Giant pandas depend on bamboos for food, making these plants vital for their sustenance and survival. This study was carried out in Foping Nature Reserve, Shaanxi Province, China and analyzed the structure and nutritional value of two bamboo species present in the reserve at different elevations. In this region of the Qinling Mountains, the two staple food bamboos are Bashania fargesii and Fargesia qinlingensis. Our results indicate that: (1) elevation had a significant effect (p0.05) on both the height and basal diameter of bamboos, thus strongly influencing the mean value and variance (uniformity, evenness, skewness and kurtosis) of these two characteristics in bamboo forests at different elevations. (2) The significant effects on bamboo nutrition by elevation varied with seasons (p=0.02 for crude protein and total sugar in spring; p=0.01 for crude fiber in summer; p=0.04 for crude protein and crude fiber, and p0.01 for total sugar in autumn). The two bamboo species we studied also differed significantly with respect to how nutritional value is distributed among the leaf, branch, and culm parts of the plant (p0.05). (3) Because elevation and seasonal conditions both affect bamboo nutrition, pandas adapt their feeding strategies accordingly: in summer, they go to higher elevation areas, and in the other three seasons they prefer lower elevations. Our research sheds light on the relationships among elevation, nutrition, and bamboo structure, along with giant panda migration patterns. In addition, this study provides a theoretical foundation for decision-making with regard to food provision for captive giant pandas. It also provides scientific support for policies to protect wild pandas and the regulation of human activity inside conservation areas.