Sichuan Giant Panda Sanctuaries四川大熊猫栖息地 · Sìchuān Dàxióngmāo Qīxīdì — the wild home of the giant panda
A vast mountain refuge west of Chengdu — seven nature reserves and nine scenic parks across the Qionglai and Jiajin ranges — that shelters more than 30% of the world's endangered wild giant pandas, alongside red pandas, snow leopards and a botanical treasury.
The mountains the panda still needs.
The Sichuan Giant Panda Sanctuaries — seven nature reserves and nine scenic parks covering 924,500 ha in the Qionglai and Jiajin Mountains — are home to more than 30% of the world's highly endangered giant pandas. The sanctuaries also shelter red pandas, snow leopards, clouded leopards and one of the richest concentrations of plant species outside the tropics.
This is the wild counterpoint to the city panda bases: not enclosures but the bamboo-forested mountain habitat the species actually depends on, a refugee landscape from the last ice age where giant pandas survived while other megafauna vanished.
A serial listing of protected areas — you don't 'tour' it as one park. Most travellers see pandas at the linked Chengdu-area breeding centres (Dujiangyan, Wolong) rather than tracking them in the wild.
A landscape, not a single park.
This is a serial listing of protected mountain areas — the pandas' wild habitat — rather than one gated attraction. Where you can actually get close to pandas is the linked breeding centres.
Wolong National Nature Reserve 卧龙
The core reserve and the heart of panda research, with the Shenshuping breeding base rebuilt in the mountains after the 2008 earthquake.
Mt Siguniang & Jiajin scenic parks 四姑娘山・夹金山
High peaks, meadows and gorges in the western ranges — spectacular alpine scenery within the sanctuaries.
Dujiangyan panda base 都江堰熊猫谷
The easiest place near the sanctuaries to see pandas, an hour from Chengdu and the base of the popular volunteer program.
Where to actually see pandas.
Casual visitors head to the breeding bases at the edge of the sanctuaries. These are the realistic options.
Tap or hover a photo for access details.
Dujiangyan Panda Base 都江堰基地
An hour from Chengdu, calmer than the city base, and home to the (often sold-out) panda-keeper volunteer program.From Chengdu ~1 h · Book ahead
Wolong Shenshuping Base 卧龙神树坪
Deep in the mountains, the largest research base — more pandas in a wilder setting, ~2.5 h from the city.From Chengdu ~2.5 h
Mount Siguniang 四姑娘山
The 'Four Girls Mountain' — glaciated peaks and alpine valleys in the sanctuaries' west, for trekking rather than pandas.Where western ranges
Spring and autumn, cooler for the pandas.
Spring and autumn are comfortable and the pandas are livelier in the cooler air; they nap through summer heat. Morning feeding times are when they're most active — go early whichever base you choose.
Manage expectations: this listing is habitat, not a zoo. You won't see wild pandas roaming — they're solitary and elusive. Book a breeding base (Dujiangyan or Wolong) for a near-certain sighting, go at the morning feeding, and treat the wider sanctuaries as spectacular mountain scenery.
For foreign travelers.
- To see pandas, book a breeding base (Dujiangyan or Wolong) rather than expecting the wild reserves.
- Go at the morning feeding (around opening) — pandas nap by mid-morning, especially in summer.
- The Dujiangyan base runs a keeper-for-a-day volunteer program that sells out; book well ahead.
- Combine the Dujiangyan base with the Dujiangyan/Qingcheng UNESCO site nearby. See our Chengdu guide.