Chengdu, Dujiangyan or Wolong: choosing your base

Almost every panda itinerary defaults to the Chengdu base, for the obvious reason that it is twenty minutes from a hotel bed. It is a genuinely good facility. It is also the busiest, and on a public holiday the queue at the gate starts before sunrise.

A short version

• Chengdu base: the highest density of pandas and cubs, the shortest transfer, the biggest crowds.
• Dujiangyan Panda Valley: same operator, semi-wild hillsides, red pandas loose on the boardwalk, one hour by rail.
• Wolong Shenshuping: mountain habitat at 1,700 m, the flagship keeper programme, a two-hour drive each way.
• Bifengxia: a canyon base in Ya’an holding many pandas returned from overseas loans. Least crowded weekday option.
• Qinling Four Treasures: near Xi’an, brown pandas and golden monkeys, for itineraries that start in Shaanxi.
• Foping: wild habitat and a forest hotel, not a guaranteed sighting.

How we decide

One free morning in Chengdu: the city base, entered at opening, no debate. Two mornings: add Panda Valley. A full day and an appetite for mountain roads: Wolong, ideally with the keeper programme attached.

If you have seen a panda before and want to see a panda behave like a panda, skip the city base. The mountain sites cost you a day of driving and give you an animal that is not performing for a rail of phones.