Work at the Panda Reserve, Home Stay experience, Look for wild Pandas, Visit The Great Wall, Experience the Beauty of rural Sichuan Help the Pandas

This trip is an exciting hands on experience. Spend a few days working alongside staff at the Panda Research Centre in Befengxia near Chengdu as a volunteer. You will also have the opportunity to try to view the Giant Pandas in the wild in the countryside.

In Chengdu you will spend two days working at the Befengxia Panda Base which is part of the Wolong Panda Reserve, it is situated 8kms from Ya’an City and 150kms from Chengdu. Bifengxia base was opened in 2003, it was the biggest artificial migration of captive-bred giant panda’s ever seen. After the earthquake on 12 May 2008, 53 pandas were sent from Wolong to Bifengxia, many panda babies have since been born. This is a fascinating opportunity for you to experience the conservation work which is being carried out here to ensure the future of these wonderful creatures and to learn more about them.

A visit to Fengtongzhyai Nature Reserve is your chance to see Panda’s in the wild, whilst they are hard to spot – if you are lucky it’s an experience never forgotten. What we can guarantee is a perfect insight into rural South West China.

Then you will visit Hui Long Village and stay overnight with a family in their own home (this is Jun’s sisters family, Jun started Sanya China Travel with Kevin in 2005). This is a genuine chance to experience village life. Your hosts will show you around the village and you will eat with them as part of the family. Finally you return to Beijing and visit The Great Wall of China!

Wild Panda Watch!

We can only offer you a 10% chance of success. However you will gain a perfect insight into the Panda’s natural habitat during you time at the Nature reserve. Late December to May are generally the best months to search for pandas in the wild. However this tour is available all year round.

Panda Volunteers Needed!

As a volunteer you will be required to prepare food for the pandas such as apples, bread and carrots. You may be asked to collect or carry bamboo. You will almost certainly be serving them food and cleaning their enclosures. Observing, research tasks and helping provide medical care are also important. You will also have plenty of time just to watch and photograph the pandas.

We have worked closely with the Sichuan Tourism Organisation and the Panda Research Institute to perfect this tour. This tour and your continued support has and will benefit the various research programmes in terms of your valued time and the revenue it generates.

You will have to meet some basic medical criteria to be accepted. You will be made to feel very welcome by our guides and the staff at the research base.

Whist volunteering at the reserve you will stay in the Xiaoxitian guesthouse, which is located at the Befengxia Panda base in the mountains. All the normal facilities of a small guest house are available to you. You will have 3meals in the restaurant; the food is typical Chinese and will contain a variety of delicious dishes.

Please note we have many clients who have taken this tour, or variations of it, they are happy to talk to you about their experiences so please ask if you would like to be put in touch with them.

For a more detailed itinerary of this tour please send us an email info@sanyachinatravel.com
or phone us on 01256 863030

Day 1

Fly to Beijing where you catch your connecting flight bound for Chengdu the capital of Sichuan province.

Day 2

Arrive Chengdu. Transfer to the Panda base, relax and settle in. Traditional Hot Pot dinner. Four nights at the Xiaoxitian guesthouse.

Day 3

Panda Reserve volunteer work.

Day 4

Panda Reserve volunteer work.

Day 5

Today visit the Fengtongzhai Nature Reserve. Here with a packed lunch and an English speaking guide you will try to find a Panda in the wild. In the afternoon visit the Shangli Old Town.

Day 6

Transfer to your Home stay for one night, on the way we will visit a local countryside market. Your host family will show you around the Hamlet and you will have dinner with them. (If you don’t want to stay at the home stay then the Guest house in Shangli is very traditional and equally comfortable, we can arrange for you to also see typical life in the countryside while based in Shangli for one or more nights.)

Day 7

Return to Chengdu and visit a traditional local tea house, Wangjiang Park and the Wide and Narrow Folk Street. In the afternoon fly to Beijing. Stay at the Bamboo Garden for two nights (see our accommodation section on page 36) and visit the Hutongs (traditional streets of Old Peking).

Day 8

Visit the Great Wall at the quieter Mutianyu section.

Day 9

Return flight.

Day 10

Today travel to Gyantse and surrounding areas. En route visit the Yamdrok Lake.

Day 11

Sightseeing around Gyantse to include Pelkor Monastery, Gyantse Kumbum and the Old Fort.

Day 12

Return to Lhasa by car. Rest of the day at leisure.

Day 13

Morning at leisure in Lhasa. Fly to Xi'an.

Day 14

Full day tour of The Ancient City Wall, Muslim Quarter and The Terracotta Warriors.

Day 15

Fly to Shanghai. Evening boat ride on the Huangpu River to witness the famous light show at the Bund and view the city skyline at night.

Day 16

Today counter balance the hustle and bustle of China's second city by taking in the Beautiful Yuyuan Gardens and the Jade Buddha Temple.

Day 17

Return flight.

Red - Plane, Green - Train, Black - Automobile, Blue - Boat