Overview
This is the trip for people who have two or three days and want to spend them on the two things that brought them to Sichuan.
Day one is the volunteering programme at the Dujiangyan panda base. It is not a photo opportunity — it is a working day. You clean enclosures, prepare and carry bamboo, make the panda cakes the animals are fed, and help with the enclosure maintenance, under the supervision of the keepers. You get a certificate, a volunteer T-shirt, and lunch with the staff. Proceeds fund the base's breeding and conservation work.
Day two is the Leshan Giant Buddha: 71 metres of stone carved out of a riverside cliff, begun in 713 AD and completed ninety years later, the largest stone Buddha in the world. You can descend the staircase beside it from head to foot or take the river cruise for the full profile.
It is a demanding day one and an easy day two, which is the right order.
- A full working day as a panda keeper at the Dujiangyan base
- Cleaning enclosures, preparing bamboo and making panda cakes alongside the staff
- Volunteer certificate and T-shirt, with proceeds funding conservation
- Lunch with the base staff
- Leshan Giant Buddha — the largest stone-carved Buddha in the world at 71 m
- The cliff staircase from the Buddha's head to its feet
Itinerary
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1 Volunteering at the Dujiangyan Panda Base
Lunch, Dinner Chengdu or Dujiangyan, 4-star hotel07:30 - Departure: Pick-up from your Chengdu hotel and drive the hour northwest to the Dujiangyan base, on the slopes below the Dujiangyan irrigation system.
08:30 - Briefing and orientation: You are issued a volunteer T-shirt and gloves, briefed on the rules — no strong perfume, no smoking, no flash photography, and no contact with the animals — and assigned to a keeper.
09:00 - The work begins: A real working day. Tasks rotate with what the base needs, but they typically include clearing and hosing down enclosures, hauling and preparing fresh bamboo, weighing and cleaning the bamboo, making the steamed panda cakes from bamboo powder, corn and vitamins that supplement the animals' diet, and observing and recording behaviour for the keepers' logs.
12:00 - Lunch: With the base staff in the canteen. Simple, and better than the tourist restaurants outside.
13:30 - Afternoon session: Further enclosure work and, for most volunteers, the chance to stand close while a keeper feeds an animal — close enough to hear them eating bamboo, which is a surprisingly loud and continuous crunching.
15:30 - Certificate: The day ends with a group photograph, a certificate recording your hours, and a short talk on the base's breeding programme and the situation of wild pandas in the Qionglai and Minshan ranges.
17:00 - Return to Chengdu and check in.
Important: This programme involves genuine physical work outdoors. Wear old clothes and closed shoes you do not mind getting dirty. The minimum age is usually eight, and children under twelve must be accompanied. Avoid July and August if you can — the base is extremely crowded in the school holidays.
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2 Leshan Giant Buddha & Return
Breakfast, Lunch Not included08:00 - Departure: A two-hour drive southwest to Leshan.
10:00 - Leshan Giant Buddha: The largest stone-carved Buddha in the world. Begun in 713 AD by the monk Haitong, who wanted to calm the currents where the Min, Dadu and Qingyi rivers meet and drowned passing boats, it was completed ninety years later after his death. The figure is 71 metres tall, seated with hands on knees, its shoulders 28 metres wide and its ears seven metres long. A hidden drainage system inside the head and body has carried water away and kept it largely intact for twelve centuries.
10:30 - The staircase: A narrow staircase cut into the cliff beside the figure runs from the head down to the feet, from which the river is directly below you and the toes of the Buddha are large enough to seat a hundred people. It is steep, single-file and can be crowded; there is a viewing platform at the top for anyone who would rather not. The river cruise is the alternative and takes about fifteen minutes.
12:30 - Lunch: In Leshan, using the city's own specialities — sweet-skin duck, tofu pudding with a chilli-and-Sichuan-pepper dressing, and the riverside barbecue stalls.
14:00 - Return: The drive back to Chengdu, around two hours.
16:30 - Departure: Drop-off at your hotel, Tianfu or Shuangliu airport, or the railway station.
Practical note: If you are flying out the same evening, book no earlier than 19:00 to leave room for the return drive.
Gallery
What's included
- 1 night at a 4-star hotel in Chengdu or Dujiangyan
- Daily breakfast, lunch at the panda base and 1 dinner
- English-speaking guide throughout
- Private air-conditioned vehicle with driver
- Dujiangyan panda base volunteering programme fee and donation
- Volunteer certificate, T-shirt and base lunch
- Leshan Giant Buddha entrance fee
- Hotel pick-up and drop-off in Chengdu
- Bottled water and gloves for the volunteering day
Not included
- Flights and trains to and from Chengdu
- Most dinners
- Alcoholic drinks
- Travel insurance and personal expenses
- Tips for guide and driver
- Optional Leshan river cruise
