14-day Panda Volunteering & Travel

Welcome to China! Your panda volunteering group tour starts today, with some
time to check into your local hostel. Ahead of meeting your group and beginning
your exciting fortnight tomorrow, spend some time exploring the beautiful Chengdu
under your own steam.

This morning, you’ll meet your Adventure Leader and group bright and early in the
hostel, ready to transfer to Dujiangyan City for a guided day trip. It’s a beautifully
historic area about 50km from Chengdu, and you’ll see both of the area’s two
World Heritage Sites over the course of the day.

In the morning, you’ll hike Qingchengshan, a stunning mountain that’s considered
one of the birthplaces of Taoism. In the afternoon, you’ll head back into the city to
visit Dujiangyan’s ancient irrigation system – built over 2000 years ago, it’s the
oldest existing large-scale water project in the world. It plays an important part in
flood prevention and agriculture, and is the reason that Chengdu earned the name
‘the Land of Abundance’.

Your panda volunteering project starts today! After breakfast, you’ll make your way
to the panda enclosures. Lasting for the next two days, your volunteer time will be
spent helping the rangers and center workers look after the pandas and their
enclosures. You can expect to help clean the enclosures, watch the pandas to
learn more about their habits, or help them prepare food for them – among many
other tasks.

Pandas like to have a siesta from late morning until early afternoon, so in this time
you’ll be able to grab lunch and explore your surroundings. You’ll finish
volunteering in the mid-afternoon, after which you’ll have free time to head into the
Dujiangyan countryside to explore everything the Sichuan province has to offer.

After spending the day volunteering, you’ll receive a well-deserved certificate
marking your efforts helping the panda rehabilitation center before heading back to
Chengdu. It’s here that you’ll meet your new Adventure Leader and the rest of your
group, ready to carry on your China group tour .

In the evening, if you’d like you can enjoy a traditional Sichuan Opera & Culture
Show!

After a busy couple of days, today you’ve got some choices of how to spend your
day.

If you’d like, you can leave for Leshan, where you’ll see the world’s largest stone
Buddha. Carved out of the hillside in the 8th century, it stands at 71m high and
looks down on the confluence of three rivers.

Alternatively, you can spend a free day exploring Chengdu at your leisure.
Chengdu prides itself on a relaxed way of life, so you can spend time wandering
between cafés, parks and forests.

In the evening, we dare you to sample Sichuan hot pot! It’s the region’s most
famous staple, known for its healthy doses of spice and deliciousness in equal
measure. Afterwards, if you’d like you can spend your evening out and about,
exploring what Chengdu has to offer of a nighttime.

In the morning, you can either get a well-deserved lie-in, or opt to join us on a visit
to the Autism Children’s Rehabilitation Center. Then, just after lunch, if you’d like
you can head about to explore Jinli & the People’s Park by public transportation.
Built as the city’s first public park in the early twentieth century, it’s renowned for
the beautiful landscaping, bonsai garden, winding streams and small tea
houses.

This afternoon, it’s time to bid farewell to Chengdu as you head off to your next
destination – Xi’An! You’ll grab a train, arriving into the city in the late evening –
just in time to check in and grab a good night’s sleep at your new
accommodation.

You’ve got a free morning today, where you can either take it slow or opt to get out
and explore the city’s many shops, museums or temples.

In the mid-afternoon, you’re invited to join us on a spectacular bike ride across
Xi’An’s gorgeous Ming Dynasty city walls! [Note: in the hot summer, we may opt
to take the bike ride earlier in the day to avoid the heat.]

Then, in the early evening, you can opt to join us for a tour around the Muslim
Quarter and the Bell Drum Towers. Xi’An is renowned for its amazing architecture,
and here you’ll be able to admire some beautiful examples as you learn about the
city’s Silk Road History. While you’re in the Muslim Quarter, be sure to grab some
delicious local food from the many street food vendors, before relaxing at the
nearby Silk Road market into the evening.

You’ve got a full day out today, with one of the China group tour’s most unmissable
activities – the Terracotta Warriors! Discovered in the 1970s close to the
mausoleum of Emperor Qinshihuang, the warriors were designed to guard the
Emperor in the afterlife. Here, you’ll find thousands of intricately carved stone
warriors that are over 2000 years old.

You’ll return into town in the evening – you can either choose to relax or head to
the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda. Here, you’ll find an amazing music and lights show
that illuminates the whole area!

This morning, you’re transferring to the next destination on your panda volunteer
group tour – Shaolin! You’ll spend the morning grabbing a couple of buses, arriving
in Dengfeng in the early afternoon.

In the afternoon, you can head to a local kungfu school – here, you’ll get a lesson
and a demonstration, run by a master from the Shaolin Temple!

You’ll have time to break for dinner in the evening, before joining your Adventure
Leader for a Mandarin lesson.

Today, you’ve got two options for how to spend your day.

You can visit the home of kung fu, the Shaolin Temple! While here, you’ll be able to
hike to Dharma Cave, a spiritual spot for Buddhist pilgrims, where you’ll be
rewarded with stunning views of the shrines and temples, and across the whole
area.

Had your fill of temples for one day? Alternatively, you might want to visit the
Longmen Grottoes, a UNESCO World Heritage Site filled with thousands of carved
Buddhas. They’re some of the finest examples of Chinese art, and stretch through
caves that span over a 1km. [Note: if you’re very keen, you can squeeze both
options into your day – please tell us about this before your trip starts if you intend
to!]

Back at the guesthouse, you’ll have a late lunch in the mid-afternoon, before
you’ve got a free afternoon and evening to explore Dengfeng. Be warned – you’ve
got an early start tomorrow!

It’s a pre-dawn rise today, as we’re up to transfer to our next destination – Beijing,
the country’s capital! We’ll grab a bullet train this morning, arriving in the early
afternoon where we’ll head straight to a local farm for a delicious meal.

We’ll then prepare ourselves to embark on the showstopper of any China Dragon
Trip – camping on the Great Wall of China! In the afternoon, we’ll transfer to the
Wall, where we’ll hike off by hiking along some unrestored sections. We’ll walk
until we find a nice secluded spot, where we’ll set up camp to watch the sun set
over one of the world’s seven wonders. While you’re there, you’ll also get another
helpful Mandarin lesson from your Adventure Leader.

[Note: Due to cold weather, before the end of April and after the end of September,
we’ll return to a local guesthouse instead of camping outside.]

You’ll get the wake up of your life this morning, with a stunning sunrise across the
Great Wall of China. After packing up, you’ll head back to Beijing to carry on
exploring the capital.

Once back, you’ve got some time to explore under your own duress. You can opt
to explore Tiananmen Square and visit the Forbidden City, the largest palatial
complex in the world. The grounds boast almost 1000 buildings, and has hosted
24 different Chinese Emperors over the course of the nation’s history.

You can also visit Jingshan Park, where you’ll be able to get incredible views of the
Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven, and Tiananmen Square.

In the afternoon, if you’d like to, you can enjoy an amazing acrobatics and circus
show. Performed by young talents recruited from all over China, the shows are a
guaranteed great night out.

It’s dinner time! Enjoyed exclusively by royalty in ancient times, why not try
Beijing’s signature dish – Peking roast duck!

Today is a free day! You’ll have the option to visit the fake good markets for a spot
of shopping, as well as the nearby Temple of Heaven.

In the afternoon, you can visit the Nanluo district. Nanluo is one of the
best-preserved historical areas in Beijing, that’s famous for its hutongs and
siheyuan courtyards, as well as the bars, cafes and handicraft shops.

Enjoy another free morning packing in the last few of Beijing’s sights, before your
panda volunteer group tour comes to an end. In the afternoon, you’ll bid farewell to
your fellow Dragons and get ready to head home!