5-Day Panda Conservation & Sichuan Mountain Ecology Study

Morning — Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding
Visit this panda sanctuary, established in 1987, to see endangered giant pandas in leafy, naturalistic enclosures and learn about the breeding and conservation work that has helped grow their population. A short included presentation explains the center's research and how visitors can support panda protection.

Lunch — at your leisure
Lunch is at your own arrangement around the morning visit.

Afternoon — Jinli Ancient Town
Wander Jinli, a restored Qing-Dynasty-style street where cobblestone lanes, traditional courtyard shops, and teahouses recreate old Chengdu. Watch Sichuan opera or shadow-puppet performances and try local snacks such as chua bing (twisted dough sticks) or sweet osmanthus rice cakes.

Dinner — Yunlai Shuiji Restaurant
Enjoy classic Sichuan dishes like mapo tofu and dan dan noodles in a restored Qing Dynasty courtyard setting.

Evening — at your leisure
The evening is yours to relax at your hotel.

Morning - the base and the shift briefing
The three bases around Chengdu do different jobs and are worth understanding before you work at one. The Bifengxia base at Ya'an, opened in 2003, is the breeding and nursery centre of the Chinese conservation and research centre, and many animals were moved there after the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake damaged the Wolong facilities. Shenshuping, in the Wolong reserve at around 1,700 metres, is the rebuilt Wolong base and works closely with the surrounding reserve. The Dujiangyan base west of Chengdu opened in the early 2010s with a strong role in quarantine, veterinary care and preparation for release. Volunteer places are allocated by each base separately; where you work is decided by availability on your dates, not by preference.

Late morning - bamboo, food and water
The first shift covers the animals' food. Bamboo is delivered by species and age, because pandas are selective and will reject stems that are too woody or too young; volunteers weigh and distribute it, clean and refill the water troughs, and help prepare the supplementary ration - a steamed cake of corn, soybean, rice and a little egg, sugar and salt - which supplies protein and minerals that a pure bamboo diet does not. Nothing is fed by hand, and all work is done in the service areas rather than in occupied enclosures.

Lunch
Base staff canteen.

Afternoon - hygiene round and a behaviour scan
The afternoon covers cleaning and disinfection in the yards and houses the animals have been moved out of, and the collection of leftover bamboo and droppings - a keeper's droppings count is a crude but real measure of how much an animal is eating, because pandas digest only a small fraction of what they take in. Volunteers then run a simple behaviour scan with the keeper: every five minutes for an hour, record what the animal is doing - feeding, resting, moving, climbing, interacting - on a prepared sheet. The point is not to produce research but to see how much of a panda's day is spent eating and how little of it is the playing, tumbling image the species is sold on.

Note on access
Tasks are assigned by the keepers and change with the day. Volunteer numbers at each base are capped, some bases do not accept foreign volunteers at all, and the programme can be reduced during the nursery season, during disease-control measures or in extreme heat. Where work is not possible we run the education-centre programme instead and explain why.

Meals
Breakfast, Lunch

Accommodation
In Chengdu.

Morning — Dujiangyan Irrigation System
Discover the Dujiangyan Irrigation System, a 2,200-year-old UNESCO World Heritage Site built to tame the Min River. Its ingenious channels, embankments, and spillways, made with nothing more than bamboo, stones, and skilled labor, still control flooding and water the fields of the Sichuan plain. Walk across the Anlan Cable Bridge to appreciate the scale of this enduring engineering marvel.

Afternoon — Qingcheng Mountain
Hike Qingcheng Mountain, a Taoist sanctuary shrouded in misty forests and long revered as a birthplace of Taoism. Visit the Tianshi Cave, associated with the origins of the Taoist tradition, and savor Taoist vegetarian dishes at a hillside temple. The serene paths and forested slopes make an ideal setting for quiet reflection.

Evening — At Your Leisure
The evening is yours to enjoy at your leisure back in Chengdu.

Morning - transects and why elevation matters
Drive north-west to the wooded slopes of the Qingchengshan range, where the foothills of the Sichuan basin rise into the Qionglai mountains. The day is built on a simple fact of panda ecology: bamboo is everywhere in these hills, but pandas are not. They need the right species, a dense understorey they can move through, a canopy that keeps the bamboo from drying out, and slopes within their preferred range. Different bamboo species grow at different altitudes and a changing climate shifts those bands uphill, which is why survey work at the plot level matters. Field rules are set out before you start: stay on the marked line, take nothing, leave nothing, and record what you cannot identify.

Late morning - the plots
Lay out small square plots - five metres by five is enough for this exercise - at three elevations, and work through a standard sheet. Identify the bamboo genus where you can: the high-altitude Fargesia and Bashania types characterise the habitat that pandas depend on in these mountains, while Chimonobambusa and Phyllostachys grow lower down. Count the culms in the plot, measure the height and the diameter of a sample, estimate the percentage of ground covered by bamboo, and record the canopy above and the other shrubs and herbs present. Then look for evidence of animal use: chewed culm stubs, feeding sites with the leaf littered in a ring, droppings, and tracks in soft ground.

Lunch
A packed field lunch, carried in and carried out.

Afternoon - data, then back to the city
Finish the third plot, pool the results and look for the pattern - where cover was densest, where the culms were thickest, and where animal sign appeared. The instructor then explains how a real survey turns plots like these into a habitat map, how the fourth national panda survey used a combination of sign counts and DNA from droppings, and why the answer to "how many pandas are left" always comes with a confidence range. Return to Chengdu, enter the day's data into a shared sheet, and discuss what could be improved if the survey were repeated.

If conditions do not allow
The field day needs dry weather, safe trails and a permit where the land lies inside a protected area. Rain, landslide risk or an unapproved route moves the day into the Qingchengshan scenic area on established paths, or to a supervised session at the panda base.

Meals
Breakfast, Lunch

Accommodation
In Chengdu.

Morning — Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding
At the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, observe playful cubs munching bamboo and climbing trees in spacious enclosures. Your visit also introduces the conservation efforts working to protect this beloved endangered species, from breeding programs to habitat protection.

Lunch — Sichuan Hotpot
Feast on Sichuan hotpot at Haidilao, where numbing peppercorns and fiery broths ignite the senses. Cooking fresh ingredients at the table makes for a lively, interactive meal.

Afternoon — Jinli Ancient Street
Explore Jinli Ancient Street, a Tang Dynasty-style lane lined with tea houses, snack stalls, and artisan workshops. It is a pleasant place to browse local crafts and soak up Chengdu's relaxed pace.

Evening — Sichuan Opera
Cap the day with a Sichuan opera performance, featuring face-changing performers and fire-spitting acts. The show highlights one of the region's most distinctive theatrical traditions.