# Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding > The Chengdu Panda Base is a breeding and research park about 10 km north-east of the city centre, home to giant and red pandas. Adult tickets cost ¥55, booked online in your passport name. It's open daily from 7:30 (March–October) or 8:00 (November–February). Arrive at opening, when pandas are most active, and allow about 3 hours. Web page: https://yesgo.io/china/chengdu/chengdu-panda-base - City: [Chengdu](https://yesgo.io/china/chengdu), China - YesGo score: 23/100 (Yes, if nearby) - Time on site: 3 h - With kids: Fine with kids - Ticket: ¥55 adults - Children: Age 6 and under or up to 1.3 m tall — free, no booking - Over-60s: Free with ID, no booking; how this applies to foreign passports isn't spelled out - Students: ¥27 with Chinese ID and student card; nothing stated for foreign students - Booking: Real-name, online, up to 14 days ahead — official WeChat account or mini program, Trip.com and other authorised platforms - On-site sales: Only if you can't pay online, and only while tickets last - Time slots: Morning ticket — enter by 12:00; afternoon — from 12:00 - Hours: Nov–Feb entry 8:00–16:30, clears 17:30; Mar–Oct entry 7:30–17:00, clears 18:00 - Closed: Never; Panda Villa No. 6 and the Panda Art Museum close on Mondays except public holidays - Daily cap: 85,000 visitors - Park bus: ¥30, South Gate to West Gate; under 1.3 m free - Metro: Line 3 to Panda Avenue (Xiongmao Dadao), Exit A, then shuttle bus 408 to the South Gate - Taxi from Chunxi Road: About ¥40, 25–35 minutes - Payment: Trip.com takes international cards; WeChat Pay and Alipay work once a foreign card is linked - Address: 1375 Panda Avenue (Xiongmao Dadao), Chenghua District - Coordinates: 30.73861, 104.14194 - Facts checked: 04.11.2026 ## Key facts - **¥55** — adult ticket, booked online with a passport (source: Chengdu Panda Base, official website) - **7:30 / 8:00** — opening time March–October / November–February (source: Chengdu Panda Base, official website) - **Morning** — when pandas feed and move about; most nap by midday (source: unofficial: Wanderin China, China Highlights) - **1987** — the year the base was founded (source: English Wikipedia, Wikidata, Chengdu Panda Base official website) - **6 pandas** — rescued from the wild — the base's starting population (source: English Wikipedia, Chengdu Panda Base official website) - **3.07 km²** — area of the base (source: Chengdu Panda Base official website, Wikidata) - **14 days** — the furthest ahead you can book (source: Chengdu Panda Base, official website) - **85,000** — visitors a day — the sales cap (source: Chengdu Panda Base, official website) - **¥30** — sightseeing bus from the South Gate to the West Gate (source: Chengdu Panda Base, official website) - **3 m** — minimum distance from red pandas and free-roaming animals (source: Chengdu Panda Base, visitor rules) > **Book a morning ticket and be there at opening** Tickets are sold by half-day: **morning entry until 12:00, afternoon from 12:00**. Giant pandas eat and move around in the first hours after opening; by midday many retreat to the shade or their indoor houses and sleep. An afternoon ticket often means a view of a sleeping back. Book the morning and be at the South Gate for 7:30 in summer or 8:00 in winter. ## Chengdu Panda Base tickets: price and how to book with a passport An adult ticket costs **¥55**. Children aged 6 and under, or up to 1.3 m tall, go free without booking. The base also lets over-60s in free without booking on their ID, but doesn't say how that works with a foreign passport — bring yours and be ready to buy a ticket. The ¥27 student rate needs Chinese documents. Tickets are **real-name**: one person, one ticket, one ID. Booking opens **14 days ahead** through the base's official WeChat account and mini program, or authorised platforms including Trip.com, Meituan, Douyin and Tongcheng. For most foreign visitors **Trip.com** is the easy route — enter your passport number and pay with an international card. Travel guides report that the WeChat mini program often rejects foreign phone numbers and cards. At the gate you scan the passport you booked with. The ticket office only sells on the day if you can't pay online and tickets are left, so don't count on it, especially at weekends. The base warns against paid 'fast-track' services and unauthorised resellers. Paying in China: WeChat Pay and Alipay both accept a linked international Visa or Mastercard, and cash is legal tender, though change can be short. The ¥30 park bus ticket can be bought with your entry ticket or on the spot. ## Opening hours and the best time to see pandas The base is **open every day**. From November to February entry runs **8:00–16:30**, and the park starts clearing at 17:30. From March to October entry runs **7:30–17:00**, clearing at 18:00. A morning ticket covers entry until 12:00; an afternoon ticket from 12:00. Pandas are at their liveliest early in the morning, when keepers bring fresh bamboo: they eat, climb and tumble. As the day warms up, most go to sleep in the shade or in air-conditioned houses. Spend those first two hours at the enclosures and nurseries, and leave the café, shop and museum for later. Weekends and Chinese holidays — especially the first days of May and October — are the busiest: queues at the nurseries grow long and morning tickets sell out ahead. A winter weekday is the calmest option, and in cooler weather the pandas stay active for longer. ## How to get to the Chengdu Panda Base 1. From Tianfu Square, ride **Line 2** one stop east to **Chunxi Road** and change to **Line 3** heading north. 2. Get off at **Panda Avenue** (熊猫大道, Xiongmao Dadao), **Exit A**, and take **shuttle bus 408** straight to the **South Gate**. Allow about 40 minutes from the centre. 3. Alternatively, get off Line 3 at **Zoo** (动物园) station and take **bus 655 or 87** to the South Gate. 4. For the **West Gate**, use **Junqu General Hospital** (军区总医院) station on Line 3, Exit B; the stop for **shuttle bus 409** is 20 m away, about a 10-minute ride. 5. Taxi or DiDi: about **¥40 and 25–35 minutes** from Chunxi Road, about ¥40 from Chengdu East Railway Station. Show the driver 大熊猫繁育研究基地 南门 (South Gate). DiDi works in English inside Alipay with a foreign card. 6. From Shuangliu Airport (CTU): **Line 10** to **Taipingyuan**, then **Line 3** north all the way to Panda Avenue. A taxi is about ¥100 and 40–50 minutes. 7. From Tianfu Airport (TFU) the base is a long way: a taxi is about **¥200 and 60–70 minutes**. By metro, take Line 18 to Chengdu South Railway Station and cross the centre to Line 3. 8. Tourist shuttle buses also run from downtown sights such as Chunxi Road and Kuanzhai Alley — timetables in the 'Chengdu Tourist Sightseeing Bus' WeChat account. ## What to see: the route through the park - **South Gate** — the main entrance and the nearest to the older part of the park with the nurseries. Start here if you arrive at opening. - **Nurseries** — the Sun and Star Giant Panda Nursery Houses, where the youngest cubs live, usually behind glass. Go first: queues build after 9 a.m. - **Panda Villa and Villa No. 6** — enclosures for adult and young pandas. Villa No. 6 is closed on Mondays except public holidays. - **Red pandas** — in open wooded areas. Stay at least 3 m away; you'll still see them very well. - **Panda Reception Hall and Bamboo Tower** — mid-route. The tower may close in bad weather. - **Panda Creek Valley** — the far side of the park, the last bus stop before the West Gate. - **West Gate** — the other exit, handy if you've crossed the whole park and want shuttle 409 back to the metro. - The ¥30 sightseeing bus stops in this order: South Gate → Panda Villa → Sun Nursery → Panda Reception Hall → Bamboo Tower → Star Nursery → Panda Creek Valley → West Gate. > **Panda-viewing rules** Not allowed: **camera flash**, feeding animals or throwing anything into enclosures, shouting, **drones**, scooters, bikes, skates and skateboards, smoking, cats and dogs. Keep **at least 3 m** from red pandas and free-roaming animals, and don't sit on or climb over railings. Breaking the rules can get you removed and banned for life. ## How long do you need, and is it worth it? A short loop from the South Gate — nurseries, red pandas and the older enclosures — takes **about 2 hours**. Crossing the whole park to the West Gate takes **3–4 hours**; the bus saves your legs. Half a day goes quickly. Is it worth it? Yes, if seeing pandas is why you came — it's the closest panda site to central Chengdu, the easiest to reach, with pandas of every age. It's a poor deal on an afternoon ticket in summer heat, when most animals sleep and you queue at glass for a glimpse of fur. Afterwards, Line 3 runs straight back to [Chunxi Road](https://yesgo.io/china/chengdu/chunxi-road) for lunch, and [Kuanzhai Alley](https://yesgo.io/china/chengdu/kuanzhai-alley) makes an easy evening stroll. ## What is the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding? It's a research and breeding centre rather than a zoo: pandas are bred here, cubs are raised, and vets study their health. The base was founded in 1987 with **six giant pandas rescued from the wild**, and it now covers 3.07 km² of bamboo groves, lakes and enclosures on the city's north-east edge. Besides giant pandas, the base keeps **red pandas**, some of them in open areas where you walk among the trees. It's the most straightforward place to see a panda alive: about 40 minutes from the centre by metro and shuttle, or half an hour by taxi. ## Before you go Tick off what's ready — your ticks are saved in this browser. - [ ] Morning-slot booking for my date - [ ] Passport number in the booking matches my passport - [ ] Original passport with me - [ ] '大熊猫繁育研究基地 南门' saved for the taxi - [ ] International card linked to Alipay or WeChat Pay - [ ] Comfortable shoes and water for 2–4 hours on foot - [ ] Camera flash switched off ## Pandas in the morning, the centre after lunch The panda base at opening, then Line 3 back into town: Chunxi Road, Tianfu Square and an evening in Kuanzhai Alley. Add it to your route and YesGo works out the timings and walks. 1. [Chengdu Panda Base](https://yesgo.io/china/chengdu/chengdu-panda-base) — YesGo score 23/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 3 h · ¥55, children under 1.3 m free 2. [Chunxi Road](https://yesgo.io/china/chengdu/chunxi-road) — YesGo score 42/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h · Free 3. [Tianfu Square](https://yesgo.io/china/chengdu/tianfu-square) — YesGo score 45/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 20 min · Free 4. [Kuanzhai Alley](https://yesgo.io/china/chengdu/kuanzhai-alley) — YesGo score 42/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h · Free ## Don't confuse The Chengdu Panda Base in the city's north-east and Panda Valley in Dujiangyan are run by the same organisation but are separate sites with separate tickets. Wolong and Bifengxia are mountain centres several hours away. The giant panda climbing the IFS mall downtown is a sculpture, not the base. ## Tips - Book a morning slot a few days ahead — weekend mornings sell out first. - Be at the South Gate at opening: the first two hours are when pandas eat and move. - Head for the cub nurseries first, while the queues are short. - Save the café and shop for the midday lull, not the active morning. - The ¥30 park bus is worth it if you're crossing to the West Gate. - Wear comfortable shoes — the park is big and you'll walk a lot. - Turn your flash off before you reach the enclosures. - If you cross the whole park, leave by the West Gate and take shuttle 409 to the metro. - Google Maps doesn't work in China without roaming or a VPN; download an offline map before you go. ## Questions ### How much are Chengdu Panda Base tickets? ¥55 for adults. Children 6 and under or up to 1.3 m tall go free. The park sightseeing bus is ¥30 extra. ### How do foreigners book tickets? Online, up to 14 days ahead, in your passport name — Trip.com with an international card is the easiest, or the base's official WeChat account. You scan the same passport at the gate. ### Can I buy tickets at the gate? Only if you can't pay online and tickets remain. At weekends don't rely on it — book ahead. ### What are the opening hours? March–October from 7:30, last entry 17:00; November–February from 8:00, last entry 16:30. Open every day. ### What is the best time to see pandas? The first two hours after opening, when they're fed fresh bamboo and are most active. By midday most are asleep. ### How do I get to the Chengdu Panda Base by metro? Line 3 to Panda Avenue, Exit A, then shuttle bus 408 to the South Gate — about 40 minutes from the centre. ### How much is a taxi to the panda base? About ¥40 and 25–35 minutes from Chunxi Road, about ¥100 from Shuangliu Airport and about ¥200 from Tianfu Airport. ### How long do you need at the Chengdu Panda Base? About 2 hours for the short loop from the South Gate, 3–4 hours to cross the whole park to the West Gate. ### Is the Chengdu Panda Base worth it? Yes, if you want to see pandas — it's the closest panda site to the centre. Go in the morning; an afternoon in summer heat is mostly sleeping pandas. ### Can you hold a panda in Chengdu? No. At the base you watch pandas from behind railings or glass, and the rules ban even feeding them or using a flash. ## How we checked Prices, concessions, seasonal hours, the morning and afternoon slots, the 14-day booking window, sales platforms, the daily cap, the park bus fare, shuttles, buses, reference taxi fares and the rules come from the base's official website. The base's Spring Festival notice gave a cap of 80,000 a day; the current ticket page says 85,000, which we use. Some guides quote a ¥40 winter price that the official page doesn't show. Free entry for over-60s is described for an ID card without mention of foreign passports, and the student rate requires Chinese documents, so those rows are marked checking. The morning timing and Trip.com accepting foreign cards come from travel guides (unofficial). The 1987 founding and six rescued pandas are from English Wikipedia and the base's site. ## Sources - Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, official website (panda.org.cn): Tickets — prices, concessions, hours, slots, 14-day booking window, 85,000 cap, sales platforms - Same site: Sightseeing Bus Service — ¥30, stops, hours; Public Transportation — metro, shuttles 408 and 409, buses 655 and 87, taxi fares; Visitor's Info — rules and Monday closures - English Wikipedia: Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding; Wikidata Q1067861 - English Wikipedia: Line 2 and Line 3 (Chengdu Metro) — station order - Wanderin China — Chengdu Panda Base and Chengdu transport guides: Exit A, journey time, Trip.com for foreigners, morning timing - China Highlights — Chengdu Panda Base guide: when pandas are active - YesGo China notes: payment with foreign cards, DiDi in Alipay (Wanderin China, travelto.ru) --- This is the Markdown version of a YesGo page for AI assistants. Quote the web page link above, not this file.