🐼 Volunteering for Pandas 🏞️ What to Expect?
- Adventure Together Sg
- Sep 16
- 5 min read
One of our most popular Adventures & Volunteer trips 🐼 find out more about what to expect on this Adventure to Chengdu, China 🇨🇳 to Volunteer for Pandas (half day) as well as visit the breathtaking Jiuzhaigou! 🏞️
🏔️ View Full Adventure Itinerary: 6D5N Volunteer for Pandas 🐼 + Jiuzhaigou (Nov 2025) 🏞️
As one of the World's most adored creatures 🌏 it's no surprise that Volunteering for Pandas 🐼 is one of our top Adventures!
✈️ Earlier this March 2025, 15 of us traveled to Chengdu 🇨🇳 for this amazing experience! 🫶🏻
In this post, we'll first cover what to expect for our Panda Volunteer session! 🐼
We'll also be sharing more posts that will cover everything else we'll be doing in Chengdu for the rest of the trip! So do stay tuned for that.
We were so happy that one of the Pandas 🐼 was nearby the glass watching over us as we were helping to break the Bamboos for them. 🤣
1. change into volunteer overalls
The first thing we did was to change into our Volunteer Overalls! 👖
Pandas have a sensitive immune system, and regular or new bacteria carried by humans can easily make them sick. 🤧
Thus the necessity to change into overalls sanitised and provided by the Panda Volunteer Centre.
Breaking bamboos for the pandas 🐼
Pandas eat a lot of Bamboo. 🎋 And they spend more than half the day just eating the bamboo! 😂 ie. Think more than 12 hours a day! ⏰
An adult panda eats on average 25kg of Bamboo per day. 🐼 Assuming you're an average human eating 300-500g of vegetables per day, imagine eating 60 times more veg per day as a Panda! 🎋
The Panda Base where we'll be volunteering at is home to about 170 Giant Pandas. 🐼 Everyday, the centre has to prepare about 4.25kg of Bamboo just to feed the Pandas! 🎋
That's like the weight of 4 cars! 🚗 🚗 🚗 🚗
Our Panda Volunteer Instructor taught us how to whack / thwack the Bamboo on the floor. 🎋
Honestly it was such a hilarious "Let's get down to business!!" Mulan soundtrack worthy moment! 😂
After we finished preparing the stack of Bamboos allocated for our session, we cleaned out / swept the area as there were a lot of Bamboo remains everywhere after. 🎋
tour of the panda centre 🐼
After our Bamboo wielding session, our Volunteer IC brought us on a little tour of the Panda centre! ✨
The timing for this tour is perfect because it's usually still early in the morning, when the 🐼 Pandas are at their (relatively) most active, and also before most other tour groups arrive at the centre! 🙏🏻
Month and season wise, Nov / Autumn 🍁 is also an ideal time to visit Chengdu 🇨🇳 and the Pandas 🐼, as cooler temperatures also make the Pandas more active, vs the summer months of June - August.
🌡️ Nov Est. Temp:
Chengdu: ie. 6 - 16 Degrees Celsius
Dujiangyan: ie. 4 - 13 Degrees Celsius
Look for lele at the panda base! 🐼
Did you know that our beloved Singapore baby Panda Lele was also relocated here in Chengdu in Jan 2024? 🐼
🇸🇬 Born at our Singapore River Wonders in Aug 2021, Lele is now currently 4 years old as of 2025! (Sub-adult age)
He usually shares an enclosure with 2 other Panda cubs, Qing Zai and Qing Bao, who are just about 1 month younger than him. 🐼 🐼 🐼
Described as a lively, curious and playful Panda, Lele is the largest of the three Pandas, and has also gained a bit of reputation for play-fighting with his housemates, and testing boundaries socially.
Lele is also known for his love for climbing trees, as well as refusing to come down. 🤣 🐼 🌲
Please note that not all Pandas are always visible, as they are rotated to ensure that the Pandas have some "time off" from humans viewing them as well. 🙈
lunch at the centre 🍲
After our tour of the Panda centre 🐼, we had lunch at the Volunteer centre.
When we visited we had a mix of dishes such as Mapo Tofu, Stir Fried Vegetables, Pork Slices with Spring Onion, and some soup. ☺️
It was simple, nothing fancy, but pretty tasty, savoury and satisfying! 🎋
making nutrition cakes for the pandas 🐼
🎋 Bamboo itself is actually pretty low in calories and nutrients.
In order to help supplement the Pandas' diet and ensure they get enough nutrients in captivity, we helped to make Panda cakes. 🐼
Specially formulated for the Pandas, the Panda cakes are nutrient rich, dough-like treats that typically include ingredients like bamboo power, carrots, pumpkin and sweet potatoes. 🥕
We also had a lot of fun shaping and moulding our Panda cakes into cute shapes. 🤗
Collecting and cutting bamboo leaves for the senior pandas 🐼
🇨🇳 Chengdu has several Panda bases, each with their own purpose and function.
The Panda Base which we volunteer at focuses on housing more Senior Pandas. 🐼
As Senior Pandas often have worn-out teeth due to chewing on Bamboo for most of their life 🎋 fresh, tender leaves and young shoots that are more easily digestible and high in nutrients are specially prepared for them. 🙌🏻
✂️ Armed with little primary school scissors, we collected fresh Bamboo leaves 🍃 from the Bamboo stalks and cut them into little tiny pieces for the Senior Pandas. 💛
a meaningful half day volunteer experience for pandas 🐼 🫶🏻 ✨
As we came to the end of our Volunteer for Pandas 🐼 session, we also received a nice certificate from the Panda Centre as thanks! 🤗
PS: In line with our mission to only support Ethical Wildlife experiences 🐼
No, there is no touching or hugging of Pandas 🙅🏻♀️ 🐼
In the past, visitors were sometimes allowed to touch or hug the Pandas in China.
However, this has officially been prohibited and banned since a decade ago in 2015 to prioritise the health, safety and well being of the Pandas - as they are sensitive to human germs, and even minor infections can be dangerous for them. 🙏🏻
Today, the touching and hugging of Pandas is prohibited and not allowed. ❌ 🙅🏻♀️
hope you enjoyed this post and look forward to volunteering for the pandas! 🐼
🏔️ View Full Adventure Itinerary: 6D5N Volunteer for Pandas 🐼 + Jiuzhaigou (Nov 2025) 🏞️
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🏔️ Adventure Together Sg
STB Travel Agent License TA03843
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