What to do and see in China, China: The Best Nature & Wildlife Areas

February 1, 2022 Augustus Redeker

China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a unitary sovereign state in East Asia and the world's most populous country, with a population of around 1.404 billion. Covering approximately 9,600,000 square kilometers (3,700,000 sq mi), it is the third- or fourth-largest country by total area, depending on the source consulted. China also has the most neighbor countries in the world. Governed by the Communist Party of China, it exercises jurisdiction over 22 provinces, five autonomous regions, four direct-controlled municipalities (Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Chongqing), and the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau.
Restaurants in China

1. Huanglong Scenic Valley

Pingsong Street, Songpan County 623300 China +86 837 724 9196 http://www.huanglong.com/
Excellent
58%
Good
32%
Satisfactory
8%
Poor
1%
Terrible
1%
Overall Ratings

4.5 based on 460 reviews

Huanglong Scenic Valley

Valley of Huang Long, meaning "Yellow Dragon", has snow mountains, a large cave, Huanglong colorful lakes, as well as endangered animals, including the giant panda.

Reviewed By GGVZ_

Absolutely worth visiting! The only thing to remember - it closes at 17:00. You can find a driver to go there from Songpan near the bus station. This place is full of great views and positive energy!

2. Mount Emei (Emeishan)

Emeishan 614201 China
Excellent
54%
Good
30%
Satisfactory
11%
Poor
3%
Terrible
2%
Overall Ratings

4.5 based on 838 reviews

Mount Emei (Emeishan)

A scenic mountain area houses important Buddhist temples.

Reviewed By MattwalesNorthWales - Chengdu, China

A must see place if you are in this part of the world. One of the important Buddhist Mountains in China. If, unlike me you love walking uphill you can climb this on foot but it will take about 4 days. I settled for a full day trip. Wrap up warm in winter as the top will be a lot colder than the bottom. You can buy a combined ticket for 160¥ which will take you from Emeishan railway station up the mountain. The journey is not for those, weak of stomach as the road snakes up the mountain, contains a lot of chicanes, and the drivers don't hang around. There is a pee stop half way and the bus may stop to add snow chains to the wheels in winter. Once at the top bus station you have to walk for about 2km through the monkey reserve to get the cable car which will whizz you right to the summit. At the summit you may be rewarded with a spectacular view as well as a variety of temples, shops and restaurants to explore. You can stay in a hotel at the top so that you can see the sunrise, but its not cheap. Please note the last cable car is at 5.30 and the last bus home is at 6pm. Great day trip

3. Wolong Giant Panda Nature Reserve

Wolong Town, Wenchuan County 623006 China +86 837 624 6754
Excellent
72%
Good
19%
Satisfactory
7%
Poor
0%
Terrible
2%
Overall Ratings

4.5 based on 43 reviews

Wolong Giant Panda Nature Reserve

Located at 6,500 feet in the verdant mountains of Sichuan Province, this reserve is one of the last strongholds of the giant panda

Reviewed By ellenjane10 - Niagara Falls, Canada

I travelled to the Wolong Giant Panda Research Centre by private car with a Chinese lady driver. It cost me about $200 Canadian and was well worth it. We visited both the Wolong Panda Centre and the Dujiangyan Panda Centre. I paid for my driver to accompany me inside the Centres and this proved to be wise as she used her phone to tell me details about the pandas and the parks. I had visited the Wolong Centre before the terrible earthquake of 2007. At that time the park was small and modest, but it had 16 one-year-old pandas!!! I was curious to see how much the park had changed. I was truly amazed by the development of large enclosures with lots of natural activities for the pandas to enjoy. The new Wolong Panda Centre nestled in the Wenqiao mountains is absolutely wonderful. At each enclosure, there are signs telling the visitor the names and ages of the pandas. If you can spare the time, Wolong is a must for the panda enthusiast.

4. Giant Panda Breeding Research Base (Xiongmao Jidi)

No.1375 Xiongmao Avenue the Outside Northern Third Ring Road, Chenghua District, Chengdu 610081 China +86 28 8351 0033 [email protected] http://www.panda.org.cn/
Excellent
69%
Good
24%
Satisfactory
5%
Poor
1%
Terrible
1%
Overall Ratings

4.5 based on 6,601 reviews

Giant Panda Breeding Research Base (Xiongmao Jidi)

Reviewed By 1st_Time_in_DR - Bridgewater, United States

You will see adorable giant pandas playing on the well maintained ground. Walking the paths itself is also very pleasant with lots of bamboo providing shades and look very cool. This place is not only for kids, there are many adults coming by themselves and enjoy the nice walking and watching the playful pandas. The park is huge, there are many pandas spread out at different locations. I would be surprised if you don't see one out there during your visit. We saw different groups of pandas - baby pandas, adult pandas, red pandas,....on the ground, on trees, and on wooden structures,....They are so cute! We took lots of pictures and video clips. A place with lots of fond memories.

5. Changbai Mountain

Within the County, Fusong County 134500 China
Excellent
60%
Good
34%
Satisfactory
6%
Poor
0%
Terrible
0%
Overall Ratings

4.5 based on 265 reviews

Changbai Mountain

Located near the Korean border, spectacular Eternally White Mountain is China’s largest nature reserve with rare sables, tigers and wild ginseng.

6. Bifengxia Panda Reserve

Bifeng Gorges Scenic Resort, Yucheng District, Ya'an 625000 China http://www.sctabi.com
Excellent
58%
Good
28%
Satisfactory
8%
Poor
4%
Terrible
2%
Overall Ratings

4.5 based on 157 reviews

Bifengxia Panda Reserve

Nearest large town is Ya'an about 16km away.

7. San Qing Shan

Junction of Yushan County and Dexing County, Shangrao 334000 China +86 793 218 9189 http://www.sqs.gov.cn/
Excellent
61%
Good
33%
Satisfactory
5%
Poor
1%
Terrible
0%
Overall Ratings

4.5 based on 412 reviews

San Qing Shan

Reviewed By bLaCk0uT7 - Prague, Czech Republic

We travelled there during the National holidays (specifically Wednesday and Thursday) which is the worst time to travel in China, because everyone is doing that as well. We got up at 4:30 and took a ride to the eastern cable car (2-day entry and 1 return cable car admission fee is 240 yuan). The weather favored us, and the sky was crystal clear throughout the entire day which provided great circumstances for taking the photos and enjoy the scenery. That is also why we managed to see the sunrise and it was spectacular. You should totally consider getting up early to be able to see that. For the most part of the trip there is only 1 way you can go alongside the mountain. There are not that many steps up since once you go up, the concrete pavement is basically flat or with only a little incline/decline. We walked on every path there is, and we finished the trip at 5 PM (7 hours of walking time according Samsung Health app and 31 km trip distance - realistically 25 km). So, it is manageable to see everything this place has to offer in one day and I strongly advise you to do so. Fortunately, there are labels in English and that even goes for information about how the mountains originated. There is no need for mountain shoes as there are no trails whatsoever, so I enjoyed this trip in comfortable running shoes. The toilets are scattered quite unevenly but you can smell them from a far. BE SURE TO BRING YOUR OWN TOILET PAPER/TISSUES! (I am not an English native speaker)

8. Xinjiang Kanas National Geopark

North of the County, Burqin County 836600 China
Excellent
81%
Good
15%
Satisfactory
3%
Poor
1%
Terrible
0%
Overall Ratings

4.5 based on 171 reviews

Xinjiang Kanas National Geopark

North of Xinjiang

Reviewed By KodoDrummer - Yekaterinburg, Russia

This Chinese reserve borders Kazakhstan, Russia and Mongolia. It is a natural ecosystem of mountains, lakes, rivers, glaciers grasslands, and forests.

9. Dongchuan Red Land

Xintian Town,Dongchuan District, Kunming 654109 China
Excellent
59%
Good
33%
Satisfactory
8%
Poor
1%
Terrible
0%
Overall Ratings

4.5 based on 167 reviews

Dongchuan Red Land

Reviewed By Au_and_Family - Singapore, Singapore

Dongchuan Red Land is a place of beautiful and colorful terraces. We have a rental car with a driver cum guide to bring us there. We saw many colorful terraces as we were driven to see Shuipingzi Rice Terrance (the Moon Rice), sunset at Luoxiagou in Songmaopeng, then to Huagou Thousand years of Nagarjuna—Red Soil Grand Sight. Sunrise next day at Damakan was marred by foggy morning weather. Later in the morning, we saw Qicai Slope (colorful slope), Jinxiuyuan, and Yuepuao—Luoshi Bay. It was a wonderful colorful experience.

10. Gongga Mountain

Gongga Mountain, Moxi Town, Kangding County 626000 China http://explorechinatibet.com/kham-attractions/mount-gongga/
Excellent
64%
Good
27%
Satisfactory
6%
Poor
0%
Terrible
3%
Overall Ratings

4.5 based on 33 reviews

Gongga Mountain

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