Wolong Giant Pandas Nature Reserve Travel Guide

The giant panda is also known as the panda bear, or in Chinese as "Daxiongmao". The giant panda has a very special place in Chinese cultural lore, as many qualities and characteristics of the panda are qualities revered by Chinese society as a whole.

Wolong is a part of the Sichuan Province of China. From Chengdu, it is about four hours´drive. The Giant Panda Reserve is not all of Wolong. There are many other sites along the way from the fields to the mountaintops worth visit. The first 4 nature reserves were established in 1963, two of which are in the Sichuan province, the Wanglang Reserve in Pingyu County and the Wolong Reserve in Wenchuan County.

The Center has two types of "accommodations" for giant pandas - the Captive Cages and the Semi-nature Enclosures. Most of the giant pandas stay individually in the captive cages, which are in fact large enclosures, each consisting of an in-door room and an out-door courtyard.

The semi-nature enclosures are very large wild areas but protected by border fences. Those giant pandas which will soon be released back to the wild will be put in the semi-nature enclosures for a long enough period of time for them to adapt to the natural environment. Although food has to be provided, the giant pandas will sleep there, eat there and recover their natural survival skills there until they can be released back to the wild.

The panda protection and research center in Wolong Nature Reserve boasts 65 pandas. From 1991 to 2001, the center used artificial methods to breed 53 pandas, 41 of which have survived.