China

March 3, 2025January 12, 2025 Kirsten

The 5 PANDA BASES in Sichuan Province – a summary on visiting + what’s next when you’ve seen it all!

I can finally tick off the list seeing all of the Panda bases in Sichuan Province, or more specifically in the Chengdu area! When I had the dream of seeing all the bases, I don’t think I intended to see them all on one trip, but that somehow managed to happen (although I’ve seen some on multiple previous trips too) – and I think it was completely worth it. When I was first looking up about seeing pandas in China, and even on more recent trips, I could never really find one resource that covered all of the bases – or even where they all were, especially somewhere that wasn’t a tour company. So hopefully this is something I can contribute to with this post summarising all 5 of the main giant panda bases in Sichuan Province that you can reach from Chengdu – covering the pros and cons of each, perhaps helping you figure out what might be the best option for what you want to see of pandas!

February 17, 2025January 20, 2025 Kirsten

China Diaries: May 2024 #8 ~ Chengdu>Hong Kong

Onto the final part of my trip – time to visit Hong Kong for the first time! I had a great few days in Chengdu to round up my time in mainland China. When I was looking at flights, there are no options from Chengdu directly back to Europe, so I was going to need to transfer somewhere like Shanghai or Beijing – I’d already started my trip in Shanghai, and I was in Beijing back in September 2023, so I had a look around and found Hong Kong was an option. With both pandas and Disney to see, I was sold!

February 15, 2025January 19, 2025 Kirsten

Cloud Moon Pavilion (Panda Creek Valley) @ Chengdu Panda Base, May 2024

Onto the final house in the Panda Creek Valley, and the final post on Chengdu Panda Base for this trip series – the Cloud Moon Pavilion. There are 3 outdoor and 2 indoor enclosures in this pavilion, and currently there are 3 pandas listed as living here. On my visit I saw the same two pandas on both days of my visit, and both of them still live in the pavilion currently.

February 12, 2025January 19, 2025 Kirsten

Autumn + Mountain Moon Pavilions (Panda Creek Valley) @ Chengdu Panda Base, May 2024

I’ve paired the next pavilions together – the Autumn and Mountain Moon Pavilions in the Panda Creek Valley. I didn’t spend as much time here, generally it was later afternoon and there was a lot of sleeping or low-activity pandas when I got there, but I did at least see pandas! As with all pandas, the morning is probably best. From looking at the app now, it does seem like this area now focuses on older pandas, so this isn’t so much the spot to view cubs or groups of young ones together at. The Autumn Moon Pavilion has 3 outdoor and 2 indoor enclosures, while the Mountain Moon as 4 outdoor and 2 indoor enclosures. These pavilions currently have 5 and 4 pandas respectively living in them.