19 Oct 2020
We booked this tour hoping to be a Panda Zookeeper for the day, but due to Covid, that program wasn't being offered. Bella was our guide and she more than made up for the disappointment of not getting close to the pandas. We chose the Dujiangyan Panda Base rather than the Chengdu base because we heard the crowds would be crazy in Chengdu over Golden Week. I'm so glad we went to Dujiangyan. It was not very crowded, we got to see active pandas and Bella was very informative about each of the enclosures and pandas, as well as pandas in general.
We had an authentic meal at a "Happy Farmer" restaurant with Bella and our driver, where they assisted with our food selections (and it was a GOOD meal!). We then went to Mt Qingcheng to have the Taoist experience and learned so much from Bella about differences between Taoism and Buddhism. She took great care of us and our 10 year old daughter, ensuring that we were OK during the tour (and all the many steps).
Bella also helped us with our planning for our remaining days in Chengdu - as to how to take the train and where to go, etc. She was even so kind to check in with us periodically just to make sure we had gotten to where we needed to be. She definitely went above and beyond her assigned duties and we are forever grateful for her help! It was an awesome experience for us all!