Visiting the Pandas in Chengdu, China

Here are all our tips for visiting the pandas at Chengdu’s panda research and breeding centre – one of China’s most popular tourist attractions.

Visiting the pandas in Chengdu China

Visiting the pandas in Chengdu is often at the top of people’s China bucket lists, and we are no exception.

We recently finally ticked visiting the pandas in China off our bucket list when we spent a fun and very cute morning with the pandas at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding.

While we would all love to visit pandas in the wild, there are less than 2,000 giant pandas in the wild in China today, spread between 26 nature reserves.

And so for most people, the best opportunity to see the panda bears in China is to visit the Chengdu panda research center.

Giant Panda China

Due to damage to their natural habitat in the 1970s and 1980s, around 250 giant pandas starved to death in the Sichuan Province.

The authorities managed to rescue 63 pandas and rehabilitate them before releasing them back to the wild, but chose six of these rescued wild giant pandas (3 male and 3 female) to initiate a breeding programme.

And so in 1987, this Chengdu panda protection and research center was opened.

Chengdu Panda breeding center

Today this Chengdu panda base boasts the world’s largest captive panda population and is one of the most popular tourist attractions in China.

Here visitors can wander along the bamboo-lined pathways that meander through the park, alongside roaming peacocks and visit some of the 146 resident pandas in their spacious enclosures.

Panda sanctuary Chengdu

Don’t expect to have the park to yourself though – this is one of the most popular Chengdu tourist attractions and so you will be sharing the pandas with many other people!

Panda sanctuary China

I have read criticism that visiting the pandas here at the Chengdu panda breeding center is akin to visiting a zoo.

And while it is true that you walk from one enclosure to another, the chance to see so many of these cute cuddly pandas in one place is pretty special.

Chengdu panda reserve

We also loved the opportunity to see all of the baby pandas playing together – chasing one another up trees and tumbling around their playground with each other.

Chengdu Pandas

Also, to dismiss the Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding Center as just a ‘Chengdu panda zoo’ ignores all the important work going on here.

As well as being one of China’s top tourist attractions, the continued research about pandas carried out here has led to many important achievements towards the long-term survival of the giant panda species. The center has:

  • Increased the survival rate of giant panda cubs to over 90% (even 100% in recent years), compared to 34% pre-1990s.
  • Successfully reared giant panda twins for the first time in history (in nature the panda mother will choose the strongest cub to rear, leaving the weaker one to die).
  • Increased the reproductive rate of the giant panda by 11.2% through artificial insemination technology.
  • Solved many problems related to preventing and treating diseases that endanger the health of the giant pandas.
  • Rescued and treated many injured wild pandas and re-released them into the wild.

You can also read in the Guardian about plans to create a giant panda reserve in China to help boost the wild population.

Chengdu panda base red panda

An unexpected highlight of our China panda tour was the red panda enclosure. The Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding Research Base also has the world’s largest population of red pandas, with 76 red pandas in residence.

The red pandas are all free to roam anywhere within the enclosure, which includes along the pathways.

We had a very up close encounter with one red panda who wandered along the path and had a good sniff of all our feet!

Chengdu Panda Park

Note that you can no longer hold a panda for a photo at the Chengdu panda research base.

If you want to have an interactive experience with the pandas, you can join the Chengdu panda volunteer programme at the Dujiangyan Panda Base, an hour and a half drive from Chengdu.

Click here to book the Volunteer programme at Dujiangyan Panda Base

Note that ‘volunteers’ need to be at least 12 years old, which excluded us from trying this.

Asia Travel With Kids Facebook Group

Top Tips for Visiting the Pandas in Chengdu

  • Get there early. The Chengdu panda center opens at 7.30am and gets busier as the day goes on. We arrived at 8.30am and left around 11.45am and it was much busier by the time we left.
  • Buy tickets online before you go. You can buy discounted tickets online here.
  • Children aged 0-6 and under 130cm can enter the panda breeding center for free.
  • Make use of a guide. As we had booked our Chengdu panda tour through the Shangri-La Hotel Chengdu’s Premier Panda package (read our full hotel review here), we had our own guide as part of the package. You can also book a guide through the tour guide station at the entrance of the Chengdu research base. Guides cost between 50RMB and 100RMB, depending on the size of your group.
  • Start your visit by watching the info video about the panda breeding program. This 10-minute video runs continuously on a loop and alternates between English and Mandarin.
  • Bring water, especially on a hot day. There are also coin-operated drinks machines around the Chengdu panda park.
  • Bring snacks for the kids. There are a couple of restaurants, but not really anywhere to buy snacks.
where to see pandas in China
  • Take the tour bus shuttle if you are visiting with small kids. The park is large and involves lots of walking. I ended up carrying my 4-year old most of the way around the park. Note that you may need to queue for the bus though.
  • Visit in July/August for the best chance to see a baby giant panda. We visited in early May and the pandas were still pregnant! The youngest pandas when we visited were around 9 months old.
  • Buy postcards and special panda postage stamps at the on-site post office.
  • There is a tourist service center on the 1st floor of the Giant Panda Museum. This includes facilities such as hot water, microwave, and child stroller lending.
  • Don’t forget to buy a souvenir before you leave! There are four souvenir shops around the park.
Chengdu panda base kids with souvenirs

Getting to the Giant Panda Research Base

The Chengdu panda breeding and research center is less than 10 kilometres outside of Chengdu and is easily reached by taxi, private car, public bus or sightseeing shuttle bus.

It took us around 25 minutes to get here by car. For further information on all the different bus routes etc check out this page on the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Pandas website.

Buy Before you Go!

Be sure to look the part when you visit the pandas with all these fun panda-themed accessories!


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Visiting the pandas in Chengdu China

Note: Mum on the Move were guests of the Shangri-la Hotel Chengdu for our visit to the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding. This in no way affected our review and all opinions, as always are honest and our own.

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3 thoughts on “Visiting the Pandas in Chengdu, China”

  1. Thanks for the post! We stayed in Shangri- La and booked a tour with them based on your recommendation – could not be happier with our choice!

    Reply
    • Thanks for the feedback Sanita! Hearing things like this makes me very happy 🙂 I’m glad you had a great time!

      Reply

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