Chengdu Travel Guide - Wolong as it used to be

Chengdu Travel - The Panda Breeding Research Center at Wolong - as it used to be before the quake - was a very different type of place than the Chengdu Center. This was because, at an altitude close to 2,000m and situated in a beautiful mountain habitat, it was actually located very close to real Giant Panda habitat. Here you can see one of the old Panda pens - still containing large forest trees - with the Panda habitat of Wolong valley making up the background. Unfortunately this center was badly damaged by the May quake - with most of the Pandas now being moved to the Bifengxia center near Ya an.
The Chengdu center, differs from Wolong since it's situated in the surburbs of a very large city - and being in the Sichaun basin - is about 2,000m lower than where Panda are normally found. Because of this, the environment and climate are very different from what Pandas, in their natural habitat, are used to.


This is a picture at the back of the old Wolong center - the wild Panda habitat is at the top of those steep valley peaks. We talked to locals who had see Panda during the winter, when they sometimes come down in altitude to escape harsh weather. However even those few folk who live in the forests of the side valleys - usually bee-farmers - may only get to see a panda once or twice each winter - you have to be extremely lucky to get a sighting.


The big difference with Wolong was that the climate better suited the Pandas. In Chengdu the animals are put into their temperature regulated pens if the temperature exceeds 26C (which during the hot Chengdu summer is quite often) - but in cooler less humid Wolong the animals - at least those which were not in the breeding pens - were always out.


The Pandas in Wolong were always in magnificent condition - lets hope that the center will soon be able to re-open.