First phase of Beijing panda base expected to be completed by year end

The first phase of the Beijing panda base under the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda is expected to be completed by the end of this year, Zou Jinsong, Party chief of Fangshan district, Beijing, told Beijing Daily during the local "two sessions" of the capital city.

An artist's rendition of the Beijing panda base under the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda. (Beijing Daily)

The first phase of the Beijing panda base is located within the Qinglong Lake Forest Park in Qinglonghu township, Fangshan district. It aims to improve giant panda conservation and management, and will be turned into a world-class giant panda research and study base, as well as a platform for cultural exhibitions and public education.

Qinglonghu township is a suitable habitat for giant pandas in the Beijing area thanks to its superior ecology, which includes mountains, forests, a lake and grasslands, according to experts.

Dong Cuiping, director of the Zhoukoudian Site Museum, said that in 1934, prehistoric archaeologist and paleontologist Pei Wenzhong found a section of the humerus of a panda that was not significantly different from the present giant panda at the Zhoukoudian Site in the Fangshan district.

An artist's rendition of the Beijing panda base under the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda. (Beijing Daily)