{"id":5701,"date":"2025-03-07T03:33:35","date_gmt":"2025-03-07T03:33:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wendywutours.co.nz\/blog\/?p=5701"},"modified":"2025-08-05T04:21:53","modified_gmt":"2025-08-05T04:21:53","slug":"our-best-holiday-to-china-in-pursuit-of-pandas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wendywutours.co.nz\/blog\/our-best-holiday-to-china-in-pursuit-of-pandas\/","title":{"rendered":"Our Best Holiday to China &#8211; In Pursuit of Pandas"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><noscript><img width=\"1000\" height=\"675\" src=\"https:\/\/www.wendywutours.co.nz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Wendy-Harriss-baby-panda.jpg\" alt class=\"wp-image-5702\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.wendywutours.co.nz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Wendy-Harriss-baby-panda.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.wendywutours.co.nz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Wendy-Harriss-baby-panda-300x203.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.wendywutours.co.nz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Wendy-Harriss-baby-panda-768x518.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\"><\/noscript><img width=\"1000\" height=\"675\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%201000%20675%22%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" alt class=\"wp-image-5702 lazyload\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%201000%20675%22%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.wendywutours.co.nz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Wendy-Harriss-baby-panda.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.wendywutours.co.nz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Wendy-Harriss-baby-panda-300x203.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.wendywutours.co.nz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Wendy-Harriss-baby-panda-768x518.jpg 768w\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.wendywutours.co.nz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Wendy-Harriss-baby-panda.jpg\"><figcaption><em> The gorgeous giant panda, native to the lowland bamboo forests of Central China, is classified as a vulnerable and conservation-reliant species.  <\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>One of our VIP customers Wendy Harris went on her holidays to <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wendywutours.co.nz\/china\/\" target=\"_blank\">China<\/a> in October 2024, embarking on her fifth Wendy Wu tour, joining our bestselling nine day \u2018<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wendywutours.co.nz\/china\/tours\/in-pursuit-of-pandas.htm\">In Pursuit of Pandas<\/a>\u2019 adventure. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On tour, Wendy was able to tick off some items from her bucket list, including a visit to the Far East\u2019s most adorable resident, the giant panda, and by travelling in the autumn, Wendy picked one of the best times to visit China. October in China is lovely, bringing warm, dry days to the north of the nation, where this tour travels and, while it can be a little wetter in the east, as Wendy mentions below, this has its advantages!<br><br>Here is the report Wendy sent us about her holiday in China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery columns-3 is-cropped\"><ul class=\"blocks-gallery-grid\"><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><noscript><img src=\"https:\/\/www.wendywutours.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Wendy-Harris-Terracotta-Army-1024x460.jpg\" alt data-id=\"11715\" data-full-url=\"https:\/\/www.wendywutours.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Wendy-Harris-Terracotta-Army.jpg\" data-link=\"https:\/\/www.wendywutours.co.uk\/blog\/?attachment_id=11715\" class=\"wp-image-11715\"><\/noscript><img src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" alt data-id=\"11715\" data-full-url=\"https:\/\/www.wendywutours.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Wendy-Harris-Terracotta-Army.jpg\" data-link=\"https:\/\/www.wendywutours.co.uk\/blog\/?attachment_id=11715\" class=\"wp-image-11715 lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.wendywutours.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Wendy-Harris-Terracotta-Army-1024x460.jpg\"><figcaption class=\"blocks-gallery-item__caption\">Wendy ticked plenty of items off her bucket list, including the Terracotta Warriors&#8230;<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><noscript><img src=\"https:\/\/www.wendywutours.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Wendy-Harris-panda-460x1024.jpg\" alt data-id=\"11714\" data-full-url=\"https:\/\/www.wendywutours.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Wendy-Harris-panda.jpg\" data-link=\"https:\/\/www.wendywutours.co.uk\/blog\/?attachment_id=11714\" class=\"wp-image-11714\"><\/noscript><img src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" alt data-id=\"11714\" data-full-url=\"https:\/\/www.wendywutours.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Wendy-Harris-panda.jpg\" data-link=\"https:\/\/www.wendywutours.co.uk\/blog\/?attachment_id=11714\" class=\"wp-image-11714 lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.wendywutours.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Wendy-Harris-panda-460x1024.jpg\"><figcaption class=\"blocks-gallery-item__caption\">&#8230;giant pandas and&#8230;<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><noscript><img src=\"https:\/\/www.wendywutours.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Wendy-Harris-Great-Wall-1024x931.jpg\" alt data-id=\"11712\" data-full-url=\"https:\/\/www.wendywutours.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Wendy-Harris-Great-Wall.jpg\" data-link=\"https:\/\/www.wendywutours.co.uk\/blog\/?attachment_id=11712\" class=\"wp-image-11712\"><\/noscript><img src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" alt data-id=\"11712\" data-full-url=\"https:\/\/www.wendywutours.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Wendy-Harris-Great-Wall.jpg\" data-link=\"https:\/\/www.wendywutours.co.uk\/blog\/?attachment_id=11712\" class=\"wp-image-11712 lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.wendywutours.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Wendy-Harris-Great-Wall-1024x931.jpg\"><figcaption class=\"blocks-gallery-item__caption\">&#8230;the Great Wall of China.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column\" style=\"flex-basis:100%\">\n<h2><strong>Arriving in China<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAfter a seemingly short and excellent flight on board Air China\u2019s new A350-900 from Heathrow, we arrived at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wendywutours.co.nz\/china\/beijing\/\">Beijing<\/a>\u2019s bustling airport. Directions were in Chinese and English, so we had no problem navigating our way to meet our local guide who accompanied us to the hotel. Later that evening we met the rest of our group for the first time for dinner at a local restaurant. It was a lovely meal in great company, with plenty of laughter as we learned to use chopsticks, an essential skill to learn on holidays in China! Then to bed at our very nice hotel for a welcome sleep before setting off the next morning to see bucket list sight number one, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wendywutours.co.uk\/china\/beijing\/tiananmen-square\/\">Tiananmen Square<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery columns-2 is-cropped\"><ul class=\"blocks-gallery-grid\"><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><noscript><img src=\"https:\/\/www.wendywutours.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Wendy-Harris-Chinese-State-Circus-768x1024.jpg\" alt data-id=\"11711\" data-full-url=\"https:\/\/www.wendywutours.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Wendy-Harris-Chinese-State-Circus.jpg\" data-link=\"https:\/\/www.wendywutours.co.uk\/blog\/?attachment_id=11711\" class=\"wp-image-11711\"><\/noscript><img src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" alt data-id=\"11711\" data-full-url=\"https:\/\/www.wendywutours.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Wendy-Harris-Chinese-State-Circus.jpg\" data-link=\"https:\/\/www.wendywutours.co.uk\/blog\/?attachment_id=11711\" class=\"wp-image-11711 lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.wendywutours.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Wendy-Harris-Chinese-State-Circus-768x1024.jpg\"><figcaption class=\"blocks-gallery-item__caption\">The spectacle of the Chinese State Circus in Beijing<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><noscript><img src=\"https:\/\/www.wendywutours.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Wedny-Harris-Chinese-ladies-604x1024.jpg\" alt data-id=\"11706\" data-full-url=\"https:\/\/www.wendywutours.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Wedny-Harris-Chinese-ladies.jpg\" data-link=\"https:\/\/www.wendywutours.co.uk\/blog\/?attachment_id=11706\" class=\"wp-image-11706\"><\/noscript><img src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" alt data-id=\"11706\" data-full-url=\"https:\/\/www.wendywutours.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Wedny-Harris-Chinese-ladies.jpg\" data-link=\"https:\/\/www.wendywutours.co.uk\/blog\/?attachment_id=11706\" class=\"wp-image-11706 lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.wendywutours.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Wedny-Harris-Chinese-ladies-604x1024.jpg\"><figcaption class=\"blocks-gallery-item__caption\">Locals in colourful costume in Tiananmen Square<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2><strong>Beijing &amp; the Great Wall<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><noscript><img src=\"https:\/\/www.wendywutours.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Wendy-Harriss-Great-Wall.jpg\" alt=\"A scenic view of the Great Wall of China winding through lush green mountains under a vibrant sunset sky with orange, pink, and blue hues.\" class=\"wp-image-11701\"><\/noscript><img src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" alt=\"A scenic view of the Great Wall of China winding through lush green mountains under a vibrant sunset sky with orange, pink, and blue hues.\" class=\"wp-image-11701 lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.wendywutours.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Wendy-Harriss-Great-Wall.jpg\"><figcaption>A UNESCO World Heritage Site and absolutely essential visit on holidays to China, the Great Wall of China stretches 21,000 kilometres from east to west and is considered one of the greatest architectural feats in history.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>I thought I\u2019d be amazed and a little sad knowing the square\u2019s history, but what I didn\u2019t expect was how huge the square was \u2013 our local guide, Stephen, told us that it can hold over one million people! On the day we visited, the square was busy with people visiting from all over China and many were wearing their colourful costumes; they found us fascinating, and we were asked to pose for photos many times as we explored. <br><br>After an extensive tour of the square and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wendywutours.co.nz\/china\/beijing\/forbidden-city\/\">Forbidden City<\/a>, our evening treat was a visit to the Chinese State Circus, where we were treated to a show of death-defying daring and eye-popping contortionism. Our excellent national guide Summer had secured front row seats for us, and I spent the next hour on the edge of mine as acts, each more impossible than the last, appeared before us on the stage.<br><br>Bucket list item number two was a walk on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wendywutours.co.nz\/china\/beijing\/great-wall-of-china\/\">Great Wall of China<\/a>. It was an early start to avoid the crowds but worth it to set foot on this truly mammoth feat of engineering that stretched out as far as the eye could see in both directions. We proudly managed to make it halfway to the top as the steps were all set at differing heights, to stop invading enemies running up them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2><strong>Xian &amp; the Terracotta Warriors<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><noscript><img src=\"https:\/\/www.wendywutours.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Wendy-Harriss-Terracotta-Warriors.jpg\" alt=\"A close-up view of the Terracotta Warriors, an ancient army of life-sized clay soldiers standing in excavated pits, part of the burial complex of China's first emperor, Qin Shi Huang.\" class=\"wp-image-11702\" width=\"840\" height=\"560\"><\/noscript><img src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%20840%20560%22%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" alt=\"A close-up view of the Terracotta Warriors, an ancient army of life-sized clay soldiers standing in excavated pits, part of the burial complex of China's first emperor, Qin Shi Huang.\" class=\"wp-image-11702 lazyload\" width=\"840\" height=\"560\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.wendywutours.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Wendy-Harriss-Terracotta-Warriors.jpg\"><figcaption>The greatest archaeological discovery of the 20th century, the Terracotta Warriors were created to be the army of Qin Shu Huan in the after life. The pits that have been excavated so far are just a small fraction of the funerary art buried with China&#8217;s first emperor. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2><strong>The Pandas of Chengdu<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><noscript><img src=\"https:\/\/www.wendywutours.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Wedny-Harris-red-panda.jpg\" alt class=\"wp-image-11708\" width=\"839\" height=\"629\"><\/noscript><img src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%20839%20629%22%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" alt class=\"wp-image-11708 lazyload\" width=\"839\" height=\"629\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.wendywutours.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Wedny-Harris-red-panda.jpg\"><figcaption>As well as giant pandas, you&#8217;ll see plenty of playful red pandas at the Giant Panda Conservation and Breeding Centre in Chengdu.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Another bullet train ride took us through the mountains and many tunnels to bring us to beautiful <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wendywutours.co.nz\/china\/chengdu\/\">Chengdu<\/a>, the home of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.panda.org.cn\/en\/\">Giant Panda Conservation and Breeding Centre<\/a>. The next morning bought with it bucket list item number five \u2013 the pandas themselves.<br><br>I have a vague recollection of seeing Chi Chi and An An at London Zoo as a child and remembered them as being cute and cuddly, but I was unprepared for how unbearably cute there are, and how huge. Teddy bears with big teeth and claws! There weren\u2019t only the cuddly black and white versions but also many red pandas, some curled up like cats with their tails tucked around them, and others playing among the bushes.<br><br>The weather while we were in Chengdu was warm and rainy, but this worked in our favour. Having big fur coats, pandas don\u2019t like hot days so were happily sitting munching bamboo shoots and posing for photos right in front of us.<br><br>With our holidays to China drawing to a close we had one last visit to Matchmaker\u2019s Corner, where anxious parents place adverts listing all the qualities of their unmarried children in the hope of finding a partner for them. Life is so fast paced in China today and young people work so hard, that they do not have the time to meet anyone themselves. A walk through a local craft market was the ideal place to pick up some last-minute gifts before a final sleep and another excellent Air China flight home.<br><br>Pack your sense of adventure, sense of humour and an open mind, and leave any preconceptions behind, and China will surprise and delight you. It definitely did us. \u201c<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2><strong>When are the best times to visit China?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>As we mentioned above, October is one of the best times to visit China, but this isn\u2019t the only great time to explore. The autumn as a whole and the spring too brings the most comfortable weather across the country \u2013 do bear in mind though that there is a \u2018Golden Week\u2019, a national holiday, the first week of October, meaning things can get pretty busy.<br><br><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wendywutours.co.nz\/china\/best-time-to-visit\/\">Read more about the weather in China<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>One of our VIP customers travelled on our bestselling In Pursuit of Pandas tour and wrote us this wonderful account of her holidays to China!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":5702,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"spay_email":""},"categories":[5,184],"tags":[269,363,364],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.wendywutours.co.nz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Wendy-Harriss-baby-panda.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wendywutours.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5701"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wendywutours.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wendywutours.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wendywutours.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/49"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wendywutours.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5701"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.wendywutours.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5701\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5708,"href":"https:\/\/www.wendywutours.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5701\/revisions\/5708"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wendywutours.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5702"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wendywutours.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5701"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wendywutours.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5701"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wendywutours.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5701"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}