Volunteer at the Panda Research Centre at Befengxia, Sichuan Province, SW China

A rough guide for this sample tour is £1,805.00 per person including International flights.

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. Stay with a local family in their own home in rural Sichuan before venturing along the Great Wall in Beijing prior to your journey home.

Eco-tourism a definition: A form of tourism that appeals to the ecologically and socially conscious. Eco-tourism focuses on local culture, wilderness adventures, volunteering and would typically involve travel to destinations where cultural heritage are the primary attractions.

Thank you Hannah for this, the many photos and all your help.

The trip is an exciting hands-on experience. Volunteer in the Befengxia Panda Reserve near Chengdu to help the Pandas and stay with a local family in their own home in the countryside of Sichuan. This tour is tailor made please chop and change any parts of it as you wish.

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

In Chengdu you will spend two days working at the Befengxia Panda Base, it is situated 8kms from Ya'an City and 150kms from Chengdu. This is a fascinating opportunity for you to experience the conservation work which is being done here to ensure the future of these wonderful creatures and to learn more about them.

Fengtongzhyai Nature Reserve

Xiaoxitian hostel, located inside the Befengxia Panda base

A visit to Fengtongzhyai Nature Reserve is your chance to see Panda in the wild; whilst they are hard to spot - if you are lucky it’s an experience never forgotten. Then you will visit Hui Long Village and stay overnight with a family in their own home. 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!

Day	Schedule	Hotel (please click on link)	Meals
1	Fly to Beijing Catch your connecting flight to Chengdu.
2	Arrive Chengdu. Upon arrival you will be met by your guide and transferred to the Tourist Host centre at the Befengxia Panda Base in Ya’an. This transfer will take approx 3 hours, take in the Countryside of Sichuan Province. Relax and settle in and then enjoy a Traditional Hot pot dinner with your English-speaking guide.	Xiaoxitian hostel
3-4	Panda Reserve Centre. Today you will begin your volunteer work where you will be required to do the following tasks ; Prepare food for the pandas such as apples, panda bread and carrots. Carry lots of bamboo! Serve the Pandas food and clean their enclosures. Observe and research helping the scientists to collect behaviour data. You may also help with the administration and provide some medical care. There will also be plenty of time just to watch and photograph the pandas.	Xiaoxitian hostel	D
5	Fengtongzhai Nature Reserve. Today you will visit the Fengtongzhai Nature Reserve. About 140 giant pandas live in the Fengtongzhai Nature Reserve in Baoxing County. This is where the world's first giant panda was discovered in 1869. Here we will help you to try to find a Panda in the wild. In the afternoon visit Shangli Old Town. This is a venture into rural Sichuan. (You can easily stay in the Old town for a few nights if you would prefer not to stay with a family, either way we are determined to show you typical daily life in the countryside).	Xiaoxitian hostel	B/L/D
6	Homestay. In the morning you will be transferred to the Home stay on the way we will take you to visit a local countryside market. Upon arrival you will be met by the Zhang family, enjoy a home cooked welcome dinner with the family and your guide. The family will show you around their small hamlet and a typical day in their lives.	The Zhang Family, Hui Long Village	B/L/D
7	Chengdu. In the morning we will return to Chengdu and visit a traditional local tea house. Experience many different flavours. We also visit Wangjiang Park, the famous Wide and Narrow Folk Street. In the afternoon we will transfer you to the airport for your flight to Beijing. Upon arrival you will be met and transferred to your hotel. This Hotel is set in one of the few remaining Hutong districts of Old Beijing.	Bamboo Garden	B/L
8	Beijing. An early start is required here as we visit the quieter section of the Great wall at Mutianyu. On the way back to the hotel we stop at the Ming Tombs (including the Sacred Road & Changling Tomb).	Bamboo Garden	B/L
9	Beijing - UK. Time at leisure until we transfer you at the relevant time to the airport for your return flight to London.	Bamboo Garden	B

Price Guide from £1,805.00 per person (This depends on the time of year and flight costs)

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 also to see typical life in the countryside while based in Shangli for one or more nights.

The Guest house and main street at the "Shangli Old Town", overnight here or at the home-stay or of course both places.

Some Extra Information

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.

Proud staff at the Panda research base at Befengxia, Sept 2009

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 3 good meals 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 there experiences so please ask if you would like to be put in touch with them.

Picture from Jacky Hampton