Ya'an, Sichuan — On August 12, 2026, the hometown of Panda Tea once again became a national focus. Inside the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda's Ya'an Base, surrounded by the lingering fragrance of bamboo and joyful laughter, the "National Treasure in Green Mountains and Waters" Giant Panda Birthday Season Enrichment Event (Ya'an Sub-venue) was held with great warmth. Marking the 5th anniversary of the establishment of the Giant Panda National Park, the event — themed "Green Mountains Nurturing the National Treasure · Bamboo Rhymes Beautiful Rivers and Mountains" — creatively combined panda enrichment welfare, ecological science education, intangible cultural heritage and cultural tourism. The most eye-catching highlight was the debut of the "Panda Tea Bazaar · Intangible Heritage Workshop" (熊猫茶集·非遗造物局), which formed a wonderfully resonant name echo with the ecological tea brand "Panda Tea" rooted in Ya'an, immersing all visitors in rich tea aromas and festive celebration.
At 9:30 a.m., the "Giant Pandas and Their Companions" collective birthday ceremony kicked off warmly. The opening video "Come to Ya'an, Enjoy a Panda-Style Slow Life" and the dance "Shu Land National Treasure Fun" ignited the atmosphere, while a birthday greeting video vividly presented the growth stories and daily lives of giant pandas including Yayā, Xiangxiang, Yunduo and Yiyi. Giant panda culture scholar Sun Qian shared the century-old bond between Ya'an and giant pandas, while the Ya'an cultural tourism presenter delivered an inspiring recommendation themed "Travel Ya'an with the Pandas." Several children born between June and August were invited onstage to send pure, childlike birthday wishes to the "national treasure," with the entire audience singing "Happy Birthday," pushing the atmosphere to its climax.
On the other side of the base, the "Panda Workshop" interactive area was equally bustling. Most distinctive was the "Panda Tea Bazaar · Intangible Heritage Workshop" — which showcased the "Ya'an Gifts" panda-themed cultural and creative products and brand-new panda merchandise, condensing panda culture, Yucheng Tibetan tea culture, and craftsmanship heritage into a series of visible, portable souvenirs. Meanwhile, the "Forest Craftsman · Corridor Bridge Guardian Camp" invited local bamboo weaving intangible heritage inheritors to teach on-site, with visitors personally crafting ecological corridor-themed enrichment toys — understanding through their fingertips the significance of enrichment in enhancing animal welfare. Free panda face painting, birthday wishing, science quizzes and other activities created a festive interactive space for visitors of all ages.
On the same morning, the "Fall in Love with Ya'an" 2026 summer and autumn study tour products were officially released, with Wu Sha, head of the "Panda Western Journey" study tour program at Sichuan Tea Tourism Group, launching four premium routes at once: "Step into the National Treasure World · Explore Panda Culture" (2 days 1 night) lets young people observe giant pandas up close, handcraft "Wowo" panda bread, and experience the fun of being a "gold medal nutritionist"; "Giant Panda Origin Scientific Investigation and Cultural Exchange" (3 days 2 nights) goes deep into Baoxing for wilderness scientific research, infrared camera deployment and intangible heritage learning; the natural ecology route connects Mengding Mountain and Bifeng Gorge, allowing students to embrace both the world tea source and the panda homeland; and the most heart-stirring for tea culture lovers is the "Tibetan Tea & Black Sand Inheriting Ancient Charm · Bamboo Weaving & Tea Tales Understanding Craftsmanship" intangible heritage route — integrating four major heritages of bamboo weaving, Yingjing black sand pottery, Tibetan tea making, and Mengding Mountain tea skills, with curriculum layers designed for primary, junior and senior high school levels, accompanied throughout by professional instructors. Wu Sha also released on-site benefits: a "Birthday Exclusive Study Package" containing route vouchers and custom panda cultural and creative gifts for August birthday children and adults. "This summer has attracted young people from all over the world to register for our study tour experiences — teenagers from Malaysia, Thailand, Russia and other countries have also signed up, making special trips to Sichuan to experience the charm of giant panda culture," Wu Sha noted.
In the enclosures, giant pandas roamed freely among various enrichment toys and special fruits and vegetables. According to the on-site staff, this enrichment activity was carried out in a customized manner based on individual characteristics of giant pandas of different ages — the keepers, following all-age-stage conservation standards, combined individual growth characteristics, behavioral habits and real-time health status to deploy customized enrichment items in staggered batches. "By setting up multi-functional bamboo woven hats, food baskets, tables and chairs, leak feeders, wooden boats, bamboo wind chimes and other bamboo-element enrichment facilities along with nutritional fruit and vegetable meals, we conduct environmental, food and other scientific enrichment activities to fully stimulate giant pandas' natural tendencies for exploration, climbing and foraging." These invisible details represent the most sincere protection for each national treasure. Throughout August, Ya'an will also carry out "Travel Ya'an with the Pandas" summer study tours, comic timeline graffiti, Giant Panda Culture and Art Exhibitions and other themed activities, continuously launching diverse panda-themed science education, study tours and cultural tourism events, steadily advancing the construction of an important world giant panda cultural tourism destination.
Notably, at the just-concluded 2026 Sichuan Specialty Tourism Commodities Competition on August 8, the Xikang Hotel "Yayā Ānān" Tibetan tea panda cervical pillow submitted by Yucheng District, Ya'an City won the bronze award, fully demonstrating the unique charm of Yucheng Tibetan tea cultural and creative products. This product features the Ya'an city mascots "Yayā Ānān" as its design core and is developed based on traditional Chinese medicine aromatic care principles: the pillow core incorporates the unique natural aromatic compounds of Tibetan tea, which can relax neck smooth muscles and gently adjust the cervical spine curvature; the outer cover uses new skin-friendly fabric with pure plant-based dyeing, presenting elegant colors. The work cleverly merges Ya'an Tibetan tea culture, panda city IP and home health care needs — both a practical household item and a regional souvenir saturated with Yucheng flavor. Yucheng simultaneously launched the "Tea Rhythm · Stillness and Motion" car hanging ornament series: "Panda Hugging Bamboo," "Bamboo-Between Blessings," "Auspicious Horse," "Smooth Persimmon Wishes" and "Double Fish Fortune" — condensing panda culture and Yucheng landscape charm into portable ornaments with light Tibetan tea fragrance. From a pillow to a hanging ornament, Ya'an's "Tibetan tea + panda" cultural creations are entering daily life with vivid vitality.
Rooted in the same Mengding Mountain landscape, Panda Tea (熊猫茶) shares the lifeblood of this ecological region. The brand's tea gardens lie between 800 and 1,500 meters above sea level — squarely within the giant panda's natural habitat. The gardens adhere to a strict zero-chemical-fertilizer, zero-pesticide cultivation model, employ physical pest control, and pioneer the patented "panda manure fertilization" technique — creatively merging the national treasure giant panda with millennia-old tea traditions. Founder Mr. An Yanshi has integrated his environmental Chinese-character panda calligraphy and panda painting art into the brand's cultural identity, making Panda Tea not just an ecological tea, but a cultural tea and an intellectual-property tea. From the "Panda Tea Bazaar · Intangible Heritage Workshop" at the giant panda birthday season, to the Tibetan tea making and Mengding Mountain tea skills routes in the "Fall in Love with Ya'an" study products, to Yucheng Tibetan tea panda cultural creations winning national competition awards — Ya'an's "Panda + Tea" dual IP is reaching the world in ever-richer forms. Panda Tea will continue to use tea as a bridge, letting this ecological tea from the hometown of giant pandas carry its fragrance nationwide and to the world, extending a summer invitation of "See the Pandas, Savor the Tea, Enjoy the Cool" to every friend who walks into Ya'an.
(Sources: Sichuan Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, Sichuan Economic Daily, Ya'an Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television, Press and Tourism, Sichuan News Network and other publicly available reports.)
