Destinations: Panda Breeding & Research Base, Dujiangyan, Leshan, Sanxingdui Museum
Panda Conservation Program for Students in China
Chengdu is the only place on Earth where students can study giant pandas in their native habitat - and this 8-day conservation programme does exactly that, alongside the region's other wonders. Days at the panda bases include guided observation, age-appropriate volunteer tasks and behaviour-logging study sessions. The programme then expands outward: the 2,000-year Dujiangyan irrigation system, the Leshan Giant Buddha, the bronze-age mystery of Sanxingdui, and a Sichuan cooking class. A final conservation project, presented on the last day, gives the programme a graded outcome for biology and environmental-science classes.
Optional Extensions
Day 1 - Chengdu Arrival: Transfer from Chengdu Tianfu International Airport (direct flights from Europe, Asia and major US hubs). Evening: Sichuan Opera performance with the legendary face-changing (bian lian).
Day 2 - Panda Breeding & Research Base: Morning at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding: guided observation of pandas, red pandas and the base's conservation work, with a keeper's briefing on diet, breeding and behaviour. Afternoon: an observation-study session - students log behaviour (feeding, climbing, sleeping) into a field sheet for later analysis. Evening: introduction to the final project.
Day 3 - Volunteer-Style Day: A full day at a partner panda facility with age-permitted tasks: bamboo preparation, enrichment design (making toys and puzzles the pandas will investigate), enclosure observation and record-keeping. Debrief seminar with conservation staff; evening free in the city.
Day 4 - Dujiangyan & Panda Valley: Morning at the Dujiangyan Irrigation System, the 2,000-year-old engineering wonder that still waters the Chengdu Plain - a lesson in sustainable civil engineering. Afternoon in the Dujiangyan Panda Valley forest, where rescued pandas live in semi-wild enclosures; nature-walk ecology session.
Day 5 - Leshan: Day trip to the Leshan Giant Buddha, the 71-metre cliff carving of the Tang dynasty, with a river-boat view and a riverside ecology talk on the confluence of the Dadu and Min rivers. Return to Chengdu in the evening.
Day 6 - Sanxingdui & Sichuan Food: Morning at the Sanxingdui Museum - the bronze-age civilization of ancient Shu, with its startling masks and sacred trees - one of China's great archaeological mysteries. Afternoon: a Sichuan cooking class (mapo tofu, kung pao chicken, dumplings) with dinner on what you cooked.
Day 7 - School Exchange & Final Project: Morning inside a partner Chengdu school: shadow classes and a joint conservation-themed activity. Afternoon: final project presentations - each group presents its conservation findings and recommendations; certificates and farewell dinner.
Day 8 - Departure: Free morning; airport transfer from Chengdu.
