China is the homeland of pandas and currently the only place where you can experience being a volunteer .Through firsthand experience of caring for pandas, you can gain a deeper understanding of the challenges pandas face and enhance your awareness of panda conservation and global endangered animals. Also, you will gain a deeper respect and understanding for the hard work that goes into animal protection.
Dujiangyan Panda Base is the closest base to Chengdu. The unforgettable opportunity will give you the chance to personally prepare food for these fluffy giant pandas and observe them eating up close. Additionally, you will get more interesting information from your guide who is even familiar with every panda of the base.
The Dujiangyan Panda Base will be closed for renovations from late April to July 2025. If you want to experience panda volunteering, you can choose Wolong Panda Base or Bifengxia Panda Base.
Tour Highlights
Watch the keeper feeding a panda at a very close distance.
Learn and experience preparing bamboo for pandas.
Make cakes in different shapes for the pandas.
Receive a unique certificate issued proving your love for pandas.
Discover real reviews of Highlights Travel Family's best-rated service across trusted platforms.
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Evan was an amazing tour guide.
Evan was an amazing tour guide. Very friendly and english was perfect. He did a great job of explaining to us the history of china as well as his experience with his family and their traditions. We did the panda experience as well as the jiuzhaigou national park. We brought 3 kids with our group and we were a total of 7. He was patient with our kids and kept them entertained. Evan made a suggestion of visiting a local tea house since our itinerary was tight and he was incredibly thoughtful and made our experience seamless. more
Apr 2025, Ashley Murray
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Best Tour Guide
We had an amazing time exploring Chengdu with Fifi as our tour guide. She is very professional, knowledgeable and incredibly friendly. Her deep understanding of local history, culture and food made our trip truly unforgettable. Throughout the trip, Fifi was patient, attentive to our needs and always made sure we were comfortable and well taken care of to the smallest details. If you’re planning a trip to Chengdu, we highly recommend booking a tour with Fifi - she will definitely make your visit truly special! more
Mar 2025, Mark
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Enjoyable short stay in Chengdu
Although we only had half a day in Chengdu, Evan, our guide, made sure we had a great time at the Panda Breeding and research centre, feeding us little interesting nuggets of information about pandas throughout the tour. The Szechuan hot pot was also very enjoyable. Thoroughly enjoyable experience! more
Mar 2025, Del S
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Suggested Itinerary
Your guide will call you at your hotel one day in advance or will leave a message to confirm the collection time with you. You will be picked up at around 7:15 am from your hotel. After arrival at the panda base, sign up and get a uniform. Your guide will introduce you to the professional panda keepers. The panda keepers can speak simple English but your guide will be there for you at all times, helping to translate.
Panda volunteers need to supply fresh bamboo three times a day. You will break bamboo and wash some bamboo shoots for pandas with the panda keepers. And then clean the glass of their enclosures.
Take a break and tour around the panda base. Our guides are veritable panda lovers — they are familiar with the base and know a lot about pandas. Some of them have even hosted a live cam feed about pandas on Facebook and YouTube.
There are about 10 pandas at the base and some of them are overseas returnees, including the most popular Tai Shan and Bao Bao, who arrived from the US. You will also have the chance to meet four naughty red pandas.
Dine with the panda keepers at the staff canteen at the panda base.
During this time, you'll gain an understanding of the working conditions of panda caretakers, basic panda knowledge, and the ultimate goal of panda conservation.
Having seen the panda keeper feeding the pandas with panda cakes, aren't you curious as to how they are made? It is time to make some panda cakes with your own hands. The ingredients will be prepared in advance. Get creative about the shapes of the cakes. You will also cut the bamboo leaves into small pieces for old pandas
The volunteer work ends here and you will receive a certificate for this unforgettable day. Say goodbye to the pandas you have taken care of. Your guide and driver will escort you back to your hotel in Chengdu and you will arrive at abou4:00 pmpm.
Trip Notes
1. Booking Panda Volunteer Program
As the first tour company in China to operate the program, China Highlights has developed a stable relationship with the Dujiangyan Panda Base. Sometimes the program is subject to change due to force majeure. Usually, we can get first-hand information that will be very helpful in your tour arrangement. Your early booking is also useful to guarantee the availability of the program. Sometimes the activities listed in the description will be adjusted according to the health condition of the pandas. Hope customers can understand this.
2. Age Limit
The age restriction of volunteers is between 10 to 70 years old. Even though the pandas look harmless, they are carnivores. Parents must ensure that they prevent their children from coming into direct contact with the pandas. The cost for children of 10 years old and above is the same as the cost for adults. If your children are between 0–9 years old, you can still take them with you during the program. The children can not enter the room where the panda cage is. Your guide can help take care of them if you like.
3. Dress Code
Certain pavements in the base can be very wet and slippery. To avoid slipping, please do not wear short pants or slippery footwear. Also, pandas have a very keen sense of smell. As you will get very close to them during the tour, please do not wear perfume or nail polish. Our sincere thanks for your extra care and respect towards the pandas.
4. Transportation Suggestions
If you need to catch a flight or train after the program, flights departing after 8 pm or trains departing after 7 pm are recommended. For international flights, flights after 9 pm are suggested. If your flight or train leaves earlier than the recommended times above, you may need to skip some arrangements in the afternoon and head earlier to the airport or train station.
Tour Price
Price includes: