To see Giant Pandas is the must-do thing while you are touring in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China. Except for normal visit to see the pandas outside the breeding house, you can also get closer look to the pandas by holding pandas or doing volunteering work in Giant Panda Base in Chengdu.
Located about 67 kilometers away from Chengdu downtown, Dujiangyan Panda Base was open to the public in recent years. The main function of the Dujiangyan base is the giant panda's nursing and disease control. There are Giant Panda volunteering program available in Dujiangyan panda Base in Chengdu, Sichuang Province. You will have a rare chance to be a volunteer here to take care of pandas and get to know the daily life of pandas there.
Highlights of Panda Volunteering Tour Program
• Get a close look at giant pandas while donating your time
• Learn the living environment of Giant Pandas
• Help to feed pandas
There are two options of Panda volunteer programs in Dujiangyan Base for visitors to take part in. One is one-day Panda volunteer program and the other is two-day Panda volunteer program. Take part in our Giant Panda volunteering program in Dujiangyan Base to see: how do pandas live? What do pandas eat? Why are pandas endangered and how are they protected?
How Does One-day Panda Volunteer Program Work?
Be picked up by your tour guide and driver from your hotel lobby in Chengdu in the early morning. Then be driven to Dujiangyan Panda Base (about 1.5 hours’ driving). As you are supposed to arrive at the panda base at around 8:30am, you need to depart from Chengdu quite early. Upon your arrival, your one-day Panda volunteering work starts. The general arrangement of the day would be made like the following.
8:30am - 9:00am Be met by the staff who serve at the base. Then be guided and walk to the Giant Panda Volunteer Service Center to sign up the “Pandas Volunteering Experience Security Protocols”. You need to do registering for your volunteering work. As your volunteering session officially starts, you will receive a uniform(Sterile gown, mask, hat and gloves) and meet the panda keepers who introduce you the procedures of the program (how to care for pandas and the guidelines for working with them) and do safety training.
9:00am - 10:00am You will get to know what a panda keeper does every day by clean Pandas’ enclosures, including clean the bamboo leftover of pandas and panda poop. During the cleaning, you learn to observe the living environment and state of pandas.
10:00am - 11:00am Under the guidance of the instructors in the base, you are going to have a short tour to the villa area set for pandas.
11:00am - 11:30am Feed the pandas with specially-made Wowotou (a kind of steamed bread) and fruit
12:00pm - 13:00pm Enjoy a simple lunch in the canteen with Giant Panda guardians or opt to buy lunch at a local restaurant run by farmers before having a rest for the afternoon’s work.
13:00pm - 14:00pm Enjoy watching a documentary film about pandas, to learn how pandas are protected and how pandas are getting well along with human beings.
14:00pm - 14:50pm Feed the pandas with specially-made Wowotou (a kind of steamed bread) and fruit again.
14:50pm - 15:50pm Panda nutritionist introduces the recipe of the specially-made Wowotou in details first. Then under the guidance of nutritionist, volunteers learn to make Wowotou for pandas.
After that, the one-day Panda volunteer program ends. You will be transferred back to your hotel in Chengdu downtown.
Note: the above schedule of volunteer program is subjected to make appropriate adjustment according to the actual situation of the day.
How Does Two-day Panda Volunteer Program Work?
• First Day
Be picked up by your tour guide and driver from your hotel lobby in Chengdu in the early morning. Then be driven to Dujiangyan Panda Base (about 1.5 hours’ driving). As you are supposed to arrive at the panda base at around 8:30am, you need to depart from Chengdu quite early. Upon your arrival, the one-day Panda volunteering work starts.
8:30am - 9:00am Be met by the staff who serve at the base. Then be guided and walk to the Giant Panda Volunteer Service Center to sign up the “Pandas Volunteering Experience Security Protocols”. You need to do registering for your volunteering work. As your volunteering session officially starts, you will receive a uniform(Sterile gown, mask, hat and gloves) and meet the panda keepers who introduce you the procedures of the program (how to care for pandas and the guidelines for working with them) and do safety training.
9:00am - 10:00am Clean Pandas’ enclosures, including clean the bamboo leftover of pandas and panda poop. During the cleaning, you learn to observe the living environment and state of pandas.
10:00am - 11:00am Panda nutritionist introduces the recipe of the specially-made Wowotou (a kind of steamed bread) in details first. Then under the guidance of nutritionist, volunteers learn to make Wowotou for pandas.
11:00am - 11:30am Feed the pandas with specially-made Wowotou (a kind of steamed bread) and fruit
11:30am - 12:30pm Enjoy a simple lunch in the canteen with Giant Panda guardians or opt to buy lunch at a local restaurant run by farmers
12:30pm - 13:00pm Take a break with a leisurely walk around the base freely or have a short rest in Volunteering Service Center
13:00pm - 14:00pm enjoy watching a documentary film about pandas, to learn how pandas are protected and how pandas are getting well along with human beings.
14:00pm - 14:30pm Help to feed the pandas
14:30pm - 15:30pm Under the guidance of instructors, you would have a tour to visit different panda houses in the base to see the adorable pandas.
15:30pm - 16:30pm Have a painting lesson to learn to draw pandas.
After that, the activity for the first day ends. You will be transferred back to your hotel in Chengdu downtown.
• Second Day
Be picked up by your tour guide and driver from your hotel lobby in Chengdu in the early morning. Then be driven to Dujiangyan Panda Base (about 1.5 hours’ driving). Upon your arrival, the second-day Panda volunteering work starts.
8:30am - 9:00am Go to the volunteer service center to change uniform.
9:00am - 10:00am Clean Pandas’ enclosures, including clean the bamboo leftover of pandas and panda poop. During the cleaning, you learn to observe the living environment and state of pandas.
10:00am - 10:30am Visit the display of stories and basic knowledge about panda rescuing. You will be introduced how a panda doctor rescue an injured or ailing panda, how a captive panda is trained with re-wilding training session and released into the wild.
10:30am - 11:00am Under the guidance of instructor of the base, you will have a tour to the Red Panda House and get to know the knowledge about Pandas’ food competitors and predators.
11:00am - 11:30am Help to feed pandas.
11:30am - 12:30pm Enjoy a simple lunch in the canteen with Giant Panda guardians or opt to buy lunch at a local restaurant run by farmers
12:30pm - 13:00pm Take a break with a leisurely walk around the base freely or have a short rest in Volunteering Service Center
13:00pm - 14:00pm Under the guidance of instructor of the base, learn to practice Chinese calligraphy and play Chinese chess
14:00pm - 14:30pm Help to feed pandas
14:30pm - 15:30pm Take part in a lecture about basis knowledge of pandas
15:30pm - 16:00pm After the lecture, fill in a questionnaire sheet about pandas and select winners. The winners can get rewards.
16:00pm - 16:30pm The two-day volunteering program ends. All the volunteers receive a volunteer certificate to commemorate the two meaningful days before your ride back to your hotel in Chengdu
Note: the above schedule of volunteer program is subjected to make appropriate adjustment according to the actual situation of the day.
Taking part in Panda volunteer program in Dujiangyan Base in Chengdu will help you get close to and learn more about China Giant Panda. If you are interested in it, please kindly contact us to make the arrangement for you.