This is a Panda Breading Park, where you can see both the regular black-and-white panda's and the red panda's. There are just panda's, but the entrance it for free if you just go to a store and ask for a "Panda Card", (you can also ask at your hostel/hotel where you can buy this card), this card gives you free entrance to the park for a whole year and costs just 1 RMB! You can buy this card as long as you're not fromthe Sichuan province. And with this card you will appreciate your stay at the park much more! :)

If you have the time to get out of the city it is well worth the visit. You can pat the Pandas and nurse the cubs. They also have special programs where you can volunteer to help (cleaning out cages and things) in return for getting to play with the Panda's. If cleaning out animal poop is not your idea of fun then you can just pay for it. Be careful though with this one - a lot of damage was done to it in the 2008 earthquake so it may not have reopened to the public yet. Also in Chengdu is the Panda House which is in town and you can pat the Pandas there as well. Its a lot more expensive (but the money you save staying in town can balance the budget.) But here you are required to wear all the protective clothing and they often choose not to let the baby Pandas be held on certain days. (even if you make a booking,) When leaving either of the Panda breeding centres there are stalls everywhere selling stuffed Pandas. If you want to support a chinese family then buy them here - you can haggle and get them at a good price - BE WARNED - the cheaper places often fill their toys with things like seeds. So if you want to be able to bring your stuffed Panda back through customs then spend a little more and buy a quality one in town. There are also some very interesting animal markets here. Do not head this way if you think you will be upset by animal cruelty or seeing a lot of gore. They have a lot of animals in very small enclosures. (Dont hold it against them - they only do what they know and they dont know any better.) But here you can buy anything from cat meat through to eels blood and frog soup. (made fresh in front of your eyes.)

I really enjoyed my brief time spent at the centre. If you go early enough then the pandas may actually be awake and in my case were busy eating and wrestling. I learned a lot at the centre and some things I definitely didn't need to know (panda masturbation 101 video I could have passed on). Unfortunately I think what I mostly came away with was a sense of inpending doom for these creatures which have become the endangered species poster child. Habitat loss, reproduction problems and a restrictive diet are only a few issues facing the pandas furture.

You can't miss this rare opportunity to see not only the giant panadas but the insanely cute red pandas as well.

This is a great place to come and see pandas while you're in China, and here's a tip if you want to get up close and personal. People really want to hold the pandas, but to do so costs about 1000RMB. A little steep for me, but later in the day they offered us a chance to hold a red panda for 50RMB. No one was interested at first so I took them up on the offer, and soon there was a crowd of people lined up to be next in line. They limited the number of people who could hold them (don't want to maul the poor little guys too much!), but it was really amazing to get so close to one. We got to feed them apples and they really were pretty cuddly!

This place was fascinating.  We were there in the morning and they were doing the feedings, which was great to see.  They are doing a lot of breeding work and research. Go watch the crazy video of a panda giving birth, it is amazing these animals have survived as long as they have!!  The mother is swatting at the newborn baby like it is a toy!!