Dengchigou (Giant Panda Discovery Site)
邓池沟
In 1869, the French priest Armand David first described the giant panda scientifically here. A century-old Catholic church survives, and this is the type-specimen locality of the giant panda.
Dengchigou lies in Fengtongzhai Township, Baoxing County, Ya'an. Deep in the Qionglai Mountains, it falls within the Sichuan Giant Panda Sanctuaries, a UNESCO World Natural Heritage Site. In 1869, Armand David, a French Catholic priest and naturalist preaching here, obtained a panda specimen and sent it back to Paris. The French National Museum of Natural History examined and published it, so the giant panda became known to Western science for the first time. For this reason, Baoxing is known as the type-specimen locality of the giant panda. The valley preserves the 19th-century Dengchigou Catholic Church, a hybrid Chinese-Western wooden building where David's room is still intact. There is also a Giant Panda Culture Exhibition Hall, which introduces the discovery of the species and its conservation. The nearby Fengtongzhai National Nature Reserve has dense forests and is home to wild giant pandas, golden monkeys and other rare animals. Ticket prices are set on site. Getting there: about 2 hours from Ya'an city to Baoxing County, then about 1 hour on mountain roads to Dengchigou. Notes: mountain roads are narrow, and landslides are common in the rainy season. There are no captive pandas here, so the focus is on human history and nature.
Opening hours
About 09:00–17:00
Nearby sights
- Dongla Mountain Grand Canyon
- Qiaoqi Tibetan Village and Qiaoqi Lake
- Shenmulei Scenic Area
- Dawagengzha
- Shangli Ancient Town
- Jiajin Mountain
- Mount Mengding
- Bifengxia Panda Base & Gorge