@Global Panda fans: In the Name of the Panda, Gather “Online” in Sichuan, China

China boasts many magnificent natural sceneries, of which Sichuan’s landscape is the most unique.

Eight million years ago, the giant panda, an ancient species, flourished on Earth, leaving its footprints in Asia, China, and Sichuan.

As the transformation and evolution of nature, the remaining pandas are becoming fewer and fewer.

Today, the giant pandas are the world’s top rare animals, as “living fossils,” inhabiting the pristine mountain valleys of Sichuan Province, China.

With its plump body, rounded head, and symbolic dark eye circle, the giant panda has become a world-favorite Chinese “national treasure” and Sichuan’s “cultural image,” attracting global attention.

In China, Sichuan is the largest contiguous habitat of the giant panda in the world, a veritable panda home.

The unique geological features and excellent ecological network of Minshan, Qionglaishan, Liangshan, Daxiangling, Xiaoxiangling, and Qinling mountains have created a natural, comfortable, and beautiful habitat for the giant panda. More than 80 percent of the world’s wild and captive-bred giant pandas live in Sichuan.

Baoxing County of Sichuan Province is surrounded by mountains and strewn with brooks. One hundred and fifty-one years ago, the French missionary Armand David discovered the world’s first giant panda in Dengchigou Valley, Baoxing County, Sichuan Province, with an elevation of more than 1,800 m. From then on, the giant panda began to go global from its hometown in Sichuan. In 2006, the “Sichuan Giant Panda Sanctuaries,” which covers 924,500 ha with seven nature reserves and nine scenic spots in Baoxing County and Sichuan Province, was listed as a world natural heritage site.

Today, Sichuan ranks first in China in the number of captive-bred giant pandas. The wild giant pandas are found in more than ten counties (cities and districts) in Sichuan Province. Coexisting with tens of thousands of the world’s rare plants and animals in harmony, they are enjoying the “comfortable” life here.

As the national treasure, the giant panda is also the most adorable “tourism ambassador” for overseas tourists to experience Sichuan’s beauty, ecology, and humanity.

In recent years, giant pandas have attracted numerous fans around the world. Where “Sichuan, More Than Pandas” and “China (Sichuan) Giant Panda International Culture Week” are held, pandas become the highlight, and panda fans from all over the world are attracted to travel to China and Sichuan to meet giant pandas. The giant panda has become a famous Chinese cultural symbol and Sichuan logo.

At the same time, tracing the culture of giant pandas at their habitat has become the new fashion for overseas tourists visiting Sichuan. Sichuan is teeming with tourist attractions with the panda as theme: The Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding attracts hundreds of thousands of overseas tourists every year; the “I Am Here” giant climbing panda sculpture on Chunxi Road has become an internet-famous site; the panda-themed subway train relieves foreign tourists of their fatigue as they travel around the city.

However, the global panda fans’ tours to the Giant Panda Habitat extend further beyond these sites.

On July 23, China (Sichuan) Giant Panda Culture and Tourism Week (online) 2020, co-sponsored by the Sichuan Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism,Sichuan Forestry and Grassland Administration, and the overseas Chinese cultural centers, tourist offices stationed overseas, will be officially launched globally. In the name of the panda, visitors from around the world will be able to experience Sichuan’s beauty, ecology, and humanity online. The event will present the natural and cultural charm of the Giant Panda Habitat from a different perspective, and launch featured tourism itineraries of Sichuan Giant Panda Habitat Tours, such as the Panda Tracking Tour and Panda Experience Tour, with multilingual versions in English, Russian, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, and other languages for the global launch.

@Panda fans worldwide, in the name of the panda, will gather “online” to visit the different areas of the Giant Panda Habitat in Chengdu Plain, Western Sichuan, and Northern Sichuan. Tourists will experience Sichuan, the Land of Abundance, by exploring the mysterious panda habitats in Fengtongzhai, Tangjiahe, and Wanglang nature reserves, perceiving the graceful customs of Tibetan and Qiang ethnic groups, appreciating the magical charm of world natural and cultural heritages such as Mount Qingcheng, Jiuzhaigou Valley, and Leshan Grand Buddha, revealing the life of star pandas, and enjoying the multi-faceted fun of traditional Sichuan cultures such as Sichuan cuisine, Sichuan tea, and Sichuan Opera.

The China (Sichuan) Giant Panda Culture and Tourism Week (online) 2020 is to kick off. We are waiting for you to visit the panda home, have a perfect date with the giant panda, and enjoy the magnificent Sichuan!