Giant pandas are native to central China, specifically living in a few mountain ranges in the provinces of Sichuan, Shaanxi, and Gansu. They inhabit broadleaf and coniferous forests with dense bamboo understories at elevations between about 5,000 and 10,000 feet (1,500 to 3,000 meters). These mountainous temperate forests are characterized by heavy rainfall or dense mist throughout the year

. Historically, giant pandas once roamed more widely across southern and eastern China and neighboring countries like Myanmar and northern Vietnam, but human development and habitat loss have now restricted them to isolated patches of bamboo forest in these specific mountainous regions of China

. In summary, pandas are from the mountainous bamboo forests of central China, mainly in Sichuan, Shaanxi, and Gansu provinces