Thorn Tree travel forum

1

It all depends how much time you have. If you are just going to see pandas, go to the Chengdu one. The Wolong one is a pain to get to and is huge, so it requires more than a day.

2

you;d better go to Chengdu base,don't go to Wolong.you also can see Giant panda.

yee

3

Road conditions aren't an issue, but as woolf says, time could be. Wolong is best done as an overnight trip...frankly you get pretty much the same experience at both. The Chengdu Base is set up as a park with trails, lots of bamboo cover, and a museum. Wolong is more business-like and really looks like a research base in the mountains. Perhaps that's the atmosphere you're after? Both will offer the opportunity to have photos taken with the critters. The advantage with the Chengdu Center is that if you feel you missed something on your first visit or perhaps the weather turns better, just go again another day...it's just a short ways north of downtown and tickets are 30 RMB...not bad at all.

4

Hi,

could anybody provide some an email address to contact the Giant Panda Research Base?

I've tried several times at the one shown in their website (pandaivf@mail.sc.cninfo.net) but it's always returning the message.

If not, fax could also be useful.

Thanks!!

5

Quote

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Road conditions aren't an issue

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Unfortunately, this is not so currently. There are constructions going on, including tunnels, which can result in long closures of part of the road. My return bus left Wolong at 7:00, had to wait at such a road block from about 8:00 to 11:00 in the Wolong valley, had to wait or was blocked in traffic jams a few more times in the main valley, and finally reached ChenDu's Chandianzi bus station at approx. 15:00.

All the other information is correct.

Note, that in Wolong village you are NOT in panda habitat. To reach this, you have to find the right trail (no signs, they don't welcome visitors because they want to catch Pandas for radio-collaring), get to suspension bridge where it starts (approx. 4 km), and climb 500 meters of altitude to reach Wuyipeng, where you are at the lower end of the Panda habitat - where they might be found in winter :-( A great place for bird watching, but no reason to go there for anbody else ;-)