Private Tour

Giant Panda and Leshan Buddha Day Trip from Chengdu

Overview

Available languages

English

Mobile ticket

Take this one day Giant Panda and Leshan Buddha day trip to see the cute pandas and the hill-big Buddha. As Chinese national treasures, giant pandas live only in China, most of whom live in the Sichuan province. It is well known that Chengdu is the home of the giant panda and the Giant Panda Breeding Research Base in Chengdu is the best place to visit these lovely creatures. More than 90 pandas are available for you to watch them have fun and enjoy them play in the half open yard. You will also visit the Leshan Giant Buddha, the largest Buddha statue in the world, which is said "The Buddha is a hill, and the hill is a Buddha."

Additional Info

Not recommended for pregnant travelers

Suitable for all physical fitness levels

Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

What To Expect

Giant Panda Breeding Research Base (Xiongmao Jidi)

Your private Chengdu tour starts in the early morning around 7am when your guide and driver pick you up from your hotel or the airport. You will then head to the Giant Panda Breeding Research Base in the suburb, just 10 kms north of Chengdu, where you can see the lovely pandas making various funny movements as they eat and play. There is a great possibility to visit pandas and also walk in the wide and fresh garden of bamboo, which is a pleasant experience.

2 hours • Admission Included

Leshan Giant Buddha (Da Fo)

After visiting the panda garden, drive to Leshan which is about 2 hours on the express way. The wide spreading landscape of the Chengdu plain will not be boring. For lunch, you will enjoy delicious local Chinese Cuisine. After lunch, your tour guide will show you the wonder of the Leshan Giant Buddha located on the side of the Minjiang river, also known as " Buddha is the hill and the hill is a Buddha." First, you will visit Linyun Temple, which is to commemorate the monk Hai Tong, who collected donations 1000 years ago under difficult conditions and started the construction of this huge work. You will then walk down the zigzagging trail along the left side of Buddha. The Buddha is a small mountain, from its head to its shoulder, and from its leg to its foot is about 30 minutes hiking. You will then hike up the right side which is a good place to view Leshan city across the intersection of Minjiang River, Dadu River and Qingyi River. At last, if time permitted, you could go on to pay a visit of Wuyou temple, where you will enjoy the statue of 500 Arhats. After Hiking, you can take a cruise along the rivers to see the Buddha from the water (optional program - need to pay extra money about $12 USD). In the late afternoon your driver will take 2 hours driving on the express way again. Just enough time for you to have a short nap in your vehicle. While arriving in Chengdu in the late afternoon, your guide and driver will escort you back to your hotel or the airport. End this excursion tour with plenty of great memories.

2 hours • Admission Included

What‘s Included

Hotel in city pickup and drop-off

Insurance for per person

Service charges and government taxes

Lunch will be traditional Chinese dishes local restaurant

Private transfer by air-conditioned vehicle with driver during the tour

Entrance tickets of Chengdu Giant Panda Base and Leshan Giant Buddha

Private English-speaking guide

The cruise of Leshan Buddha; if you want to take a cruise, you need to pay extra $12 per person

Tianfu airport pick-up or drop-off, need to pay extra accordingly.

Pickup points

Select a pickup point

Options

Panda and Buddha Tour

Pickup included

Reviews

5.00

6 reviews

Total reviews and rating from Viator & Tripadvisor

Our tour guide, Cora, was...
Jamie S,,Sep 18, 2025
- Review from Viator
5.00
Our tour guide, Cora, was very helpful and knowledgeable. The whole trip was not too rush, got to see lots of Pandas. Boat ride at Leshan Buddha was fun. It was a pleasant trip overall. Highly recommended !
Great time in Chengdu
Zoltan N,,Sep 5, 2025
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00
Our tour guide Veronica and our driver Mr Li were excellent. The Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding was amazing! This is a must-see for any tourists visiting Chengdu, providing the weather allows! We had a nice lunch at Nanniwan Environmental Hotpot and then continued our tour to the Leshan Giant Buddha, and would recommend upgrading to the boat tour for better views and less walking! The entire day was entertaining, informative, and enjoyable. Veronica was extremely knowledgeable and pleasant to be around! This tour package was a great way to spend the day!
Private Panda and Buddha Tour
Alice B,,Mar 26, 2025
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00
It was a fantastic day and Michael, our guide, is super helpful and very prepared, ready to answer any doubt, hand in hand and charismatic!
Walking Encyclopedia
U6861GGgeorgeh,,Jan 22, 2025
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00
Our group would like to thank China Exploration for making our visit to Chengdu a memorable one. We would also like to thank our guide, Sara Zhou. Ms. Zhou is a "walking encyclopedia" of Pandas. She says there are about 1900 pandas in the wild. In the place we visited, the Chendu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, there are 757 Giant Pandas. She could easily identify 500 of them by just showing her their pictures. Amazing! Anyway, she is also very kind, helpful and patient. She happily guided us to the crowded Jinli street. Jinli Street was ranked 1st among the "world's most beautiful streets" published by CNN Travel in 2019. Last, but not the least- Sara speaks fluent English. English is rarely spoken in China and it is very difficult to communicate with the locals. Sara made it easy for us to communicate with the Chinese locals. I would highly recommend her to every English speaking tourist who would want to visit Chengdu someday. Xiexie ni Sara! Xiexie ni China Exploration! - George, Jenny, Joanne and Arcadio. Xo ai ni China from the Philippines!
Our tour guide, Sarah,...
Victor E,,Dec 24, 2024
- Review from Viator
5.00
Our tour guide, Sarah, was magnificent. She explained everything very well, gave us incredible facts and answered every single question we had with a smile. She was extremely enthusiastic and passionate. We loved having her as our tour guide and having her take us everywhere, making sure we were comfortable and trying to accommodate any request we may have had. It was an amazing experience. We truly cannot recommend this tour with her enough.
Great day in Chengdu and Leshan
mmu4444,,Oct 17, 2019
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00
Sophia was a delight. She was an excellent guide in trying to make the day not only Informative but also fun. She and the driver, Mr. Wu, took very good care of me through a very long (because of traffic) day. I would highly recommend this tour to get the very best of Chengdu if you only have a day to spend in the city.