adorable Panda

 1. In front of the ticket office of the reserve, stands the China Wolong Giant Panda Museum, in which you can thoroughly understand the origin and evolutionary process of giant pandas.
2. The reserve in the mountain area has an altitude of about 1,700 m (5,500 ft), and the weather here is changeable, making it vital to keep warm and bring rain gear.
3. A popular activity in the reserve is to take photos with four pandas returned from abroad, Fu Bao, Tai Shan, Xiao Qi Ji, and Jia Mei, and show the staff four photos to gain a panda-themed badge.
4. This attraction is large but without many diners, so you can consider bringing some food to refuel.
 

Opening Hours	9:00 - 17:00. The last admission is at 16:30.
Ticket	CNY 85

 Note: Children no taller than 1.3 m (4 ft 3 in) and seniors 60+ can enter the attraction free of charge.
 The direct bus to the reserve departs from Xinnanmen Bus Station at 6:40 and from Chunxi Road at 7:00, and a one-way journey takes about 2.5 hours and costs CNY 48. The return bus departs at 16:30, with the fare also being CNY 48. The round-way fare is CNY 88.
 A taxi journey from downtown Chengdu to Wolong National Nature Reserve takes about 2 hours and costs CNY 300 - 450. Since it’s not easy to hail a taxi for a one-way trip back, a better option for a group of 3 / 4 is to hire a private car with a driver for a double-way trip, and the rental is CNY 600 - 1,000. Other places to see pandas in Chengdu:
 Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding
 Ya'an Bifengxia Base of China Conservation and Research Center of Giant Panda
 Dujiangyan Panda Base
 Dujiangyan Panda Valley

Read more information about Chinese Giant Panda:
Facts
Growing Process
Panda Diplomacy