Giant Panda expedition March 2012
Expedition Itinerary
Great Bear Nature Tours is pleased to offer an exciting opportunity to view and photograph wild Giant Pandas in China. As with our bear viewing program in Canada, we will be working with wild pandas and will not be visiting captive breeding centers or photographing captive pandas. Looking for wild pandas, our success cannot be guaranteed, however, during Tom’s 2010 scouting trip he saw 4 or 5 different pandas and he didn’t specifically look for pandas everyday. Similarly, everyone in the first group guided by Great Bear Nature Tours, in 2011, saw at least four pandas. Thus our probability of success is very high. The expedition will be personally escorted by Great Bear Nature Tours owners and guides, Tom Rivest and Marg Leehane.
Departing from Xian, we travel by minivan into the Qin Ling Mountains in Shaanxi province to the Foping Nature Reserve. Foping Nature Reserve has the world’s highest measured density of wild Giant Pandas of 2 pandas/km² near the Sanguanmiao Research Station where we will stay during our expedition. Pioneering panda research has been conducted at the Sanguanmiao station since 1985 and has only recently been opened to tourism, providing the very real possibility of seeing wild Giant Pandas in their natural habitat to bear aficionados like us. The local population in the vicinity of Sanguanmiao numbers about 30 pandas with a total of nearly 300 in the greater Qin Ling Mountains. Success with viewing wild pandas at Foping has been much higher than in the reserves of the Sichuan province such as Wolong.
Our expedition is timed to coincide with the middle of the Giant Panda breeding season. This is a very busy and exciting time in Foping with lots of panda movements and marking. Pandas are quite vocal this time of the year, which helps our trackers located them. Additionally the leaves of the deciduous forest haven’t started to grow yet which also maximizes our ability to find and view wild pandas. Occasionally, at this time of year a female panda retreats to the top of a tree while up to 8 males compete for breeding rights on the ground below.
In addition to Giant Pandas we will also likely encounter Takin, a unique mammal whose closest relative is the arctic Muskoxen. We should also encounter Red and White Giant Flying Squirrels, which are one meter long! We will also look for Golden snub-nosed Monkeys considered by some to one of the most beautiful primates. Since they are somewhat shy in Foping, this year we will also visit Daping Yu where the monkeys are somewhat habituated to humans and allow closer approach with cameras. Though it was late winter during 2010's visit we still tallied 53 species of birds plus a total of 9 mammal species, so there will be lots of things to interest us.
As with our lodge in Canada we believe in small groups and will limit this exciting opportunity to just 6 people plus Tom and Marg. The Sanguanmiao Research Station is a comfortable but basic accommodation where the food is traditional rural Chinese cooking with abundant and delicious vegetable stir-fry dishes and an occasional meat dish, plus a large local beer each night. Rooms are unheated but electric blankets make the beds very cozy. Bathrooms with western style flush toilets and bag showers adjoin every room. Facilities are a little rustic compared to our lodge in Canada but considering the locale where everything is carried in by horseback and the fact we saw fresh panda tracks just outside our window it will seem like heaven!
The Sanguanmiao Research Center is accessed via an 8 km (5 mile) concrete paved trail through excellent panda habitat. Our bags and supplies will be carried in on ponies. We will just carry our daypacks (or field vests) we need for the hike in and a camera should we encounter a panda on the way in. A reasonable level of fitness is required for this trip. If you can hike steadily up and down forested hillsides you should do fine. We have scheduled adequate time (7 full days) to make sure everyone gets a good chance to see a wild panda. Since hillsides can be steep, we recommend keeping the camera gear to a minimum size required to get the image you want, considering that you will be carrying it off-trail to photograph pandas.
Expedition Itinerary
Day 1 – March 3, 2012
You will be met by your Great Bear Nature Tours guide or representative at Xian airport and transported to a hotel in downtown Xian such as the Grand New World Hotel or similar quality. Most international flights to Xian connect through either Beijing or Shanghai and arrive in the late afternoon or evening.
In the evening we meet for a delicious Dumpling Banquet dinner.
Day 2 – March 4, 2012
Today we meet for breakfast in the hotel and then head out for the 5-hour drive via minivan to the trailhead in the Foping reserve. Along the way we will begin to see birds as we start to enter the mountains including the flashy Crested kingfisher commonly seen along the river as we climb up the mountains.
Arriving at the trailhead by early afternoon the luggage will be loaded on to the ponies and we will begin our 8 km hike (largely all downhill) into the nature reserve. During this journey we suddenly step back in time into a rapidly maturing second growth forest where we will encounter frequent sign of large mammals such as tracks and panda scat. During our 2010 scouting trip there were 18 species of birds recorded on the first day.
We will arrive at the Sanguanmiao Research Station in time to settle in to our rooms prior to dinner, with perhaps some time for birding around the station.
Day 3 – 8 - March 5-10, 2012
We spend the next 6 full days searching for pandas and other wildlife. Our daily routine starts at 7 AM with a traditional Chinese breakfast of rice porridge, steamed bread, or vegetable stir-fry served with coffee or tea, of course.
With a light lunch of apples/pears, boiled eggs, and various snack type biscuits loaded into our backpacks/vests we head out with our local guides/interpreters and trackers. Eventually the trackers will fan out into the hillsides while we wait and do some birding. Once the trackers have radioed the position of a panda to us we head up the hills to their location.
At some point midday we will break for lunch in the field with our trackers and guides, followed by more searching for wildlife. Assuming we have good luck with Giant pandas some days will be devoted to looking for other species such as Takin or flying squirrels. We will usually arrive back at the research station between 3 and 5 PM followed by dinner at 6 PM. After dinner we gather in a heated room to swap stories or view the day’s video or photo results. We will also spend some time at night listening for the several species of owls residing near the station at night.
Individuals can always choose to spend a day near the station if a break is desired from climbing the hills after pandas. The birding around the station and the local village is excellent.
Day 9 - March 11, 2012
After an early breakfast we leave the Sanguanmiao Research Station and hike out of the reserve with the ponies carrying our bags. We then travel to Foping for a leisurely meal and the opportunity to walk around a non-touristy regional Chinese town, before spending a night in a comfortable hotel.
Day 10 - March 12, 2012
This morning will be spent at Daping Yu photographing Golden snub-nosed monkeys and other wildlife. With our memory cards loaded with images of monkeys, we travel from Foping County to Xian where we spend the night.
Day 11 - March 13, 2012
Xian is one of China’s oldest cities with history dating back more than 3,100 years and was the capital of China during several dynasties. Today is a free day when you can explore that history. You may choose to visit Shaanxi History Museum, a modern national museum opened in 1991. The museum will showcase 1.5 million years of history and evolution. Another option is Xian’s famous Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses Museum. For those still with energy, you can ride a bicycle on top of the historical walls of Xian.
In the evening we meet for a farewell Hot Pot dinner.
Day 12 - March 14, 2012
After breakfast at the hotel, we say goodbye to Xian and head to the airport for flights home.
Expedition Inclusions
Expedition price includes the following:
- Double occupancy accommodation at the hotels and Sanguanmiao Research Center.
- All car transfers, government fees, reserve fee, entrance fee, guides and trackers and tips for guides and trackers.
- All meals including one complimentary beer with dinner.
Expedition price does not includes the following:
- All airfares
- Personal expenses such as shopping or additional drinks
- Optional excursions in Xian
- Travel insurance with medical evacuation insurance (required)
- China travel visa (required)
Expedition Cost
All-inclusive, per person: $4250 CAD
Single supplement: $670 CAD
Price is based upon exchange rates of Chinese Yuan Renminbi to Canadian dollar of 6.601 to 1 on June 23, 2011. If China should change its long held policy of fixing its currency relative to the USD, and let its value rise relative to the US dollar, there may be an additional surcharge.
Click to see the trip reports from the 2010 scouting trip or the 2011 trip.