Wolong Natural Reserve

Visit Magical Chengdu with China Tour

Wolong Nature Reserve is not only the ideal place to relax in scenic beauty, but also for giant pandas to live. As one of the most important tourist attractions in Chengdu, Wolong Natural Area shelters various types of rare and endangered plants along with other flora and fauna.

Wolong Natural Reserve Area in the southwest of Wenchuan county of Sichuan Province lies in the valley east of Qionglai Mountain. The highest peak is Mt. Siguniang with elevation of 20,505 feet (6,250 meters) and 101 peaks around it rise over 16,000 feet (5,000 meters) above sea level. The topography is slanted downward in a southwesterly direction.

Located in the transitional region from Sichuan Basin to the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, many types of animals ranged from those at home in subtropical to those favoring frigid climates can be found in Wolong Natural Reserve Area. In 1983, Wolong NaturalReserve Area was added into Man and Biosphere Program in order to protect rare animals, endangered species,, and the forest ecosystem of Wolong area. The Wolong Giant Panda Reserve Center was one of the earliest research bases established in the early 1980s by the People of Republic of China through cooperation with the World Wildlife Fund.

Many rare and endangered animals and plants live in Wolong Natural Reserve. In addition to giant pandas, other rare animals like snow leopards, lesser pandas, macaques, golden monkeys, etc. thrive in Wolong. Wolong has dense forest coverage with an area of 20 millions square meters. There are 870 medicinal plants which make Wolong an important region for growing herbs. In addition, many kinds of fungus can be found growing here.

The famous spots related to grand pandas are Chinese Wolong Panda Museum and Chinese Wolong Panda Park, but they were closed after the 2008 8.0-magnitude Wenchuan earthquake. Pandas in Wonglong Natural Reserve were therefore moved to Bifengxia in Yaan City, Sichuan Province.