Panda Valley

Panda Valley

Panda Valley
4.5
Points of Interest & LandmarksNature & Wildlife AreasHiking Trails
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Duration: More than 3 hours
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Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

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4.5
4.5 of 5 bubbles82 reviews
Excellent
56
Very good
21
Average
4
Poor
1
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0

MattwalesNorthWales
Chengdu, China2,430 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jan 2020 • Couples
So its a bit if a journey to get here, but as the newer baby brother of the Chengdu park it is well worth the effort. An easy stroll for all ages up the valley, frequent rest points and all the grounds are well managed. Pandas look happy and well looked after. The red pandas have a huge area to run free in. Visitors can walk through but if you are not so steady on your pins beware the path is super uneven. Top of the valley is a recently restored Qing dynasty temple. Half way up is a good coffee shop. Only 55¥ to enjoy, not over commercialized, the gifty shops are outside.
Written January 11, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

ram_vagabond
Chennai (Madras), India33 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Oct 2016 • Friends
On the outskirts of Chengdu City, Dujiangyan Panda Valley is a must visit if you wanna have a Photo opportunity or Volunteering program.

We went there by public transport. Took the train from Chengdu Train Station to Qingshenshan Station. Although there is a Dujiangyan station, it is better to get off at the Qingshenshan station. From there we hired a taxi for 30 yuans to drop us at the Panda Valley.There are shuttle bus options too from the Qingshenshan station.

The Panda Photo opportunity is at 10.30 am with a pre booking required for the same. It way too expensive -1800 CNY for about 20 seconds of close encounter with the Panda. But it's an individual prerogative. For me , I wanted to have a photo with the Panda and so I went there only for this. ( Although I have seen truckloads of Pandas at the Chengdu Panda Base ). You could expect a maximum of 10-15 ppl on a day given the huge cost for this activity.

Note- No need to buy the entrance ticket if you are doing the Photo opportunity program. A little benefit of saving 70 CNY for the price of 1800 CNY.. lol

You can easily spend half a day over there. The place is huge and the Pandas are mostly active in the morning. So start your trip as early as dawn - highly recommended to do this to avoid the tourists and catch the maximum action of the Pandas.

If you find this post informative, please do hit a like and subscribe to me for getting continuous travel reviews from my side.

Cheers
Ram
🌏 - Bon Voyage
Written November 1, 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

joestudwell
Cambridge, UK5 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2016 • Family
In the last 2 days I took two kids, age 9 and 11, to both the Panda breeding centre on the north side of Chengdu (known locally as the 成都熊猫基地) and to Panda Valley, 10km south-west of DuJiangYan, which is in turn about 75 minutes north-west of Chengdu by car (called in Chinese 熊猫谷 -literally, Panda Valley). Some points worth noting:

Chengdu breeding centre.
1. Chengdu breeding centre opens at 0730. Try to be there then. If in the panda breeding season (summer) head straight to the top of hill (by foot or electric cart) where there are two delivery centres -- 'sunshine' and 'moonlight'. They draw back the curtains of the nurseries at 0730 and you can see what has been born in the past couple of months. Around 15 pandas just now. You want to see this without too many people around. A good place to stay nearby with great outdoor and indoor pools for kids is the Panda Garden Crowne Plaza (5 mins away: 保利皇冠假日酒店).
2. Then tour the many panda enclosures heading back down the hill. As reviewers note, pandas are most active in the morning. But activity also depends on when keepers give them fresh bamboo/ open their cages. This seems to be after 0730... more like 0815.
3. As others have noted the hoards arrive around 9am. This means serious numbers of people.
4. If you want pandas that are active, you need young ones... up to about 2 years. Thereafter they adopt a fairly vegetative approach to life, eating and sleeping and, er, that's it.

Dujiangyan Panda Valley
1. I paid a nice taxi driver Rmb600 to take us to Panda Valley and then to the famous irrigation scheme in Dujiangyan and then back to Chengdu. 7-8 hours' work; he would have done more. Mr Yan (颜师父 180-1067-7059, no English.)
2. I can confirm that if you want to do the panda volunteer and hugging/photo thing you have to book in advance. I asked the ticket people at Panda Valley and they said they no longer accept people just turning up and paying. Personally I had misgivings about doing this and didn't really intend to anyway. I am sure that people who are paying a lot for this opportunity have the best interests of the animals at heart. However everything I have read about pandas says they are particularly fearful of people whose scent they do not know. Plus someone who works at the breeding centre in town claimed to me there is clear stress among the animals in Dujiangyan. Plus the Dujiangyan facility is supposed to investigate re-introducing pandas to the wild and I struggle to understand how this can be done at the same time as introducing them to strangers every day. Anyhow, that is my two cents' worth. It is a difficult trade-off, since the centre needs to pay its bills and is perhaps relying on foreigners to do this.
3. You can just visit Panda Valley as a regular tourist. While it is much smaller than the Chengdu breeding centre, it is way quieter and all the animals we saw in the 3 panda 'houses' were young and active (very active in the case of two sibling cubs that may be the animals used for photo ops). My kids preferred it to the Chengdu breeding centre. The place is very well maintained and most of staff are friendly. The only downside was the animals were not let into their outdoor enclosures. I asked a keeper and he said it was too hot, which is what notices also say. This means you view them through large glass windows onto their indoor, air-conditioned enclosures.
4. You are not going to spend more than a couple of hours as a regular tourist at Panda Valley, so it makes sense to combine it with a trip to the historic irrigation works at Dujiangyan if taking a cab from Chengdu. (Other reviewers have mentioned another panda base -- Panda Ark -- in the Dujiangyan area. I did not ask about this.)

I hope this info helps somebody. Seeing the pandas is certainly a great experience. The way they sit, fill up their mouths with bamboo leaves, and then use a paw to tear off the bunch of leaves had me mesmerised.
Written August 2, 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Sheri Y
Fairfax, VA6 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Sep 2017 • Couples
Trip Advisor should clarify this confusing listing. It mistakenly combines the "Dujiangyan Panda Base and Center for Disease Control" facility in Dujiangyan (operated by Wolong) with the entirely separate "Panda Valley" research facility operated by the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding. These two facilities are located in different places. The first one is older and has a volunteer program. The second one is a new research facility open to the public that does not. We've been to the CRBGPB Panda Valley facility several times and recommend it highly as a beautiful, quiet place to see giant pandas.
Written September 23, 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

ADTU
20 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2017 • Friends
There aren't a lot of pandas in this center (less than 30), and there weren't any panda cubs either, but there were few people which allowed us to enjoy watching the pandas uninterrupted. You don't have to squeeze in any crowds to get a good view through the enclosures. However, if you're not planning to participate in either the volunteer or holding programs, it might not be worth the trip.

My sister and I joined the volunteer program, and we did not need to book a tour for this. I just emailed the center and they sent us the application form and health form to fill up. They are very responsive to queries and would often reply within the same day.

Some tips for if you would like to do this on your own:
1. Prepare money. It's CNY 700 for the volunteer program as of our visit.
2. You can take either the bus or the high speed train going to Dujiangyan. We took the train and spent only CNY 10 per person, but book your train tickets online if possible. The first train leaves at around 6:30am but we had to get on board the 7:50am train because it was full. Your passport will be required when purchasing tickets.
3. From the Dujiangyan station (Qingchengshan), take the bus 102 straight to the entrance of the Panda Valley (for CNY 2 per person). We took a taxi as we were rushing, and we were charged CNY 40.
4. It's possible to go on your own even if you speak 0 Chinese. Just come prepared with a digital or printed copy of the Chinese names of places (station names, Panda Valley, etc.).
Written August 29, 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Emmzie86
229 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Apr 2017 • Friends
If you love pandas this place is definitely worth visiting! From Chengdu the park is about a 1.5 -2 hour drive (traffic dependent).

I visited the Du Jiang Yan panda base in April 2017 with a group of five friends. We all participated on the volunteer programme which cost 700¥ per person (at the time of writing) and two of us also opted to do the panda photo experience, which was an additional 1800¥ per person (at the time of writing). Please note that these experiences need to be booked in advance as there are limited spaces (20 approximately) each day. Our spaces were reserved via Lily Chen from WestChinaGo who was excellent at helping us plan our trip to the park (see westchinago trip advisor review).

The volunteer programme was really fun and definitely worth the money as it enables you to get up close to the pandas and gain an insight into their daily upkeep. Before the activity commences you are provided with overalls and gloves which you need to wear throughout the day and it can get quite hot wearing these, particularly during the warmer weather so you should consider wearing lighter clothing underneath. Also it is advisable to wear sensible footwear, waterproof if possible. Activities include cleaning panda enclosures, feeding pandas, breaking bamboo, making panda bread and watching a panda documentary. Lunch is included, albeit basic and you get some free time to wander around the park at leisure. You are also able to take videos/ photos whilst feeding the pandas. Please note, you are required to fill in a health form which needs to be signed by a doctor prior to participating on the programme.

The panda photo experience is quite expensive admittedly, but I personally feel it was worth the money because you only live once right? and what an experience it is to get to sit next to and hold a panda!! Also, the money is actually a donation towards the park and pandas upkeep. You need to take your own camera/ phone along to the photograph session but staff are willing to take photos and/ videos on your behalf. The only criticism I have is that the experience is already very short but on the day my friend and I did it, they had over 30 people doing the photograph experience so we were told we would only get 15 seconds each with the panda. If however you can only afford to do one of these experiences, in my opinion the volunteer programme is a better overall experience and better value.

The park itself is lovely and tranquil. The panda enclosures are a good size and the pandas are well looked after unlike the animals found in Chinese zoos, which often look neglected and sad. The staff were really friendly and spoke good English. We all had such an amazing day out and I recommend visiting the park even if you do not do either of the experiences but make sure you get there early as the pandas are most active first thing in the morning.
Written May 10, 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

555Travelbug555
Seattle, WA67 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jun 2016 • Solo
I used a private guide to get there. It's 1.5 hours from Chengdu Airport and I had limited time. The volunteer program has to be planned and booked in advance. Also the picture taking with a panda, where you can sit next to, put your arm around a panda on a bench has to be booked in advance. It's 1800 RMB additional.

In the morning, we are divided into small groups of about 8 people (there were 28 total today). It took a long time to get started as there's alot of volunteers. we got our green long sleeved polos and changed. There are squat toilets upstairs, bring your toilet paper. They have small lockers for your bag. Then you bring your camera and water with you. I recommend having pockets to put your stuff in. I wasn't allowed to bring my purse with me. Make sure you go and take pictures of the mom and baby and the disabled panda before starting. I missed it and then during lunch they were all inside so I didn't get to see them.

Then you get on an open air tram to the panda enclosures. Ours had 4 enclosures. we were divided into groups. There were 4 of us in my enclosure and we picked up old bamboo and poop (it doesn't really smell because they are near vegetarians), while the pandas are in their cages. And then we split/broke bamboo by hitting it on the ground and put them in the enclosures. Then sweeped. Then the pandas get let back into their cleaned enclosure.

After we went to take our picture next to the panda. Not allowed to hold them anymore, and this panda was about 160lbs anyway. He is very tame, eating his bamboo and smiling often. I highly recommend it. It was literally 20 seconds for 1800 RMB. Then we went to feed a panda. It was in a cage and we fed her through the bars.

Then we had lunch, which I felt was substantial. It was spicy and mostly veggie which was good for me. Volume was definitely sufficient. Bring your own water. It's refillable in the volunteer office.

Then we watched a 50 minute video, that I already have watched on the internet. So I felt this was a big waste of time.

Then we went and made panda cakes and fed those again.

Overall the day was great. Ending at around 3pm. I wish it was longer and more time feeding the pandas. I would have liked more photo time with the panda also given the price of 20 seconds.

The staff were great and English speaking. They were very knowledgeable and approachable. Such an amazing fun day!
Written June 23, 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

VermontVt
VT113 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Oct 2016 • Couples
We had a fabulous day volunteering in Panda Valley all well organized for us by Lily at West China Go.

Lily helped us prepare for the day and everything went as promised we left our hotel at 7:00am and arrived at the valley before 9:00 we then spent a busy day helping with the pandas cleaning cages, raking up old bamboo and replacing it with new bamboo etc. even dealing with panda poop which was fine mostly u digested bamboo!

We got to hand feed the pandas carrots and panda cake and got to take pictures with the pandas.

Later we watched a great movie had lunch and made new panda cake.

It was a fun day well spent and so great to be able to be involved up close. We learnt so much about the pandas.

I would highly recommend Lily organizing your day if they want to do such an activity.
Written October 1, 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

jrdem11
318 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
May 2015 • Couples
My wife and I signed up for the one-day Panda Keeper Volunteer Program at Dujiangyan Panda Valley. We were not sure what to expect, but the program greatly exceeded our expectations. We were paired with a panda center staff person who escorted us around the facility and introduced us to the other staff members we would be working with. We had the opportunity to clean out panda cages, see an informative video about efforts to reintroduce pandas to the wild, eat lunch with the panda center workers and feed the pandas in the afternoon- a "panda cake" that was made of bamboo, rice, honey and other nutrients. Overall, a great learning experience that allowed up close interaction with the giant pandas. There was plenty of time to visit the enclosures where the giant pandas and red pandas live and take photos.

For an extra contribution, we were able to pose for pictures with a 1-1/2 year old panda. To ensure the safety of the panda, we were required to wear a surgical gown and gloves. A once in a lifetime experience.

The Dujiangyan Panda Valley facility is fairly new. We were impressed with the facility and professionalism of the staff and wished we could have spent more time there. This was the highlight of our China tour!
Written May 21, 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Arthur
Geneva, Switzerland359 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jun 2015 • Family
This base is much smaller than the one in ChengDu, as ChengDu has around 100 pandas and Dujiangyan has only 30, but here you can either apply to help taking care of the Pandas or to hold / hug / shake hands :-) with one of them.
The donations is RMB 1800 something around USD 250... Priceless.
Written June 6, 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

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