The best time of day to see a panda, hour by hour
Pandas are awake for about four hours a day. Getting the timing right matters more than which base you choose.
Foping, Hanzhong · Shaanxi
Foping Panda Valley
The densest wild panda country in China.
Foping is not a zoo with pandas in it. It is wild panda habitat that happens to have a small rescue and breeding facility, a forest hotel, and a valley walk where the dominant sound is water.
The wild population here is estimated at around 130 animals, roughly half of the Qinling total. You will almost certainly not see one in the forest — they are solitary, shy, and very good at not being seen — but the point of Foping is the habitat itself.
What you will see
- Bamboo forest walks in core panda habitat
- Panda Forest Hotel, the reason many people stay over
- Golden snub-nosed monkeys in the same valley
- A quiet counterweight to the Chengdu crowds
Read before you go
All guides 
What the panda keeper programme actually involves
You will not hold a panda. You will break bamboo, wash shoots, and stand closer to a feeding animal than any ticket allows.
Doing the Chengdu base properly in one morning
A route that avoids the two worst bottlenecks, and why you should take the shuttle even though it feels lazy.