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Panda Volunteer Program: Conservation at Dujiangyan Base
4.9
97 Ratings
Dujiangyan
Immerse yourself in panda conservation at Dujiangyan Wolong Panda Base. Experience a full day program including panda food making, enclosures cleaning, and a documentary video. Optional volunteer program available.
Immerse yourself in panda conservation at Dujiangyan Wolong Panda Base. Experience a full day program including panda food making, enclosures cleaning, and a documentary video. Optional volunteer program available.
Duration:
9 hours
Cancellation:
24 hours
Highlights
- Dujiangyan Panda Base - 07:20 Pickup at your Chengdu hotel 07:20-08:50 Head to Panda Base 09:00 Change into volunteer outfit 09:30 Visiting the museum or the panda base/Smashing the bamboo 10:00-10:30 Preparing bamboo for panda, and watch the keeper to feed panda 11:00-12:00 Visiting the pandas 12:20-13:00 Lunch hour for volunteers 13:00-13:30…
- Dujiangyan Panda Base - 07:20 Pickup at your Chengdu hotel 07:20-08:50 Head to Panda Base 09:00 Change into volunteer outfit 09:30 Visiting the museum or the panda base/Smashing the bamboo 10:00-10:30 Preparing bamboo for panda, and watch the keeper to feed panda 11:00-12:00 Visiting the pandas 12:20-13:00 Lunch hour for volunteers 13:00-13:30 Making panda snacks 13:30-14:30 Viewing panda documentary 14:30-14:40 Return volunteer outfit 17:00 Arrival in Chengdu hotel where this tour is concluded *The itinerary is subject to change.
What's Included
- Bottled water included
- English-speaking tour guide provided
- Convenient transportation
- Lunch provided
- Bottled water included
- English-speaking tour guide provided
- Convenient transportation
- Lunch provided
What's Not Included
- Dinner
- Personal expense
- Gratuities
- Dinner
- Personal expense
- Gratuities
Additional Information
Dujianyan Panda Base is one of the few places in China that offers a panda volunteer program. The full-day program includes making panda food and features a documentary about releasing pandas into the wild. You will be accompanied by a professional panda expert who will introduce you to topics such as panda discovery, the history of pandas in China,…
Dujianyan Panda Base is one of the few places in China that offers a panda volunteer program. The full-day program includes making panda food and features a documentary about releasing pandas into the wild. You will be accompanied by a professional panda expert who will introduce you to topics such as panda discovery, the history of pandas in China, their classification, and conservation efforts. Dujiangyan Panda Base is committed to studying disease control and rescuing wild pandas, and your participation will help in the conservation of these endangered animals.
*Starting from April 25, 2024, panda volunteers will not be allowed to enter the panda enclosure, and the activities of cleaning the panda enclosures and collecting panda poop will be canceled.
*Any activities missed due to lateness will not be rescheduled, and guests will be responsible for the consequences.
- The panda base is non-specified. We will select a base with a small number of people on the day.(Dujiangyan/Yaan/Wolong)
- Group tour size 1-15 people.
- No physical contact like touching or holding pandas.
- Panda volunteering requirements: 8-70, healthy, no infectious diseases.
- During the holidays, we conduct the activity either at Wolong Panda Base or Ya’an Bifengxia Panda Base.
- A current valid passport is required on the day of travel.
- No perfume, no cologne, no nail polish, be healthy (don’t get cold).
- wear shoes (no slippers or Crocs)
- Sunscreen and sunglasses will be useful
Location
Dujiangyan Panda Base
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Customer Ratings
4.9
(97 Ratings)
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Joanna_k
Oct 1, 2024
great - I recently went on a trip that was absolutely fantastic. We had a wonderful time in panda base. Our guide was incredibly friendly and knowledgeable, making the experience even more enjoyable. Every moment was filled with excitement and joy, and I can’t wait to go on another adventure like this!
Review provided by Viator
Polly_anna_sg
Jul 22, 2024
Can't get enough of pandas at Wolong Panda Base - I brought my daughter to Chengdu to mainly see and experience pandas and the culture. So when I was looking around for panda base tours, there were so many popped up but once I started sending email to some of them, I knew My Panda Tours would be my best option. Catherine was the main reason I signed up for this tour, even though it's really expensive :)). Her prompt, honest and detailed reply for every questions I asked which gave me the necessary confident and reassurance.
Initially I wanted to go to Dujiangyan due to shorter distance from Chengdu city, but since the volunteer program only accepts 200 pax a day and I signed up too late, so they changed my tour destination to Wolong instead, without extra costs. Catherine also explained very well the difference between the two panda bases. I felt really comfortable to go ahead with the Wolong option. I also shared with Catherine that I wanted a Chinese speaking guide and she arranged June for us and June was amazing! My daughter and I really liked her. She told us many great, funny stories about pandas, and she was being very patient with us too as we stopped to watch every single panda there.
Also Catherine helped to arrange a female driver (forgot her name) for us as well, this really made me feel safe as the tour was only for my daughter and myself, I was worried about the long drive and the comfortness.
The only wish I had was to be able to get closer to the pandas and even take close up pictures with them through the volunteer program. However the panda base has stopped allowing volunteers to feed the pandas or be in their enclosure anymore since early this year. What a bummer! But this was already communicated through The Panda Tours website and clarified with Catherine too, so I didn't expect it. But at least we got to see the keeper there feeding a panda behind the enclosure. (They didn't allow to take any pictures though.)
Overall, I give a 5-star to The Panda Tours for the great experience we had! Thank you.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Purplebun
Apr 8, 2024
Highly recommended - Panda Base Volunteer Experience - Panda Base Volunteer Experience -
It was very assuring to have Mr Alvin Liu coordinate the Volunteer Experience at 2 Panda Bases. He has proven to be very prompt, experienced and helpful. Assigned Driver cum Guide Ms Nie is equally proficient with her knowledge of Pandas. She updated regularly on the sequence of programme (as per adjusted by Panda Base owing to weather, situation, etc). Perfect experience and highly recommended. A Certificate & some freebies are given by the Panda Base to mark the memories.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Gmt777
Dec 11, 2023
We are big panda fans! - I did this tour before in 2019. The minute I could return to Chengdu, I contacted Alvin for a similar tour with my friend. We really enjoyed ourselves! Our guide was very knowledgeable and you could tell they all love pandas very much. I would highly recommend this tour.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
10724
Dec 5, 2023
Alvin and team are a must to get proper advice - Alvin and his team are extremely helpful. We knew there were three panda bases but wasn't sure which one would be best to visit and he directed us well by advising us to go to one that would not be as crowded and would allow the volunteer program which we were interested in doing. The volunteer program was a great experience that gave us an opportunity to see the pandas from within 2 feet. One was actually trying to paw us to give him more food I guess. It was very cute. Another was watching us as we cleaned their enclosure. Alvin provided an english speaking guide which was extremely helpful and he gave us more insight into Pandas. I really realized how helpful Alvin was after we then subsequently visited other panda bases after visiting the one he recommended. The other ones were more crowded especially the Chengdu Panda base. However, the chengdu one had younger pandas which was a treat to see even if you had to fight to get a view. I highly recommend letting Alvin and his team help with making the plans to see pandas in china. You cannot really rely on what you read on the internet and in China almost nobody speaks english.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Joannajc4638vr
May 12, 2022
10/10 great experience - Nothing more to add, contacted Alvin very last minute, helped me (personally) to finish all tests I need. Punctual pickup, excellent knowledge, very nice company, was very lucky with weather and as was a week day not so much ppl, loooots of pictures HIGHLY RECOMMEND hopefully can do it once again ☺️
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Handofguido
Feb 1, 2022
Panda Heaven - This really exceeded my expectations. Alvin was very helpful with setting up everything through wechat and was very open and honest with pricing and setup. Since we speak Chinese, he even advised us that the tour guide was not necessary as the program includes a guide. Basically you take part in a 6-8 hour tour. The difference in timing depends on when the giant pandas want to eat. You start the morning with some cleanup (exclusive) then tour the complex with a tour guide explaining along the way, then you get to FEED A PANDA! This all happens at a leisurely pace until you reach lunchtime which you have at the canteen with the staff.
After lunch, there's a video which you can skip but actually, it's a good time to rest a bit as the morning start is very early. Afterward there may be some more cleanup or you might directly FEED THE PANDA AGAIN! Then you make some panda cakes and call it a day.
Extremely worth it!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Girlya
Dec 30, 2019
Bucketlist trip to see pandas - Apologies that this review is half a year late. Going to on this panda excursion this past june was an experience of a lifetime. We were so excited to finally see these creatures up close and personal. My daughter has been a fan of pandas as early as I can remember so this is high on her bucketlist. We were in chengdu for a wushu competition my son was competing at so I took this opportunity to also fit in a panda visit at chengdu. After doing some research, we decided to book through viator. We decided to go for the full zookeeper experience. Alvin, the tour manager was super quick to respond after booking and even checked in a few days prior to the date to confirm our plans. He even tried to help me with some questions I had outside of this panda tour booking. I didn't realize that our booking ended up being a private tour with a dedicated tour guide and driver picking us up right at our hotel. I always thought it was a group tour. But perhaps it wasn't peak season because upon our arrival, we were one of very few groups at the facility and the only ones doing the zookeeper experience. The trip to the sanctuary takes 2 hours for chengdu city so I was glad we weren't on a crowded group van. The zookeeper experience was well worth the extra money. Since we aren't able to take pictures with the pandas anymore, being able to feed them was the closest interaction we can have with them. My two kids, though slightly grossed out by cleaning panda poop, really enjoyed the experience. Our tour guide, heather, was super knowledgeable, friendly and great with my kids. She also helped us take so many photos during our tour. I would highly recommend this tour to anyone traveling through this area.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Adventure394611
Jan 6, 2020
Handwork and money to see Pandas! - Apologies that this review is little bit late. But it is a better experience if you had been to Chengdu panda base before. Nice guide and nice driver to stay with us for whole trip. Again, you are speeding lots of money and whole day time and your hard work to see the panda. If you don't have enough time, Chengdu panda base is another good choice. If you have time, you definitely could try it.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Brigittes235
Sep 2, 2024
Misleading - The description is very misleading, you don't do any volunteering, you spend about 10 minutes watching the keeper feeding the pandas in an area where you are not allowed to take any pictures. They show you an hour documentary on pandas and you get a T-shirt... you don't clean their enclosures. The day costs us a lot of money, we would have been better of to just visit the Panda base in Chengdu by ourselves. The only good thing about the day was our guide Andi, who was lovely.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
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