Sichuan Wolong National Nature Reserve （四川臥龍自然保護(hù)區(qū)）

Built in 1963, the Sichuan Wolong National Nature Reserve is one of the earliest reserves in China. It is located in Wenchuan County, Aba Prefecture, only 120 km away from the urban area of Chengdu, and covers an area of 200,000 hectares.

The reserve, the home of more than 150 highly endangered giant pandas, is an ideal place for pandas to live and reproduce. The high altitude and humid air are suitable for the growth of pandas' favorite bamboos. The number of pandas in the reserve accounts for 10 percent of the total number of pandas in China, which is why Wolong is called "the hometown of pandas" and a "precious gene bank".

The reserve also has a field observation station for pandas and a panda museum.

In 1980, Wolong was approved to join the Man and the Biosphere Program (MAB) of UNESCO. The same year, the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda was jointly established here with World Wildlife Fund (WWF). By the end of 2010, the center had bred 165 pandas, accounting for 60 percent of the total number of artificially bred pandas.