Spend some time in the presence of the beautiful giant panda on a tailor-made holiday in China. With these magnificent animals still on the list of endangered species, visiting them is a memorable and enchanting experience.
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China, Russia & Central Asia
There are a number of ways of incorporating panda viewing into a tailor-made trip to China.
Below are just a few of the places where this is possible.
Chengdu, the provincial capital of Sichuan Province in west China, is traditionally the most reliable and easiest place to find the giant panda. A short drive from the city is the Chengdu Giant Panda Research Base - a fantastic place to get close to both giant and diminutive red panda. Visit in the morning during feeding time to see these laid-back creatures at their most active. In 2004 there were only 1,600 pandas left in the wild and with the continual threat from deforestation the survival of this endangered species has become evermore prominent.
The Panda Sanctuary at Bifengxia, about a two hour drive from Chengdu, is home to many of Wolong's relocated pandas, after their old home was destroyed in the May 2008 earthquake.
The reserves of Chengdu and Bifengxia are the best places to see Pandas but do add an extra couple of days, as well as additional cost since at least one extra internal flight is needed. Most people who visit China spend time in the Guilin area, making the zoo there a convenient place to see the pandas. The animals are well looked after and the enclosures are a reasonable size, making it a good option to see pandas for those with more limited time or budget.