Dujiangyan Panda Volunteering Experience with Lunch

Posted By : Traveler65532552603
We booked Dujiangyan panda base 1 day volunteer program and Chengdu panda base+Leshan Buddha with Westgochina in Mar 2024. We are very happy to see pandas Lele and Hua Hua. Our tour guide is FiFi. She’s very knowledgeable and friendly. She told us a lot of Chinese culture and history. We had a lot of fun during the trips. Lily is also very professional and helpful with our enquires. We will recommend Westgochina for your China trips. Pamela from Singapore
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Posted On : 2024-04-06

Posted By : Happiness14216997208
This was the best day of my life!! If I could rate this higher I would. My guide was incredibly knowledgeable about all of the pandas as well as the showing a care for them as well, and an amazing photographer as well!! She is amazing and even gave suggestions on what to see in the city as well!! Absolutely fantastic would highly recommend that everyone wanting to see the pandas do this
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Posted On : 2023-09-07

Posted By : sandkeeper
This is an odd one to review, because there are two aspects: the Panda Volunteering at Dujiangyuan, and West China Go who helped arrange it. I’ll start with the latter and say this: if you are not Chinese and you’ve decided on the Dujiangyuan panda day, you should absolutely book through West China Go. Lily, who was my contact, was helpful, efficient, easy to correspond with, and I felt like she has a passion for what she’s doing. Most importantly for me, she dealt with the required medical form via email, saving a lot of money, time and hassle of doing this privately in our home country. The West China Go package also included transportation and entrance fees to the panda base, so it was fully inclusive of pretty much everything you need for the day. Regarding the panda volunteering, you really need to be aware of what you’re getting. If you’re just browsing tours and you have a lot of money to spend to get close to pandas, this isn’t for you. Don’t get me wrong: it *will* cost a lot and you *will* get closer to pandas than your average tourist, including a chance to feed them a few sticks of carrot, but that’s not what the volunteering day is about. You will also spend time smashing bamboo against the ground, making ‘cake’ for the pandas, eating unfamiliar Chinese food in the staff canteen, and sweeping up panda poo. Is it an authentic ‘day-in-the-life’ of a panda keeper? No, it’s way easier than that. But it’s a bit of fun and something different. Personally, I had a great day. Yes, it was the most expensive thing we did in a two-week tour of China. Yes, it was a long car journey from Chengdu. Yes, the panda feeding time was short. Yes, there is nearly two hours of free time during the day (we used this to see other pandas, plus red pandas and black bears also at the centre). But if seeing pandas is on your “must do” list in China/Chengdu, and you want to devote more to the experience than just going to a zoo, then I highly recommend this as a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Just be aware of what’s offered and you won’t be disappointed.
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Posted On : 2019-07-24

Posted By : verasimog
This has been probably one of the best experiences of our lives! This Panda volunteer program is well organised and gives you the chance to learn a lot, to give your contribute to a great project and to spend an entire day among pandas. Westchinago tour, then, is top! Lily is super careful and helped us to choose what best fitted with our needs. We also booked with them a 2 day tour to Emei mountain and Leshan Buddha...OUTSTANDING! We've got no words to say thank you to Westchinago! A special thank to our super guide, Fifi: a young woman whose kindness and intelligence has made our tours simply perfect! You'll be always in our hearts!
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Posted On : 2019-07-18

Posted By : annamT3019WX
We had a wonderful experience using West China Go for our panda experience! I had great communication with Lily throughout the process and she answered all my questions. They do have a gmail account but it would be easier to use their other email account for inquiries. Lily arranged transport to and from our hotel in Chengdu and the driver was very polite and professional. We arrived to Dujiangyan just before opening and were led past all the lines into a waiting area for volunteers. The free shirts were very good quality and we got ready for our first task. We cleaned panda enclosures and got to be very close to them while working. We then put fresh bamboo down and left to tour part of the park. We had a great English speaking guide from the panda base show us around and tell us about the pandas. A short time later we went back and fed a sweet senior panda some snacks. It was absolutely amazing! We each got to feed him a good amount and get great photos! After the feeding we ate lunch and had some free time to roam the park before starting the movie. It was about an hour long and honestly I really enjoyed all the information on panda conservation and preservation. After this we went back for another panda feeding which was so much fun (again)! We then helped make panda bread by shaping the dough before baking. All in all it was a great experience and I absolutely recommend it!!! There’s a little gift shop where you can buy panda things and an ice-cream sandwich if you choose. Our volunteer day also provided a shirt, certificate and post cards in a thank you bag. Our ride back to Chengdu went well and I would absolutely go again via West China Go!
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Posted On : 2019-05-09

Posted By : Dan N
Great experience, the contact Lily was quick to communicate and set everything up for my party. They sent a car to pick us up at the hotel and gave us the option to pay in USD. Everything went smoothly and I enjoyed my trip very much. I would highly recommend them if you are visiting the Panda reserve and want the volunteer experience.
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Posted On : 2019-03-24

Posted By : Zhenhao2541
I took my mother who loves pandas to the Dujiangyan for Panda Volunteering. It was an amazing experience. We were able to look after the pandas, feed them bamboo and carrots, and have a delicious lunch with the staff. Our coordinator, Lily, helped arrange everything from the car from Chengdu, the health form, and date of the visit. Much appreciated.
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Posted On : 2019-03-11

Posted By : christinae0926
I would highly recommend the panda volunteer experience with westchinago! Lily made the booking process extremely easy and answered my one million questions quickly and accurately! I recommend paying the extra money for the transportation to and from the facility as it is outside of Chengdu. Our driver was professional and even stopped at a roadside noodle shop to show us real Chengdu food experience! My boyfriend did not participate in the panda volunteer experience, however, Lily arranged for him to go to the facility and tour the reserve on his own! He also said it was the highlight of his trip and had the entire facility to himself for the majority of the morning! He loved seeing the giant and red pandas in their natural environment! Even if your entire group does not want to participate in the volunteer program, have them visit the facility anyway. They will not regret it! Being that close to pandas was a truly amazing experience and one I will never forget! While I was disappointed that I could not participate in the panda holding experience (no longer offered at the facility due to animal rights activists petitions), being up close and getting to feed the panda was incredible! Definitely a must-do experience in Chengdu!
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Posted On : 2019-02-19

Posted By : roamas
We visited the Dujiangyan Panda Base today (58 RMB) and despite the rain, it was the perfect time to visit as the panadas were out, they were extremely active and it WAS UNCROWDED (yay!!!). We had many fantastic photo opportunities. Wander up the road to the furthest enclosures. There you will find 2 pandas (near the red pandas and black bear) that were very playful (play fighhting and rumbling). So glad we decided to visit the Dujiangyan Panda Base! Highly recommended.
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Posted On : 2018-12-27

Posted By : 25031911
I recently visited Chengdu and had chosen WestChinaGo for its Panda Volunteer Day Trip because of its mostly positive reviews here. Before I set off I asked them via emails a lot of questions and surprising the company’s boss, Lily was so responsive that I got instant replies from her (HK had no time difference with Chengdu). We had so much fun during the trip and Lily, Mr Zhou the driver, Shelly our guide were all professional and friendly and helpful. They brought us to a very local restaurant to try traditional local cuisine instead of those typical and commercial dishes and they also recommended to us some of the restaurants which were popular among local people too. All in all, highly recommending WestChinaGo if you need local tour service in Chengdu.
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Posted On : 2018-12-27