The Chengdu Research Base for Giant Panda Breeding in Chengdu, China is not just the top breeding and research centre for giant pandas. It’s also the largest giant panda theme park in the world!
Words and Photography: Abby Yao
If you’re a panda lover, you would want to spend a whole day at the Chengdu Panda Base, a place more than 100 pandas call home. Some people even love it so much that they spend their own money for an internship as a giant panda keeper. If you’re not a panda lover yet, you will be one when you visit the base. Everything panda is here, from the real deal to souvenirs. There may be no amusement park rides, but you’ll have a smile on your face as you go from one enclosure to another. Here are a few facts among many more that you’ll found out on your visit.
I’ve been asked to take a bath, but trust me, this is my natural colour.
1. Giant pandas aren’t black and white their whole lives.
We’ve been deceived! Giant pandas are in fact black and light brown, not black and white. Perhaps they need a good bath? Pandas are born hairless and pink. They grow their black and white fur after a month. After six months, the white fur actually turns a light brown, which is why they often look dirty even when they are not. Some brown-and-white giant pandas have been discovered in the Qinling mountains, but they are extremely rare!
They say my eye shadow makes me look sad. Agree?
2. Pandas are experts at climbing trees.
There is nothing as impressive as a cub performing arboreal acrobatics. Adults can climb too, but prefer to stay on the ground, except when there are predators. Their evolutionary relative, the red panda, is especially adept at climbing trees.
Now you see me, now you see my back.
3. Giant pandas can run. Fast.
Out of nowhere, a giant panda ran out of his hiding place and then disappeared again behind a manmade hill. For an animal that big, it’s surprisingly quick. Adult pandas usually move slowly and do not appear energetic. That’s because they’re conserving energy. Which brings us to…
Eats shoots and leaves. Loves to scratch tummy.
4. Giant pandas eat A LOT.
The giant panda’s favourite food is bamboo shoots. Bamboo does not provide much energy and nutrition, which is why a fully grown giant panda will need to eat up to 40 kg of it per day. And that’s why they seem to be eating, if not resting, all day.
No pandas were harmed in the making of this bread.
5. Giant pandas are carnivorous.
They’re classified under the order Carnivora as their ancestors once ate meat. Today, they still do, on occasion, eat small rodents. I didn’t see this in the base, but it was an interesting fact at the world’s first panda museum there.
WHEN TO GO The base is open daily, 7:30am – 6:00pm. To see newborn cubs, visit in autumn (August to October). For more info on the Chengdu Panda Base, visit www.panda.org.cn.
HOW TO GET THERE From Chengdu city, buses pass by the base:
Bus 198 from Zoo Bus Station to Gingko Garden Bus Station
Bus 87 from Zhaojuesi Bus Station to Longtan Industrial Park
Bus 867 from Shiling Bus Station to Xindu Zhonglou Bus Station
AirAsia X flies to Chengdu from Kuala Lumpur. For lowest fares, visit airasia.com.
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