China’s Sichuan Province is home to some of Asia’s most distinctive mammals and birds, and this photography tour is designed to showcase its remarkable wildlife diversity. We’ll journey from misty mountain forests to protected nature reserves in search of red pandas, Golden Snub-nosed Monkeys, takin, Tibetan macaques, colorful pheasants, regional bird specialties, and much more.

Throughout the trip, we’ll combine traditional wildlife exploration with dedicated photography hides and carefully selected locations known for productive animal activity. Experienced local guides and wildlife trackers will help us make the most of each destination while our schedule remains flexible around weather, recent sightings, and the best available photographic conditions.

China’s Wild Sichuan Province
Sichuan is internationally known for its dramatic mountain landscapes and extraordinary biodiversity. Its forests protect an impressive collection of wildlife, including many species found nowhere else—or in very few other places—on Earth.

We’ll travel beyond China’s major cities and into the province’s quieter forests, river valleys, and mountain habitats. Each destination introduces a different collection of photographic subjects, giving us opportunities to create a diverse portfolio of mammals, birds, intimate wildlife portraits, and environmental images.

Searching for Red Pandas
One of the defining experiences of this tour will be our time in the forests of Mount Wawushan, where we’ll search for wild red pandas.

These charismatic animals spend much of their time moving through the forest canopy and feeding among dense vegetation. Finding them requires patience, skilled local knowledge, and a little luck, but the opportunity to observe and photograph a red panda in its natural mountain habitat is an experience few photographers ever have.

While exploring the area, we’ll also watch for an assortment of regional birds, including parrotbills, laughingthrushes, scimitar babblers, treecreepers, and the beautifully patterned Emei Shan Liocichla.

Spectacular Pheasant Photography
China is home to some of the world’s most beautiful pheasants, and specially positioned photography hides will give us opportunities to work at close range without disturbing the birds.

Potential subjects may include:

• Lady Amherst’s Pheasant

• Silver Pheasant

• Temminck’s Tragopan

• Sichuan Partridge

• Chinese Bamboo Partridge

• Golden Pheasant

• Koklass Pheasant

The hides may also attract laughingthrushes, parrotbills, babblers, and other forest birds. These controlled settings allow us to concentrate on composition, backgrounds, behavior, and clean portraits rather than simply trying to locate distant or fleeting subjects.

Golden Snub-nosed Monkeys
Few wildlife subjects are as immediately recognizable as the Golden Snub-nosed Monkey.

With brilliant golden fur, striking blue faces, and expressive social behavior, these remarkable primates are among the most photogenic animals in Asia. We’ll travel into their mountainous forest habitat for an opportunity to observe and photograph family groups as they feed, interact, and move through the landscape.

This experience offers much more than traditional wildlife portraiture. Their active behavior and complex social relationships may provide opportunities to photograph tender family moments, energetic juveniles, group interactions, and animals framed within their dramatic forest environment.

The Wildlife of Tangjiahe
Tangjiahe National Nature Reserve protects one of the richest wildlife communities in Sichuan. Its mountain slopes, forests, and river valleys provide habitat for an extraordinary variety of mammals and birds.

We’ll explore the reserve with local wildlife trackers while searching for subjects such as:

• Takin

• Tibetan macaque

• Chinese goral

• Serow

• Reeves’s muntjac

• Wild boar

• Golden and Koklass Pheasants

• Woodpeckers, nuthatches, dippers, and forest birds

Asian black bears, Golden Snub-nosed Monkeys, and wild Giant Pandas also inhabit the greater reserve, although these elusive animals are rarely seen and sightings can never be guaranteed.

With multiple days in Tangjiahe, we’ll have the flexibility to revisit productive areas, respond to recent wildlife activity, and explore different elevations and habitats.

An Icon of Wildlife Conservation
No journey through Sichuan would be complete without time dedicated to the Giant Panda.

​​​​​​​Near the conclusion of our tour, we’ll visit a Giant Panda breeding and research center where we can photograph these iconic animals in managed surroundings. The center may provide opportunities to observe pandas resting, feeding, climbing, and interacting while also learning about the conservation work dedicated to protecting the species.

This experience complements our time searching for wildlife in the mountains and adds one of China’s most celebrated animals to an already remarkable collection of photographic subjects.

Designed for Wildlife Photographers
This journey has been developed around the needs of photographers. Our days will prioritize wildlife activity, productive locations, and the best opportunities available rather than following an inflexible sightseeing schedule.

Throughout the tour, we’ll take advantage of:

• Experienced local wildlife guides and trackers

• Dedicated bird and pheasant photography hides

• Multiple opportunities in key wildlife locations

• Small-group photography instruction

• Flexible schedules based on weather and recent sightings

• Opportunities for both wildlife portraits and environmental imagery

Wildlife behavior is unpredictable, and no two days in the field will be exactly alike. That unpredictability is part of what makes photographing Sichuan’s forests so exciting.

Join Us Today!
Few photography tours combine such an unusual collection of mammals and birds in a single journey. From searching for wild red pandas in misty mountain forests to photographing brilliantly colored pheasants from dedicated hides, every destination offers something completely different. Add Golden Snub-nosed Monkeys, Giant Pandas, takin, Tibetan macaques, mountain ungulates, and Sichuan’s exceptional birdlife, and this becomes an extraordinary opportunity to experience and photograph the natural heritage of wild China.