Tracking in Wild Panda Habitat for Wildlife of All the Possibilities
Deep in the mountains of Southwest China lies one of the last strongholds of the giant panda: a vast landscape of ancient forests, bamboo valleys, and diverse mountain ecosystems. Although giant pandas once occupied a much wider range, today they survive only in parts of Sichuan, Shaanxi, and Gansu provinces. Sichuan holds more than 70% of the world’s remaining wild panda population and is widely recognized as the “Hometown of Giant Pandas” and the “Land of Abundance.”
This itinerary explores the wild panda habitats of the Qionglai and Minshan Mountains, two of the six major mountain ranges that support wild panda populations. During our journey, we immerse ourselves in the natural environment of the panda, exploring the forests, bamboo habitats, and ecological communities that shape their lives.
The giant panda is an umbrella species in conservation, meaning that protecting its habitat also safeguards countless other plants and animals that share the same ecosystem. As we explore these remarkable mountain forests, we have opportunities to encounter a wide range of wildlife, including Red Panda, Takin, Chinese Goral, pheasants, laughingthrushes, parrotbills, and many other characteristic species of Sichuan’s wilderness.
Tour Info Sheet
| Highlight Birds | Golden Pheasant, Blood Pheasant, Lady Amherst's Pheasant, Spectacled Parrotbill, Fulvous Parrotbill, Great Parrotbill, Collared Grosbeak, White-winged Grosbeak, Goldcrest, Snowy-cheeked Laughingthrush, Giant Laughingthrush, Elliot's Laughingthrush, Barred Laughingthrush, White-throated Laughingthrush, Rufous-capped Babbler, Sooty Tit, etc. |
|---|---|
| Numbers of Species to Expect | 150-200 |
| Ease of Birding | moderate with a few tricky species |
| Highlight Mammals | Red Panda, Golden Snub-nosed Monkey, Leopard Cat, Hog Badger, Takin, Tibetan Macaque, Reeves's Muntjac, Chinese Goral, Tufted Deer, Masked Palm Civet, etc. |
| Habitats Covered | subtropical forests |
| Expected Climate | cold at high elevation, rain is possible |
| Physical Requirements | moderate to demanding |
What makes this trip irreplaceable?
1. Tracing wildlife in reliable panda habitats with nice opportunities for panda's companion animals.
2. We run the trip in the best season when pandas and their companion animals are during mating season and more active.
2. We run the trip in the best season when pandas and their companion animals are during mating season and more active.
3. An experienced and professional wildlife guide that has guided this trip many times ensure you a lifetime traveling experience.
4. A small group size of no more than 8 travelers.
5. Years of working as a local partner for some prestigious western companies specialized in birds and wildlife.
6. A strong logistic team in the office to ensure our trip goes smoothly and every participant has a comfortable and memorable journey.
Dates & Prices
| Dates | Booking Status | Price | Single Supplement | Group Size | Guides |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 7-20, 2027 | Space Available | TBA | TBA | 8 | Local Guide |
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The cost includes the following:
1. Private transportation throughout the trip, including airport pick-up and drop-off at Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport or Tianfu International Airport.
2. All meals from dinner on day 1 to breakfast on day 14.
3. All the entrance tickets for places listed in the itinerary including cable cars and shuttle buses.
4. Hotel stays from the first day to the last day, two clients occupy one twin-bed room on a sharing basis at nice 3 or 4-star hotels in big cities and local best guesthouses in remote areas.
5. Bottled water and snacks throughout the trip.
6. Simple western breakfast whenever possible.
7. Service charges of a professional wildlife guide throughout the whole trip; A ranger while tracking in the habitat.
8. China domestic travel insurance.
9. Service of all logistic supports.
The cost does not include the following:
a. Drinks during meals.
b. Extra charges due to changes in the itinerary from the client's side or factors beyond the control of AlpineBirding such as natural disasters or government policy changes.
c. Discretionary tips to guides and drivers.
d. All personal expenses such as laundry service.
e. ANY AIRFARE except those stated in the itinerary.
f. Any program not listed in the itinerary.
Itinerary
Tour Map
Day 1: Arrival in Chengdu, China
On the first day of the tour, a private guide or driver meets you at the airport and transfers you to your downtown hotel for a one-night stay. For early arrivals, you can enjoy a relaxing birding at a nearby urban park to look for some of Chengdu’s common resident birds.
Day 2: Chengdu to Qionglai Mountains
We start the day with a visit to Chengdu Botanical Garden, one of the best birding sites in the city thanks to its diverse plant collections and extensive forest coverage. The garden provides opportunities to observe a variety of urban and forest birds, including Vinous-throated Parrotbill, Chinese Bulbul, White-browed Laughingthrush, Red-billed Leiothrix, Japanese White-eye, Chinese Blackbird, Chinese Grosbeak, Collared Finchbill, Long-tailed Shrike, Fork-tailed Sunbird, and Hoopoe.
After exploring the botanical garden, we continue our journey into the Qionglai Mountains, one of the most important wild panda habitats in China. Here, we begin exploring the mountain forests and ecosystems that support a remarkable diversity of wildlife.
Day 3-8: Qionglai Mountains
The winter chill still lingers in the middle and high elevations of the mountains, while life at lower elevations gradually returns as temperatures rise and the snow begins to melt. This seasonal transition brings renewed activity throughout the forest ecosystem.
Over the following days, we explore the panda habitat on foot, following forest trails, observing signs of wildlife activity, and experiencing the unique bamboo forests that define this ecosystem. With patience and good fortune, we have opportunities to encounter wild pandas in their natural environment. Beyond pandas, this rich mountain habitat supports a remarkable diversity of wildlife. During our exploration, we look for species including Red Panda, Chinese Goral, Lady Amherst’s Pheasant, Great Parrotbill, and other characteristic birds and mammals of Sichuan’s mountain forests.
Day 9: Qionglai Mountains to Tangjiahe Nature Reserve
Today, we transfer to Tangjiahe Nature Reserve in the Minshan Mountains, one of Sichuan’s most important mountain ecosystems and a key area for the conservation of wild pandas and other forest wildlife. The change in landscape brings new habitats and new wildlife opportunities, as we continue exploring the diverse forests, valleys, and mountain environments of Sichuan.
Day 10-12: Exploring Tangjiahe Nature Reserve
Tangjiahe is one of China’s premier destinations for observing mountain wildlife, with extensive forests, river valleys, and rugged terrain supporting an impressive diversity of mammals and birds.
We spend our days exploring the reserve, focusing on early mornings and late afternoons when wildlife activity is often at its highest. With patience and good fortune, we may encounter large mammals such as Takin moving through the forest or crossing mountain roads.
Tibetan Macaques, Yellow-throated Martens, and Reeves’s Muntjacs can sometimes be observed along riversides and forest edges, while Chinese Gorals are often found on steep rocky slopes. More elusive species, including Chinese Serow, Tufted Deer, and Asiatic Black Bear, require careful observation, persistence, and a little luck.
Birding is equally rewarding in Tangjiahe’s diverse mountain habitats. Highlights include Golden Pheasant, Tawny Fish Owl, Mountain Hawk-Eagle, Pacific Swift, Brown Dipper, Grey-capped Pygmy Woodpecker, White-backed Woodpecker, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Grey-headed Woodpecker, Spectacled Fulvetta, Sooty Bushtit, Crested Kingfisher, Little Forktail, White-crowned Forktail, Blue Rock Thrush, Zappey’s Flycatcher, Fujian Niltava, White-collared Yuhina, Slaty Bunting, Grey-headed Canary-Flycatcher, Sulphur-breasted Warbler, Chestnut-crowned Warbler, and many other characteristic species of Sichuan’s mountain forests.
Day 13: Tangjiahe to Chengdu
We spend the morning continuing our exploration of Tangjiahe’s rich forest habitat before driving back to Chengdu. Upon arrival, we check in at the airport hotel, preparing for the departure flight the following day.
Day 14: Departure from Chengdu
Following breakfast at the hotel, you can walk approximately five minutes to the airport check-in area for your onward journey. This concludes our panda habitat exploration with AlpineBirding.
Guide(s)
Philip He
As a half Kangba Tibetan, Philip is the main founder of AlpineBirding and is a native of Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. He has a deep love for his Kangba Tibetan heritage and the land where he was born and raised. Philip's career has gone from mining technician to a teacher, then a translator, and finally to a guide and tour operator. As a professional working in this field for more than 20 years, Philip believes travel is an art and a process of sharing and discovery. Each trip is a unique artistic work created with knowledge and expertise based on the resources available and the interests and tastes of travelers. To help more people to gain a lifetime birding and traveling experience, he established AlpineBirding with the aim to bring his professional, fun-filled tours to more people who are eager to explore birds and other beautiful attractions in China.
Besides, we will have a ranger to participate while tracking inside the habitat to increase our chances to see more wildlife.
Besides, we will have a ranger to participate while tracking inside the habitat to increase our chances to see more wildlife.
Linked Tours
Currently, there is no extension available for this tour. If you want to spend more time before or after the main tour to look for certain species or enjoy other attractions, you are warmly welcome to share your ideas with us to tailor make a tour of your own style. Please send us an email to info@alpinebirding.com with your preferences, we will get back to you in a timely manner.
Reports
We don't have a report available for this tour at this stage, please feel free to email us, we are more than happy to answer any of your questions and share the latest bird information with you.
Testimonials
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Great Birding and Bird Photography on the Sichuan part of the Tibetan Plateau with AlpineBirding
Shay and Philip took a friend and me on a 10-day birding trip on the Sichuan part of the Tibetan plateau, including places legendary among bird watchers, such as Balangshan, Mengibshan, and Ruoergai.
While I was initially a bit skeptical about the nature of the tour (I generally do not like guided tours), it proved absolutely worth it to have both Philip (to drive and to deal with the occasional oversuspicious police) and particularly Shay (for finding and identifying birds) around. While Shay has probably seen every bird on the trip multiple times, he is not content with just finding it and showing it to you but tries to make sure that you can also get a good photo of it, should you want to do so. This goes to the point where - if a bird was difficult to photograph - it sometimes was me giving up rather than Shay.
In conclusion, I think I would not have seen half of the birds on this trip had I taken it on my own. Highly recommended.
Kai P / Sichuan part of the Tibetan Plateau July 14, 2021
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I had a wonderful eight-day birding trip in Sichuan with Philip in October 2020.
Despite some unique travel challenges stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, Philip and his associates pulled off the entire trip smoothly, and we ended up seeing almost every one of my target birds (as well as a number of unexpected ones), increasing my China bird list by more than 50 species. We visited Longcanggou first, followed by Erlang Shan. Despite some high-elevation fog, we found a flock of blood pheasants at Erlang Shan, and a very nice range of passerines along the old Erlang Shan Road and in the surrounding forests, including golden-breasted fulvetta, gray-crested tit, white-winged grosbeak, and golden bush robin.
We then visited a lovely and little-known spot outside of Kangding, where Philip all but guaranteed we would see Lady Amherst’s pheasant, and we were not disappointed! We also saw Chinese babax at that site (another of my target birds), along with local endemic rufous-tailed babbler. That same day, we drove on up to the beautiful Tibetan Plateau above Kangding, and saw a wonderful array of birds, including Himalayan griffon vultures, red-billed choughs, white-browed tits, robin accentors, twits, and even an ibisbill!
After a day off in Chengdu, Philip took me to Wolong Sanctuary and Balang Mountain for three days, where I saw a marvelous array of new birds and other wildlife. Unfortunately, on all but one day, the famed “Tunnel Trail” on Balang Mountain was fogged in, but on the single day that the weather at that elevation was clear, we saw a magnificent flock of white-eared pheasants, a couple of Chinese fulvettas, some rufous-vented tits, and even a Chinese goral grazing quietly on the hillside above us. During repeated visits to Balang Mountain pass, we found some excellent alpine birds, including upland buzzard, snow pigeon, bearded vulture, white-browed tit-warbler, white-throated dipper, and snow partridge. We also saw a herd of blue sheep and numerous Himalayan marmots. In some alpine scrub forest just below the pass, I had superb views of a trio of usually furtive giant laughingthrush and a Sichuan tit. At lower elevations, we made two visits to the wonderful Lama Temple area and saw golden pheasants both times, in addition to very large numbers of other fantastic birds, such as streak-throated and white-naped yuhinas, gray-hooded fulvettas, and sooty tits.
Those eight days were one of the best birding and wildlife excursions of my entire life, set against a backdrop of world-class, spectacular mountain scenery. My guide Philip was always courteous, helpful, and accommodating, and I hope to travel with him again in the future. I wholeheartedly recommend the services of AlpineBirding to anyone who truly wants to become acquainted with Sichuan’s incredible birdlife and scenery!
Steven Bonta / Western Sichuan October 10, 2020
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Wonderful Birding trip with AlpineBirding
On November 2019 we had an amazing birding trip to Sichuan area with AlpineBirding.
We went for 6 days to Wolong, Longcanggou and Labahe, and thanks to Shay, our guide, we manage to see many beautiful birds in an incredible scenery.
One of the highlights were 4 different Red Pandas that gave us amazing view!!!
You can't go wrong with AlpineBirding and I can highly recommend to travel in Sichuan and china with them, and I hope to do that again myself.
Yohay Wasserlauf / Western Sichuan October 13, 2019
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Birding in Sichuan
Arrange a birding / hiking trip in northwestern Sichuan. Our guide Parus Yang was a good guide with excellent ornithology knowledge. We saw despite not the best season lots of birds and mammals.
Accomodation which was arranged was fine.
Mathieu W / Northwest Sichuan June 19, 2015
