Wild panda encounters drive ecotourism boom in SW China's Sichuan

A keeper holds a panda cub at a Spring Festival celebration event at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in 2025. (Photo courtesy of the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding)

Panda-focused ecotourism is drawing visitors to southwest China's Sichuan Province, with the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding and Giant Panda National Park emerging as popular destinations since 2024.

The research base in Chengdu, the provincial capital of Sichuan, draws crowds of visitors interested in panda behavior. Wang Donghui, a researcher from the Sichuan Key Laboratory of Conservation Biology for Endangered Wildlife, said educational displays show visitors how pandas behave, breed and interact.

The chance to photograph wild pandas, along with the discovery of new plant species in the Wolong area of the Giant Panda National Park, has drawn increasing visitors in recent years.

A panda cub makes its public debut during Spring Festival celebrations at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in 2025. (Photo courtesy of the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding)

A new monitoring system allows guests to track wild pandas on large real-time display screens. The technology combines local networks, ultra-short wave transmission and advanced giant panda facial recognition technology to stream live images from the wild.

During the Spring Festival, visitors participated in night patrols to learn about scientific research at the Giant Panda National Park. In the Laba River area, they joined park staff on nighttime rounds to identify plant species and maintain wildlife cameras in the field.

Protecting giant pandas has far-reaching benefits for the entire ecosystem at the national park. "By protecting them, we can also safeguard the habitat and well-being of other species in the area," said patroller Luo Chunping, who explained that the lush forests where giant pandas live support a diverse range of wildlife.

Photo shows the Wanglang area of the Giant Panda National Park in southwest China's Sichuan Province. (People's Daily/Long Yuwei)

The Wanglang area hosts 72 species of large- and medium-sized mammals and more than 280 bird species, many of which are under state protection, Luo said. He added that the area contains more than 800 plant species, including several protected varieties.

Thanks to conservation efforts, the Giant Panda National Park is teeming with diverse wildlife. Recent monitoring has recorded more than 30 panda sightings in the park's ecological restoration zones. The improved panda habitats have benefited more than 10,000 other species, including Sichuan golden snub-nosed monkeys, snow leopards and Chinese yew.

A giant panda cub born in 2024 appears during Spring Festival celebrations at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding. (Photo courtesy of the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding)

The park is expanding its educational programs to inform visitors and promote ecotourism.

"We've formed a nature education alliance. Pingwu county and Wenchuan county of Sichuan Province have launched two nature education schools and 14 branch schools, providing training for more than 1,000 full-time and part-time nature education professionals," said Zhang Liming, an official from the Forestry and Grassland Bureau of Sichuan.