Base guide
The Chengdu base in one morning
Which gate, which path, which enclosures to reach before nine, and where the crowds actually form.
Chengdu is not the only panda.
Meet real pandas with Local Panda Tours
The base collection
Chengdu
Sichuan, China
The base collection
Foping
Shaanxi, China
The base collection
Wolong
Sichuan, China
The breeding base everyone pictures. Come at opening, walk uphill first, and be out before the coach groups arrive.
Explore Chengdu
High, quiet and cold in winter. This is the only place on earth where you can watch a brown giant panda.
Explore Foping
Semi-wild enclosures cut into a forested gorge. The walk between them is the point, not just the animals.
Explore Wolong
Local Panda Tours picks
Which panda base should you actually choose?
Six bases, compared
Chengdu is the easy answer, not always the right one. What each base gives you, and who it suits.
A slower morning in Chengdu Local voices
Chengdu,
from the
inside.
Local Panda Tours Editorial Team
Panda travel editors
Our editorial team researches practical panda travel information for visitors to China, using government and reserve sources and naming the details travellers should verify before booking a keeper morning.
Meet the editorFind your next base
Where pandas live
From a city base you can reach on the metro to a mountain valley that takes a day to get to. Start somewhere that matches your pace.
Find your next base 6 bases to explore See the comparison →
Places to begin
All base guides
Chengdu
Chengdu is the easiest panda morning in China: one base, a hundred animals, and a metro line that drops you at the gate.
Wolong
Wolong trades convenience for landscape. Two hours into the mountains, with cloud sitting in the gorge and far fewer visitors.
Dujiangyan
The valley base suits travellers who want the keeper programme and a slower half-day, without committing to the Chengdu crowds.
Foping
Foping is for the panda you have not seen yet: the brown Qinling panda, in a reserve that stays cold, quiet and mostly local.
Go a little further
Journeys with local perspective
Chengdu Panda Weekend
Two mornings at the breeding base, one afternoon at Dujiangyan, and enough slack to eat properly.
Private departure From $780 / traveller
Sichuan Panda Trail
Chengdu, Dujiangyan and Wolong in one line, with the mountain drive broken up so nobody spends a day in the car.
Private departure From $1,640 / traveller
Xi'an & the Brown Panda
Terracotta Warriors, then north into the Qinling mountains for the only captive brown giant panda in the world.
Private departure From $1,280 / traveller
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