Volunteer with Giant Pandas in Chengdu: Private Day at Dujiangyan
Work alongside panda keepers and help the animals that need it most
A full-day volunteer activity at Dujiangyan Panda Base near Chengdu where you work with professional animal keepers to clean enclosures, prepare food and record panda behavior. The private tour includes hotel pickup and drop-off from Chengdu, lunch, an English-speaking guide, and an honorary certificate. Your program fee supports the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda, one of three bases dedicated to the species' survival.
Step-by-step itinerary
Volunteer at Dujiangyan Panda Base
- Meet guide at hotel lobby
- Drive 1.5 hours to panda center
- Clean panda enclosures
- Prepare nutritious food for pandas
- Observe giant pandas and red pandas
What’s included
- Entry to Dujiangyan Panda Base.
- professional English-speaking guide for the full day.
- hotel pickup and drop-off by private air-conditioned vehicle from Chengdu.
- buffet lunch at the facility.
- volunteer and donation fees.
- honorary certificate and souvenir from the Panda Center.
Times
- Every day 07:00
Information
Prices and times updated 11 days ago
Operated by Samtour of Chengdu OTC Travel
The experience
Your guide meets you at your hotel in Chengdu and drives you 1.5 hours to Dujiangyan Panda Base, one of three research facilities run by the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda. Once there, you work directly with professional animal keepers on the tasks that keep the center running: cleaning enclosures, preparing nutritious food, and observing and recording panda behavior. You'll see giant pandas of all ages, including the red pandas also housed at the facility.
The work is hands-on and real: you're not watching a demonstration or walking past behind a rope. You choose how involved you want to be (some travelers clean enclosures while others focus on food prep or observation), and the keepers adjust based on what you're comfortable with. The day is structured around the animals' routines, so the timing and tasks follow what the pandas need, not a fixed itinerary.
Lunch is included at the facility. By the end of the day, you receive an honorary certificate and a souvenir from the Panda Center, and your volunteer fee and program cost go directly to the research and conservation work happening on-site. The private vehicle returns you to your Chengdu hotel in the late afternoon.
Is this one for you?You do the volunteer work yourself alongside the keepers rather than watching from a distance, which is what makes the day hands-on instead of observational. The private format means your group is just your party, so the keepers can adjust tasks and pacing to what you're actually comfortable doing, and the day doesn't move at the speed of a larger group.
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Top questions
What languages is the tour guided in?
Live guide in English and Chinese.
What exactly do you do when you volunteer with the pandas?
You work with professional animal keepers on enclosure cleaning, food preparation, and behavioral observation and recording. The keepers guide you through each task, and you choose how hands-on you want to be based on your comfort level.
How far is Dujiangyan Panda Base from Chengdu?
The drive from your Chengdu hotel is 1.5 hours each way. Hotel pickup and drop-off are included, so you don't arrange your own transport.
Will you see red pandas as well as giant pandas?
Yes. The Dujiangyan facility houses giant pandas of all ages and also keeps red pandas, so you'll encounter both species during your volunteer day.
What happens to the money you pay for this activity?
Your volunteer service fee and program cost support the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda, a non-profit research facility focused on the species' survival. The center operates three bases, and Dujiangyan is one of them.
Volunteer with Giant Pandas in Chengdu: Private Day at Dujiangyan
7h–8h · EN +1 · at your hotel
from US$ 307 per person