Photos and TV programs just can’t capture that feeling when you see your first Giant Panda in real life… especially when there are 187 of the incredibly cute black and white creatures to see in the 160-acre Chengdu Research Centre for Giant Panda Breeding, or the Chengdu Panda Reserve for short.
How to get to the Chengdu Panda Research Centre
It’s now so much easier to get to the Panda Research Centre with the extension of the red Line 3 and the construction of the new Panda Avenue metro station. You can tell that you’ve arrived at the Panda station as there are panda images everywhere!
We paid 4Y each from Xinnanmen metro station, conveniently also on Line 3 and right beside the Xinnanmen Tourist Bus Terminal.
It is marked clearly on Maps.Me – A great app for travel anywhere in the world!
Where to buy tickets and how much does it cost?
We’d received advice from friends, so knew to buy the tickets once we’d arrived at Panda Avenue Metro station – just come out at Exit A and buy from the Hi Panda centre.
The tickets were 55Y each, cheaper than the 58Y mentioned in guide books, and included a free bus to the Centre – we wanted the black and white bus with the panda seat covers but had the last 2 seats on the yellow bus instead. Note – it is 2Y for the return trip and that the last Panda bus returns at 4 pm, even though the Chengdu Panda Research centre is open until 5:30 pm.
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Wear comfortable walking shoes and be ready for hills
We arrived at the Chengdu Panda Research centre at 8:30 am. It was forecast to reach 30C that day so we knew that we needed to see the youngest cubs outside first, as the pandas are put inside in air-conditioned rooms when the temperature reaches 26C.
We picked up a free English map from the desk inside the entry and started walking to #12 – the Giant Panda Cub enclosure, beside the Sunshine Nursery House for Giant Pandas… passing a very long queue waiting for the Panda train. We realised why after climbing up and down the many inclines as the Research Centre is quite hilly and the roads don’t always connect from one area to another. Wear sensible shoes and be prepared for a lot of walking.
Try to avoid weekends and public holidays
Arriving at the Sunshine enclosure we realised everyone else had had the same idea, and that it was a terrible mistake to come to the Panda Research Centre on a Sunday!
This is where patience, determination and the ability to calmly sidle sideways and forward comes in handy. Otherwise you’ll be stuck at the back viewing a sea of screens! The Chinese are masters at manuevering to the front of a queue so we watched and learnt.
It took around 15 minutes to get to the front, and we spent 10 minutes there to take videos, photos and to just watch these bundles of joy. They are so photogenic and the danger is of taking 50+ photos of the same group. Yep – I did that and am still struggling to delete photos as they’re all so adorable!
Don’t let the crowd put you off as it’s so worth it to see the panda cubs chomp away on their bamboo breakfast and engaging in playfights with each other.
Panda feeding time was at 8 am in April. This does change throughout the year as they’re not well equipped to deal with the heat of summer.
After that we headed to No# 24, the Moonlight Giant Panda cub enclosure, which was at the far end of the Research Centre. It was up quite a hill. We stopped a couple of times to see some of the adult Giant Pandas. Our main goal was definitely to see the panda cubs!
Who are the Frugal Travellers?
Take food and a water bottle
It was getting warm by 10:30am so the many drinking fountains at the different enclosures were a lifesaver. I would definitely recommend carrying a bottle and refilling when you can as it’s so important to stay hydrated.
Another important tip is to take snacks. We really dropped the ball there and didn’t take any food along, even though we had peanuts, plain biscuits and chilli dried broad beans in our room.
There are drink vending machines everywhere but not a single snack vending machine, and the food areas are all the way back down the hill towards the entrance.
We managed to see the Sub-adults at the enclosures No. 14 and No. 15 before hunger got the better of us and we went back down the hill, arriving at the food kiosks around Swan Lake by 12:30 – thankfully there was virtually no queue as most of the locals had (sensibly!) brought picnics.
Food and drink available at the Research Centre kiosks
We were very happy about the reasonable prices at the food kiosks at Swan Lake. Guilin noodles were 10Y and a sausage on a stick rolled in chilli powder was only 5Y. I had 2 ice creams as a pick-me-up for the return climb as they were only 5Y each. We had expected food to be so much more expensive!
After lunch we wandered through the rose garden. It was fun watching people climb through bushes and over low fences to get photos of themselves amongst nature. Some sections of the garden look slightly battered as a result.
Pandas put in aircon rooms when the heat rises
After a highly enjoyable one-hour lunch break we ventured back into the foray. We were stymied by the fact that the pandas had all been moved inside due to the heat.
As soon as the temperature rises to 26C, the pandas go into aircon. Those thick coats were meant for the snow and cold, not the heat of the lowlands! Signs were posted, advising which pandas could still be viewed.
What about the Red Pandas?
I must admit that we didn’t give the Red Pandas much of a look-in. We decided to concentrate on the Giant Pandas instead. We did attempt to take photos of one enclosure but the two Red Pandas were constantly moving. Not like their black and white namesakes who seemed happiest whilst lying back and eating.
Watch a movie to rest those weary feet
A great way to rest those aching feet is to stop and watch one of the many videos running at various locations in the Research Centre. We saw an interesting video on the birth and life of a Giant panda. It had some gorgeous footage of the newborns from 2017.
Many details are given. Such as the amount of bamboo the average adult Giant Panda consumes per day at the Chengdu Panda Reserve, which is 45-50kg. Also the amount that comes out the other side… between 150 pellets per day!
Important points to keep in mind:
- Panda Research Centre opening hours: 8am until 5:30pm
- Go as early as possible to catch feeding time first thing. That’s when pandas are most active and it is less hot
- Tickets can be bought from the HyCentre at Panda Avenue metro station. They include the Panda bus to the Research Centre
- Return ticket is 2Y but service finishes at 4pm
- Bus#198 or #198a are also 2Y and go to Panda Avenue Metro station
- Take snacks as the only cafes/restaurants are way down the bottom of the hill at the (??) Lake near the entrance
- Wear comfortable shoes. You’ll be walking for between 4-10kms depending on how much you want to see and if, like us, you need to hike down the hill for lunch
- Carry a water bottle to refill at the different enclosures
- Be prepared for crowds and try to go on a normal working day
Check out our onward travels in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan
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