Volunteer Experience at Dujiangyan Panda Base

Your guide will contact you one day in advance to confirm the meeting time, typically around 7:30 am. After picking you up from your hotel in downtown Chengdu, we will take a 1.5-hour private car ride to the Dujiangyan Panda Base for this panda keeper program tour.

Upon arrival at around 9:00, your guide will help you register. The staff will inform you of the dos and don’ts, then provide you with a special uniform and a volunteer card. Once all preparations are completed, you’ll be divided into groups to undertake the volunteer work under the staff’s guidance. Your tour guide will also accompany you throughout the entire process.

The volunteer program usually starts around 9:20 am. The first task is to clean the working area under the guidance of the staff. Occasionally, you’ll have a chance to assist the staff in preparing food for pandas, such as carrying bamboo, washing bamboo shoots, and smashing the bamboo stems for them to eat.At around 10:00, you can observe how the professional keepers feed the giant pandas through their enclosures. An adult panda typically spends 12 to 14 hours eating 20 kilograms of bamboo daily, but can only absorb about 17% of it; the rest is excreted, meaning they need to defecate 40 times a day. But why is there no peculiar smell in the pandas’ enclosures? Because 99% of pandas eat only bamboo, their poop is full of bamboo residue and even exudes a plant fragrance.

The professional keeper will deliver a straightforward lecture on the living habits of giant pandas. You’ll learn many fascinating facts about pandas, such as their poor eyesight of 800-degree myopia, color blindness that recognizes only blue and green colors, and an enlarged wrist bone resembling an extra thumb, which helps them grasp bamboo.The base’s canteen will serve a simple Chinese (keepers’) lunch.


You will be escorted to make steamed corn bread for pandas and explore the dietary differences between captive and wild giant pandas.

Cutting bamboo leaves for elderly giant pandas undergoing rehabilitation and recuperation. After that, the entire volunteer program will conclude around 15:30, and you’ll receive a certificate issued by the Dujiangyan Panda Base.

• The volunteer program is subject to cancellation due to government activities, health issues concerning pandas, or overbooking. Reserving the trip as early as possible is advisable for the latter condition.
• The times and activities mentioned above are for your reference and will ultimately be subject to the base’s arrangement. For instance, some pandas may be in poor condition and only be fed once daily. Generally, the feeding will be scheduled at least once daily.
• If you have limited time, we can arrange a half-day trip; however, the fare remains the same.
• Please avoid wearing perfume or nail polish to protect the health of these adorable giant pandas.
• For safety, only individuals aged 12 to 65 can participate in the volunteer program tour to Dujiangyan Panda Base.

► Recommended Dinner Site in Chengdu (at your own expense）
After finishing the one-day panda tour, you may feel hungry. Your driver can take you directly to one of the top night food markets in Chengdu, which is lined with bustling food stalls that are open all day but exceptionally popular at night. It is the perfect place to sample local, mouth-watering snacks like Egg Cake, Spicy Rabbit Head, Barbecued Pig Foot, Hotpot Noodles, Barbecued Potato, Grilled Sweet Potato Skin, and Stinky Tofu, all of which will thoroughly satisfy your taste buds.
Average Cost per Person: CNY 30-60 (USD 3-9)
Address: No. 14, Jianshe Lane, Tiaodenghe Street, Chenghua District, Chengdu