China Guide
Sichuan and Chongqing
The Giant Panda Breeding Research Base
Opening time: Daily 8am–6pm
Price: ¥30; photo opportunities ¥400–1000
Address: 8km northeast of central Chengdu (tourist bus #902 from the Jiaotong hotel)
The Giant Panda Breeding Research Base offers the best possible views of both giant and arboreal red pandas – housed here in semi-naturalistic, spacious pens – short of your heading off to Wolong. There's also a museum, with bits of panda anatomy in glass jars and, for reasons that remain unexplained, a diorama of a sabre-tooth tiger. Get to the base early, as the pandas slump into a stupor after munching their way through piles of bamboo at around 10am. If you feel flush, you can also have a photo taken with an adult panda, or cuddling a baby panda (subject to availability).