Chengdu Giant Panda Research Center and Wenshu Monastery

Arriving in Chengdu

Just a few days after my arrival in China, back in December 2019, there was a place in my mind. A place I had to visit, was the Giant Panda Research Center in Chengdu, Sichuan, China. The day after my arrival to the country I have unpacked my luggage in our apartment based in the Jiangxi Jie neighbourhood.?

The Following day

Early in the morning, we visited the neighbourhood monastery for a cup of warm tea. The Buddhist temple has a very calming and relaxing feel. The area was generally quiet and not busy at all, despite Chengdu’s nearly 10 million population. The Wenshu Yuan Monastery also offers only vegetarian food, which I didn’t get to try, but the prices were low, at about 3 pounds for a portion of food (lower than most restaurants in the area).

Outdoor restaurant/ monastery outdoor area of Wenshu Monastery (S. Ivanov, 2019)

Brief History of the Chengdu Giant Panda Reserve

The Chengdu Panda Base was founded in 1987 after 6 giant pandas were saved from the wilderness. By 2008 the reserve had over 124 panda births. It is amongst the top conservational facilities in the world for pandas, attracting tourists from around the world. The Panda Research Base partners with many other research centres namely in the UK, US, Canada, and Japan. The breeding centre is home to nearly 120 giant and 76 red pandas. There are only around 2000 pandas left in the world, and 70% of pandas are in Sichuan Province.

Arriving at the Chengdu Panda Center

Now we were headed for the Giant Panda Reserve! That is 15 kilometres (9.5 miles) from our neighbourhood, Jiangxi Jie. The bus public heading to the Panda Reserve was decorated as a panda itself, to fully immerse you into the Panda World. After over an hour we did arrive very close to the entrance. The Giant Panda Center is over 500 acres, or 2 square kilometres to simulate a natural environment for the pandas to breed.

Additionally, within the Panda Center in Chengdu, there is also a museum, which was opened in 1993. It was founded to enhance the understanding of the preservation of the panda and their natural environment. The museum includes three sections, The Giant Panda Hall, the Butterfly Hall, and the Vertebrate Hall. There are illustrations and a selection of samples gathered in Sichuan. The samples include reptiles, amphibians, birds, insects, and fossils. There is also a library that comprises thousands of books, documents about research and documentation of the pandas, and their natural bio-diversity.?

Entrance of the Panda Reserve in Chengdu (www.chinadiscovery.com, n.d.)

Upon entry, at around midday, there were a lot of people, but it was not too overcrowded.

Shortly after the Entrance (S. Ivanov, 2019)

To the entrance, you are going to see the red pandas.

As we were there at midday, the giant pandas were quite playful, especially the little ones.

It is reported that over ten thousand clumps of bamboos and bushes have been cultivated to feed the pandas.?

Pandas playing with one another (S. Ivanov, 2019)

Surprisingly many of the giant pandas were quite active even during the afternoon, normally time to sleep for the creatures.

Pandas playing during midday (S. Ivanov, 2019)

Panda happily Eating Bamboo (S. Ivanov, 2019)

?Pandas playing (S. Ivanov, 2019)

Overall, it was a day I will never forget. We were at the Panda Reserve for around 3 hours. The museum was quite interesting as well. If you like panda, you must visit!