Bifeng Gorge Panda Base
China is known for some of the world’s greatest wonders such as the Forbidden City, Terra Cotta Warriors, deep caves, Great Wall, and the water town of Zhouzhuang. But they’re also incredibly popular for the cuddly furry animals known as the panda.
Though the pandas are now found in various parts of the world, especially in zoos, they are actually native of China. In other words, those that are found somewhere else are obtained from this incredibly huge country.
The pandas are divided into two groups, and the more popular between them are the giant pandas.
The Challenge with Giant Pandas
The giant pandas are beautiful, soft creatures they have become strong reasons for tourists to visit China. However, they have a very low population. This is because the pandas mate only for a very short time, around 2 to 4 days, between three months, from March until May. If they can’t find a partner within the season, they would have to wait for a year before they can try again.
Moreover, a panda can give birth to only one baby. It’s very rare for them to have twins or more. Thus, in an effort to preserve the pandas, make sure they are well taken care of, and discover ways to develop more baby pandas, China has set up different breeding, research, and captivity facilities. One of these is the Bifeng Gorge Panda Base in Ya’an.
Location
The Bifeng Gorge is part of the fertile Bifengxia Valley. It is located in Ya’an City, which is about an hour away from the bustling Chengdu. The quaint surroundings, the greens, the fertility of the land, and the distance away from too much pollution and progress makes it an excellent place to set up a research center for the pandas.
The facility was built in the Bifeng Gorge in 2003. The gorge actually forms like a V and is made up of a pair of small gorges whose height rises to at most 6,400 feet above the ground. There’s more to the panda base, though, and you’ll know the other attractions later on.
History
The Bifeng Gorge Panda Base was primarily a research facility; one of the main objectives is to determine how to help the pandas produce more babies and let them live longer. However, in 2008, a strong earthquake hit Wenchuan, where a lot of the pandas lived.
The facility was truly destroyed, and the Wolong National Natural Reserve had to be shut down for rehabilitation, which will take years. Thus, the pandas were transferred to other areas such as in Beijing and Fuzhou. The others are now found in this panda base.
The base is also part of China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda. The organization was created in the early 1980s. Also included is Wolong National Reserve. Both of these facilities are overseen by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
Ways to Get There
There is no airport in Ya’an. The closest is the Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport, which is around an hour away from Ya’an by bus and less by driving. Once you get to the city center, you can then hire a taxi that takes you to Bifengxia.
Another option is to ride a bus to Bifeng Gorge. You can begin the trip at Chengdu and ride the bus at Xin Nan Men Bust Station. Travel time is around 2 hours, but the buses leave in a 35-minute interval.
Admission
The tour around the base is free for children who are below one meter and half the price if they are between 1 and 1.4 meters. The initial fee is CNY 100, and it’s enough to cover a tour around the safari. If you want to see more of the gorge or ride the very high elevator, among others, you can pay CNY 118.
A visit to the panda base has become a favorite activity among the tourists that travel agencies already include them in their packages. You can therefore join a five-day trip to Chengdu and Ya’an, which then covers the panda base, or opt for a shorter trip that leads you to the facility only.
Recommended Visiting Time
Anytime is actually a great time to be in the base or the facility. There are plenty of things to see and do in the area, even past the pandas’ mating season. But to ensure that you’ll have the best experience, visit during the summer or spring months.
What to Do
You’ll never run out of things to do and experience in the panda base. It’s beyond the boring facility you have in your mind. The pandas currently live in villas, along with their babies. The infants, moreover, “attend” the kindergarten school. There’s also a hospital and a full-fledged research institute.
A quick tour around the base allows you to see the pandas, even the babies, at close distance. However, if you wish to interact with them, you may want to volunteer in the facility.
As a volunteer, you perform some routine work, such as cleaning their cages of poop and remaining bamboo shoots, as well as feeding them. You may not be able to really touch them, but you can get extremely close with the pandas. The experience also allows you to fully understand what they are and what the facility does for them.
If you wish to volunteer, you can look for a Bifeng Gorge Panda Base package that includes it. It normally lasts for two days. You can stay within the gorge or simply find a better accommodation in the city center and travel daily toward the base.
Around the gorge are other equally beautiful attractions that are worth visiting. You can see Qingyunti, which is the world’s highest elevators that can be used for sightseeing. It stands more than 90 meters in height.
You can also pass through various kinds of waterfalls such as Dilei, Yuanyang, and Qinglongtan. If you need to rest, you can stop at Garden of Ya’an Belle, which is composed of small but well-manicured gardens filled with countless flowers and green grasses.
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