2 Days Chengdu Highlights and Dujiangyan Panda Keeper Tour

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Trip Overview

Sightseeing in Chengdu downtown for must-see attractions and take care of lovely pandas as a one-day volunteer, you can enjoy the highlights of Chengdu in 2 days. This a relaxed and easy tour that you can enjoy your days in Chengdu drinking teas, strolling through antique streets, relax your mind in the temple and get intimate with giant pandas away from the crowds of downtown. During the tour, distinctive Chengdu local cuisine will enlighten your tour, surrounding you in a sea of delicacies.

Start: Chengdu
Physical Demands: Easy, suitable for all level of fitness, family with kids and senior groups (age 12-55)
End: Chengdu
Best Time to Visit: All year round
Destination: Chengdu - Dujiangyan Panda Base Volunteer - Chengdu
Tour Type: Private tour

Highlights

[Wenshu Temple] See the local prayers worshiping and lighting incense, appreciate Buddha statues;
[Renmin Park] Drink Chinese tea in the outdoor tea house, and to see how Chengdu people enjoy their life leisurely;
[Kuan & Zhai Alley] Stroll in the ancient street of Qing Dynasty to experience colorful Chengdu folk culture;
[Dufu's Thatched Cottage] Visit the former residence of the Poet Sage and appreciate the elegant buildings;
[Dujiangyan Panda Base Volunteer] Feed and take care of cute pandas, have a close contact with the adorable creature.

Day by Day Itinerary

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The itinerary is just for your reference. You can make your own tour by your schedule, and taste of hotel. You can tell us your tour plan to get more travel inspiration.

Day 1: Chengdu Tour: Wenshu Temple, Renmin Park, Kuan & Zhai Alley, Dufu's Thatched Cottage

Renmin Park

Kuan & Zhai Alley

On your first day of arrival, our tour guide will meet and escort you to your hotel in Chengdu downtown. After a short break, you will firstly drive to Wenshu Temple built in Sui Dynasty. It’s the most frequented temple in Chengdu. The temple was constructed in the style of traditional western Sichuan buildings and conserves many precious cultural relics and ten thousands of Buddhist scriptures and literature. Every day, there are many people coming for worship of Buddhas and praying. It’s said that one of the Buddha statues in the temple is in charge of helping people realize their dreams. Pray to this Buddha sincerely, your dream will come true within three weeks.

After a visit in Wenshu Temple, we will spend a relaxing time in Renmin Park, a time-honored park built in 1911 located in the central downtown. Wandering in this park, you will see why Chengdu is famous for its relaxing life throughout China. The park is filled with citizens practicing Tai Chi, appreciating flowers, taking photos, playing majiang, etc. Parallel of outdoor tea houses crowded with guests drinking teas and chatting with friends constitutes a special picture of the park. Sit down, order a pot of Chinese tea, make a casual chat with your friends and watching locals boating on the lake, your exhaustion on road will be eliminated.

When you have had your lunch, we will head for Kuan & Zhai Alley, also known as “Wide and Narrow Valley”. It’s not only a commercial pedestrian street but also a relatively large-scale of ancient street of Qing Dynasty left in Chengdu. Many exquisite stores decorated with ancient and elegant style are good spots for taking photos. Along the alley, there are stalls packed with Chengdu local snacks. You can indulge yourself in the sea of gourmets.

Finally, we will arrive at Du Fu Thatched Cottage. Du Fu Thatched Cottage is the former residence of Du Fu, the great Chinese poet in Tang Dynasty (712AD - 770 AD). The poet sage had lived here for almost 4 years and wrote over 240 poems. It had been renovated and expanded throughout the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. With its simple and elegant buildings, the Cottage is the biggest, best preserved, best known, and most distinctive relic pertaining to Du Fu in China. You will learn about the life and poetry of Du Fu and enjoy the large contemplative park with streams and flowers here.

Stay overnight in Chengdu

Day 2: Dujiangyan Tour: Dujiangyan Panda Base Volunteer

Pandas in Dujiangyan Base

Dujiangyan Panda Base

In this special day, you will get a rare chance to have an intimate contact with giant pandas in Dujiangyan Panda Base as a volunteer.

In the early morning, your tour guide will pick you up from your hotel and drive 64km away to the Dujiangyan Panda Base. In the base, you will get a uniform, gloves, and a volunteer’s card. Your guide will introduce you to the professional panda keepers who can speak simple English. Your guide will be there all the time to help you to translate and take memorable photos with the adorable pandas.

During your work, you need to clean panda enclosures. Panda keepers need to supply fresh bamboos to these national treasures three times each day. The pandas usually eat only 30% of the bamboo, wasting 70% of it. You will need to sweep out the leftovers, replace it with fresh bamboo, and clean out the feces. Besides, you also need to feed pandas, offering them panda cakes, apples, and carrots four times a day. The panda keepers will show you how to feed a panda with your own hands at close proximity.

In the noontime, you will have lunch and take a rest in the base. You will also see a special documentary (40 minutes) about how the shy pandas mate, give birth, grow up, and are returned to the wild.

In the afternoon, you will continue your work to do more cleaning and feeding, and learn to make panda’s cakes. The bamboo you supplied in the morning will have become dry by the afternoon. You should remove and replace it with fresh bamboo and then feed the pandas with some more panda cakes and apples. Having fed the pandas with panda cakes, aren’t you curious as to how they are made? It is time to make some panda cakes with your own hands. The ingredients will be prepared in advance. Get creative about the shapes of the cakes.

At about 4:00pm, your volunteer work will end and you will receive a certificate for this unforgettable day. Say goodbye to the pandas you take care of and drive back to Chengdu. Our tour guide will escort you to airport for your flight to next destination or home.

Price Inclusions

Transportation

Private transportation to the destinations and sites listed in the itinerary; ranging from 4WD land cruiser to bus depending on the group size and trip route; car gasoline, road toll and in-transport refreshments (free bottles of water, air pillow and headscarf) are included;

Accomodation

Meals

Meals listed in the itinerary;

Service

Private experienced English-speaking trip leader;
Airport/railway station pick-up and send-off services at the beginning/end of the tour;
Entrance ticket fees for all the sight spots listed in the itinerary;
First aid kit;
A coverage of 300,000RMB Chartis travel insurance;

Price Exclusions

International and domestic flight/train to Shanghai (Note: we accept the domestic flight/train tickets booking to Shanghai from other cities in advance, check the updated ticket availibility and cost with your travel consultant);
Meals that are not specified in the itinerary (Averagely a meal in the 3rdpole region cost 3~10USD per person);
Tips and gratuities for the trip leader and driver;
The expense of a personal nature like alcoholic beverages, laundry, phone call, etc;
Optional activities and excursions not specified in the itinerary;
China Entry visa fees;