Sichuan

November 18, 2024November 10, 2024 Kirsten

Introduction to Wolong Shenshuping Giant Panda Base and Outer Ring House 1

I can’t believe I finally made it to the Wolong Shenshuping Giant Panda Base! Honestly, this felt like somewhere unachievable to get to, I never thought it would happen. I don’t love a long car ride, so I had been apprehensive about going here as it was made out to be a really long drive out, but actually it was only just over an hour from Dujiangyan city centre and the time passed pretty quickly (for me, an hour is my typical bus journey to work so that length is pretty normal) with pretty mountain views and chatting with my friend. Definitely start the trip from Dujiangyan if a long car ride is something you’d rather avoid. We left around 8AM on a weekday and the roads were surprisingly very quiet, there was almost no traffic stopping us at any part of the journey.

November 16, 2024October 12, 2024 Kirsten

China Diaries: May 2024 #5 ~ Dujiangyan City Strolls

With a lot of time in the Dujiangyan area, and the panda bases of course only open until the early evening, I had plenty of afternoon/evening time to explore Dujiangyan City properly for the first time. I loved doing this and really got my bearings and the geography of the city – my visits in 2016 and 2017 were very brief and with groups/being taken around to places so it was hard to get a feel for it then. Overall, it felt like a lovely laid back city, and not super large – easy to walk around the main tourist sights and also explore the local way of life there. I really enjoyed it and would definitely return again for a stay. It’s a great place to base yourself for a few days of panda-viewing, with the Dujiangyan Panda Base and Panda Valley both 20-30 minute drives away from the main city centre, and the Wolong Shenshuping Base just an hour into the mountains. Plus it’s only an hour from Chengdu (and the Chengdu Panda Base) by car, or a quick 20 minute train ride (although the station for this train is a little outside the Chengdu city centre) – so it’s very convenient for fellow panda fans!

November 13, 2024October 9, 2024 Kirsten

No3 Giant Panda House @ Panda Valley, May 2024

And the final panda area in Panda Valley is the No3 Giant Panda House! Here I saw two more pandas, both were outside on my visits, but there were also indoor areas – this was a good spot for a break, it was in the shade and nice and cool, plus plenty of spaces to sit down (there aren’t a lot of benches throughout the rest of the park). And it was quiet, there were only a couple of other people also enjoying the space when I was there. Onto the pandas:

November 11, 2024October 5, 2024 Kirsten

No2 Giant Panda House @ Panda Valley, May 2024

The next house in Panda Valley is the No2 Giant Panda House where another three pandas live – this was the one house where I didn’t really see much of the pandas, and actually is the only one where I’m not completely sure which pandas I did see! There were no signs on the inside enclosures, and I saw a panda in here on both days but I think it was the same panda. Then one outside yard had signs for 2 adult pandas, but I only saw 1 in here (it seems unlikely that two pandas of that age would be together in yard), and the second outdoor yard I didn’t see any pandas in! But hey, at least I saw some pandas XD

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