Chengdu doesn't rush you the way Beijing or Shanghai do, and it has had a long time to practice. It's the only major Chinese settlement that has kept the same name through the imperial, republican and communist eras, more than two thousand years of it, and for much of that time it was the capital of somewhere: the Kingdom of Shu, Liu Bei's Shu Han in the Three Kingdoms period, a string of regional courts. The usual explanation for the city's famously easy pace is a canal. Around 256 BC the Qin state dug the Dujiangyan irrigation system, the floods on the Chengdu Plain stopped, the harvests became reliable, and people were left with a lot of free time.
Most of that free time still goes into tea houses, hotpot and mahjong. UNESCO named Chengdu a City of Gastronomy in 2011, and the Giant Panda Base is the booking to make first. Five days works because the city itself wants slow lunches and a long afternoon with a cup of tea, and because the two best day trips, Leshan and Dujiangyan, each take a full day. One honest warning: the sky is often grey. Chengdu has one of the lowest annual sunshine totals in China, with only about 15 percent of possible sunshine in December, so don't plan around views.
The plan keeps each day in one part of the map. Day one is the old center with Wenshu Monastery, People's Park and Kuanzhai Alley, day two the pandas, the museum and a proper hotpot night, day three the Leshan Giant Buddha, day four Dujiangyan and Mount Qingcheng, and day five the Three Kingdoms, a poet's cottage and Sichuan opera. Mount Emei is under More time, with the reasons. Start on a Monday: the Chengdu Museum is closed that day, and Leshan and the panda base are busiest at weekends, so this puts both mid-week. Entry rules, payments, internet and maps are the part that needs doing before you fly, so read Before you go first, and the China country page has the background.
Every stop from the plan below, colored by day. Pick a day to see its route.
A slow first day: a monastery, mapo tofu, a century-old tea house and the rebuilt alleys at dusk.
Pandas at opening time, wontons for lunch, the city museum and a proper hotpot night.
A one-hour train to the world's tallest stone Buddha, a choice between a long walk down the cliff and a boat, and a local lunch.
A 2,250-year-old irrigation system in the morning, a Daoist mountain in the afternoon and skewers back in the city.
The Three Kingdoms in the morning, a poet's cottage in the afternoon and face-changing at night.
Start in the old center, where everything is a few metro stops or a walk apart and the pace is gentle enough for jet lag. The trap is Kuanzhai Alley, which is at its worst on weekend afternoons, so it waits for dusk. If you're flat by 4 p.m., skip the second tea and sleep.
Wenshu Monastery is the best first stop in Chengdu because people actually use it. A temple stood here from the Sui dynasty, first called Xinxiang Temple, until it burned down at the end of the Ming dynasty and left only ten cast-iron guardian statues and two ancient cedars. In 1681 a monk named Cidu moved into the ruins to meditate. Locals decided he was an incarnation of Manjushri (Wenshu in Chinese), and the Kangxi emperor invited him to Beijing three times. He politely declined all three. The monastery rebuilt around his reputation in 1697 took the name, and in 1702 the emperor sent a plaque reading Konglin, the temple's other name.
Walk the courtyards in order, watch the incense and the bowing, then do what the locals do: sit in the tea garden for an hour with a covered cup of tea, watching games of chess and cards. The monastery also has a vegetarian restaurant, and Buddhist vegetarian cooking is one of the four substyles of Sichuan cuisine, a calm contrast to the chili you'll eat all week. Next door, Wenshufang is a rebuilt old-style lane of souvenir and instrument shops. Ten minutes is plenty.
Five minutes' walk north, at Wanfu Bridge, is where the most famous Sichuan dish was born. Mapo tofu is soft tofu in a bright red sauce of chili bean paste and fermented black beans, with minced meat and a good dose of Sichuan pepper. It probably started in a small restaurant near this bridge in the 1860s or 1870s, run by a couple named Chen. The wife's pockmarked face earned her the nickname Chen Mapo, "Pockmarked Grandma Chen", and the dish took her name.
The restaurants called Chen Mapo Tofu carry the name on and have several branches around the city. Order the tofu with plain rice and a plate of greens. It should be properly numbing, so say wēilà (mildly spicy) when you order if you're new to Sichuan food.
Take Line 1 to Tianfu Square and walk west; the park is two blocks beyond. People's Park opened in 1911 as Shaocheng Park, the city's first public park, and it still works as the neighborhood's living room. A monument to the 1911 Railway Protection Movement stands inside, protected as a major historical site.
Retirees sing and dance in separate groups, one corner is full of people writing calligraphy with water on the paving stones, and parents sit with sheets of paper listing their unmarried children's age, job and height, hoping to find a match. There are lakes with paddle boats and plenty of tea shops. It's a rare island of calm in the middle of the city, and a better way to meet Chengdu than any museum.
Tea houses are the real sight in Chengdu, and they're everywhere. Heming Teahouse, inside People's Park, was built in 1923 by a merchant from Dayi surnamed Gong, and the city listed it as a historic building in 2013. You sit in a bamboo chair, order jasmine or green tea in a gaiwan (a lidded cup), and the staff keep topping up the hot water. Recent visitor reviews quote roughly 16-35 CNY a cup, with refills included, for as long as you want to stay.
Tea houses are also where Chengdu gets its ears cleaned. An ear cleaner (cǎi'ěr) circulates with a tray of tiny tools, tweezers, brushes and a small light, and spends about 20 minutes scraping and tickling for a price visitors report as anywhere from 30 to 100 CNY. The verdict: odd, ticklish, deeply relaxing, and very Chengdu. Skip it if you have ear problems or if the thought of a stranger's tool in your ear makes you tense.
Kuanzhai Xiangzi means the Wide and Narrow Alleys, and it's really three parallel lanes: Wide, Narrow and Well. They were the Qing dynasty garrison quarter for the Eight Banners troops stationed in Chengdu. In 2007 the city moved out more than 900 households, restored or rebuilt about 50 courtyards and reopened the district in June 2008.
So, honestly: it's the most touristy street in the center. The buildings are rebuilt, the tea houses charge visitor prices, and the snacks are the same ones sold cheaper everywhere else. It's still pretty at dusk when the lanterns come on and the courtyards fill with light, and it's an easy walk. Do the three lanes in under an hour, have one drink if a courtyard appeals, and eat dinner elsewhere. At weekends and on holidays, skip it altogether.
Go to the panda base first and early, because pandas are sleepiest and the paths fullest by mid-morning. Everything after that is central and flexible. The trap is that you must book a real-name ticket ahead and that the opening time changes on 1 November.
The Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding opened in 1987 with six pandas rescued from the wild, and by 2008 it had recorded 124 births. It's a government-funded research and breeding institute that also happens to have the best panda viewing in China, with pandas in large green enclosures, a nursery, red pandas and a panda museum.
Go at opening: 7:30 from March to October, 8:00 from November to February. Pandas are usually most active around the morning feeding and sleepy once the day warms, and by 10:00 the paths are full, so walk to the far enclosures first and work back. Tickets are real-name only, bookable up to 14 days ahead through the base's official WeChat account or authorized apps (Meituan, Trip.com, Douyin), and you scan your passport at the gate. Seniors over 60 and children under 6 or 1.3 meters don't need to book. Verdict: crowded and a bit zoo-like, but the pandas are close, they're funny, and it's worth the early alarm. The base's second site, Panda Valley near Dujiangyan, has a separate ticket and isn't needed.
Line 3 takes you from the base straight to Chunxi Road, the pedestrian shopping street in the middle of the city. Lunch is wontons. Chaoshou is the Sichuan word, and Long Chaoshou started in 1941, moved to the south end of Chunxi Road in the 1960s and was officially named a time-honored brand in 1995. The wrappers are so thin they look translucent.
Order the red-oil wontons (hóngyóu chāoshǒu) for chili and Sichuan pepper, or the plain broth version if you want a break from spice. It has grown into a big, tourist-friendly canteen rather than a secret, and that suits a quick lunch: easy ordering, fast service, good food.
The Chengdu Museum sits on the west side of Tianfu Square, one stop on Line 2 from lunch. Six floors tell the city's story from ancient times to today: the Shu kingdom, the Han brocade that gave Chengdu its old title of Brocade Official City, the Three Kingdoms, the Tang and Song poets and merchants. Start on the second floor and work upward. It makes sense of everything you'll see on days three to five.
Two hours is enough. It's also free, which makes it the best rainy-day option in the city, and in a place with this little sunshine that matters.
Metro Line 2 runs from Tianfu Square to Chunxi Road, a short ride, and then you're at the Daci Temple, whose origins go back to the 3rd century. The monk Xuanzang, the pilgrim of Journey to the West, was ordained here in 622, and in 756 Emperor Xuanzong, fleeing the An Lushan rebellion, saw its monks feeding the poor and gave the temple a new name.
Today it's the centerpiece of Taikoo Li, an open-air shopping district that opened in 2015 around the old temple and the restored Huguang Guild Hall, with "slow lanes" of tea rooms and boutiques and "fast lanes" of international brands. Honestly it's a mall, but a good one, and the temple keeps it from feeling like one.
Tonight is hotpot, the spiciest meal in Chengdu. The tradition began in Chongqing, so purists will tell you it isn't really a Chengdu dish, but the city has made it its own: a pot of simmering broth in the middle of the table, plates of raw beef, lamb, mushrooms, tofu, potatoes and greens, and a small bowl of oil for dipping what you cook.
Staff assume foreigners can't take the heat, so be specific. Say bú yào là (no chili) or wēilà (mild) to tone it down, or ask for a split pot with a spicy side and a mild or sour one. Don't drink the red broth and don't fish with a spoon. It's too spicy even for locals, so use chopsticks. Cool your mouth with a sweet soy or almond milk, not water.
Take a taxi south-east to the Jin River for the night walk. Anshun Bridge is a covered bridge with a restaurant on top, lit up after dark and rebuilt in 2003 after floods destroyed an earlier bridge in the 1980s. Cross it and walk the bank, where the city's bar street runs along the river, most bars stay open until 02:00, and the area is walkable and generally safe at night with normal precautions.
You don't have to drink. Walk the lit-up river for half an hour, have a beer or a tea on a terrace, and watch Chengdu's young crowd do what the older one does in the tea houses.
Take an early train, because the queue at the Buddha decides your day, not the train. Weekday mornings are quiet; weekends and holidays can mean hours in line for the stairs. This is also the day to choose between walking down the cliff and taking the boat. Mount Emei, the other half of this UNESCO site, is under More time.
High-speed trains to Leshan leave from Chengdu East (Metro Lines 2 and 7) and, less often, Chengdu South, and take about an hour. Book a couple of days ahead on 12306 or Trip.com, because weekend trains sell out. Aim for a train around 6:30-7:30 so you arrive when the park opens. You need your passport to book, to get into the station and to pass the Buddha's turnstiles.
From Leshan Station, a local bus (guides give K1, about 2 CNY) or a taxi (about 25 CNY) reaches the Giant Buddha in about 30 minutes. Let Amap or Apple Maps pick the current route.
The Leshan Giant Buddha is 71 meters tall and carved into a red sandstone cliff where three rivers meet, the tallest pre-modern statue in the world. The monk Haitong started it in the early 700s, hoping the Maitreya Buddha would calm the river that wrecked passing ships. The legend says he gouged out his own eyes to prove his sincerity. When he died the money ran out, and his disciples and later local officials took about 90 years to finish. The stone carved away and dumped in the river really did change the currents, and drainage channels hidden in the hair and collar still carry rain away. UNESCO listed it in 1996 together with Mount Emei.
You have two ways in. The walk: enter at the top through Lingyun Temple, stand beside the 14.7-meter head, then take the Nine Bends Plank Path, a narrow one-way stair down the cliff to the toes. On a weekday it's about 3-4 hours including the wait; expect 2-3 hours of queueing for the descent at weekends and holidays. The boat leaves from the river pier for about 70 CNY, takes 30-45 minutes and gives you the full body from the water but nothing up close. Verdict: on a weekday, walk, because standing at the toenail is the point. If the queue at the top is over an hour, take the boat.
The Buddha ticket also covers the Wuyou Temple and the Mahao Cliff Tombs, cut into the red cliff in the Han dynasty, long before the Buddha. Wuyou Temple sits on a hill beside the main site and sees far fewer visitors, so it's the quiet end to the visit after the crowds on the plank path.
Walk the paths between the halls and the viewing platforms. If you're exhausted, skip the cliff tombs.
Leshan has its own snack culture, and Chengdu and Leshan are the two cities that define the Shanghebang school of Sichuan cooking. Local favorites include bobo ji, chicken and vegetables on skewers dipped in a chili-oil broth served in a clay bowl, sweet-skinned duck (tiánpí yā) and qiaojiao beef, a clear, milky broth with thin slices of tender beef.
Eat in town rather than in the scenic area. Look for a busy local place, order the bobo chicken for the table and a bowl of the beef soup, and ask your phone to translate the menu. It's cheap, fast and a good use of an hour before the train back.
This is the other day trip, and the reason it beats Mount Emei is simple: both sights are within an hour of Chengdu by train, and a proper Emei visit wants a night on the mountain. The trap is Qingcheng's timed, real-name entry, so book the afternoon slot ahead.
Around 256 BC the Qin state commissioned Dujiangyan to stop the Min River flooding the plain every spring. Instead of damming the river, the engineer Li Bing divided it with a cone-shaped levee called the Fish Mouth, built of bamboo cages filled with stones, and cut a channel through a mountain by heating the rock with fire and cooling it with water. It took eight years. The system still irrigates the Chengdu Plain, and it was listed by UNESCO in 2000.
One myth to drop: it isn't two thousand years of untouched wood and stone. The system decayed after the Ming collapse and was rebuilt after the 1933 earthquake, and the bamboo baskets have been replaced. What is original is the principle, which still works. Walk the Fish Mouth, the Flying Sand Weir and the Bottle-Neck Channel, then cross the Anlan Bridge and climb to the temples above the river.
Have lunch in town between the two sights, and keep it quick, because Qingcheng's afternoon entry window is the real schedule. Dujiangyan has good ordinary Sichuan home cooking, so don't hunt for a famous dish. Pick a busy local place near Nan Bridge and be on the road by 13:30.
The shortest way to Qingcheng is the intercity line to Qingchengshan station, the end of the line, and then a taxi or shuttle of about 4 km to the Front Mountain ticket office.
Mount Qingcheng is one of the birthplaces of Daoism, with 36 peaks and a long list of temples. In Daoist mythology the Yellow Emperor came here to study with a teacher named Ning Fengzi. UNESCO listed the mountain together with Dujiangyan in 2000, and the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake damaged parts of it.
The Front Mountain is the temple side. Stone stairs wind up through forest to Daoist halls, tea stalls and viewpoints, and you can ride cable cars for the upper sections if your legs have had enough. Allow 2-3 hours with a cable car for the upper section, more on foot all the way. Start by 14:30 so you're back down before the gates close, and skip the summit if the clock is tight. The quieter Back Mountain is under More time.
Back in Chengdu, you'll want something fast and cheap. Chuànchuàn xiāng is hotpot on sticks: take skewers from the fridge, drop them into a pot of bubbling spicy broth, pull them out when done, and the staff count the empty sticks at the end to work out your bill. It's help-yourself, loud and informal, and ideal for tired legs because there's nothing to order.
Pick a busy neighborhood place and say wēilà if you want it mild. Start with potato slices, lotus root, mushrooms and thin beef, and add the offal only if you know you like it.
Everything today is in the southwest of the city, and the clock matters only for the 8 p.m. show. The trap is Jinli, which is crowded after dark and at weekends, so it's done in the afternoon. Book the opera a day ahead.
The Wuhou Shrine is the one temple in China that honors an emperor and his minister together: Liu Bei, who founded Shu Han, and his strategist Zhuge Liang, the hero of Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Liu Bei's tomb, Huiling, dates to 223, and the halls you see today were rebuilt in 1672, in the Kangxi era. This is the 1,800-year-old story every Chinese child knows, in a cypress-shaded compound.
Honest verdict: the museum side is mostly rows of statues of lesser-known officers, and without the story they look identical. Read a short summary of the Three Kingdoms first, spend most of the time in the gardens and along the red-walled lane to Huiling, and leave after an hour and a half.
Jinli is the shrine's neighbor, a 550-meter pedestrian street built in the Qing style as part of the shrine complex and renovated in 2004. CNN Travel ranked it first among the world's most beautiful streets in 2019, and it counted about 18 million visitors in 2018. The theme is Three Kingdoms culture mixed with western Sichuan folk customs.
So it's a stage set, and a popular one. Snacks, souvenirs, bars and teahouses fill the lanes, restaurants and bars cost more than outside it, and after dark the lantern-lit lanes are packed. Walk it for 45 minutes in daylight, buy one snack, take a few photos and leave. Don't eat dinner here.
A short taxi ride west is the park that honors Du Fu, the Tang dynasty poet who lived in Chengdu from 760 to 765 and wrote many of his best poems here. The site covers 24 acres and has been a national heritage site since 1961. The cottage itself was rebuilt, and most of the buildings date from the Ming and Qing dynasties.
You don't need to know Chinese poetry to enjoy it. It's gardens, bamboo groves, ponds and a museum, and after Jinli it feels like another city.
Eat before the show, around 6 p.m., somewhere near Qintai Road. Twice-cooked pork (huíguōròu, "meat returned to the wok") is the classic: pork belly is simmered, sliced thin, and stir-fried with garlic sprouts or leeks, chili bean paste and sweet fermented sauce. It's rich, salty and savory, and much less aggressive than hotpot.
Order it with rice, greens and a cold dish such as bangbang chicken (shredded chicken in sesame and chili sauce). Any small family restaurant near the theater will do. Aim to finish by 7:30.
Sichuan opera is a synthesis of five regional styles that took its current shape around 1700, with Chengdu as its home, and its signature is face changing (biàn liǎn): a performer swaps one painted mask for another in an instant, with a swipe of the fan or a turn of the head. The secret was passed down within families, and traditionally only sons were taught it, so a daughter wouldn't marry out and take the trick with her.
Shufeng Yayun, in the city's Cultural Park on Qintai Road, is the standard tourist show: about 90 minutes, usually starting at 8 p.m., with face changing, fire-spitting, hand shadow puppets and music. It's a condensed program, not a full-length opera, and the story is there for the stunts. It's worth seeing once, and the face-changing is a real piece of skill. Better seats cost more, but all are close.
Six places that didn't fit, ordered by distance. Dujiangyan and Leshan are already in the plan, so Mount Emei is the one that deserves its own trip.
A 3,000-year-old Shu capital with the gold sunbird, a national symbol, and a smiling gold mask. Jinsha rose after Sanxingdui declined. State media reported it closed for a major renovation from 5 December 2025 until 30 April 2027, so it is not an option on this trip; check its official channels for the reopening date.
Getting there: 7 km northwest of the center, Metro Line 7 to Jinsha Museum station, about 25 minutes
A small riverside town of Ming and Qing houses, old temples and quiet lanes, known for its Fire Dragon festival. It's popular with day visitors, so go on a weekday and give it half a day.
Getting there: 50 km south by road, about 45 minutes by taxi or bus
The finest Bronze Age site in Sichuan, a culture from the 12th-11th centuries BC that disappeared before Qin conquered Shu in 316 BC. The museum opened in 1997. Book ahead, since entry is by reservation and you scan your passport at the gate.
Getting there: 51 km north by road, about 20 minutes by train to Guanghan North, then a taxi
Known as China's museum town for the Jianchuan Museum Cluster, a large group of private museums on 20th-century war history. It's a full day for museum fans, and a long way to go if you're not.
Getting there: 53 km southwest by road, about 1 hour by bus from Chadianzi bus station
The quieter side of Mount Qingcheng, with more forest and fewer temples than the Front Mountain. It makes sense as a night away from Chengdu, staying in Taian, if you want a mountain without the day-trip crowds.
Getting there: 79 km northwest by road, about 80 minutes; the Taian ancient town is the base
At 3,099 meters it's the highest of China's Four Sacred Buddhist Mountains and a UNESCO site since 1996. A day trip can reach the Golden Summit but spends much of the day on transfers and queues, and sunrise from a monastery or Leidongping is the better plan. Entry is roughly 160 CNY in peak season, cable cars extra. Choose Dujiangyan and Qingcheng for one day, and give Emei an overnight when you have time.
Getting there: 146 km southwest by road; high-speed train from Chengdu East to Emeishan station in about 1.5 hours, then a bus up
Chengdu was named a UNESCO City of Gastronomy in 2011, and the food is hotter and more varied than the restaurants back home suggest. Here's what to order, and how to order it mild.
A pot of simmering broth at the table, with raw meat, mushrooms, tofu and vegetables to cook yourself. The tradition began in Chongqing, but Chengdu hotpot is the version most visitors remember. Ask for a split pot with a spicy side and a mild one, say wēilà or bú yào là for less heat, dip what you cook in the oil bowl, and don't drink the broth.
Where to try it: A busy neighborhood hotpot place with locals at the tables after 7 p.m. Check reviews on Amap before you go.
Soft tofu in a red, oily sauce of chili bean paste, fermented black beans, minced meat and Sichuan pepper. It likely began near Wanfu Bridge in Chengdu in the 1860s or 1870s, and it should be properly numbing.
Where to try it: Chen Mapo Tofu, the restaurant named for the dish's inventor, has branches in the city. Day one has the walk to Wanfu Bridge.
Cubes of chicken stir-fried with peanuts, dried chilies and Sichuan pepper. It's believed to be named after Ding Baozhen, a Qing dynasty governor of Sichuan whose title was Gongbao, and the Chengdu version is savory and a little sweet, not the sticky sauce abroad.
Where to try it: Any Sichuan restaurant. A good test of the kitchen is whether the chilies are fragrant, not burnt.
Thin wheat noodles with chili oil, minced pork, pickled vegetables, Sichuan pepper, peanuts and scallions, served in a small bowl with little or no soup. Where it began is argued between Chengdu and Zigong, but it's a standard Chengdu breakfast or snack.
Where to try it: A noodle shop at breakfast or lunch. Mix everything from the bottom before you eat.
Chaoshou is the Sichuan word for wontons, with translucent wrappers, often served in red chili oil. A fast, cheap lunch and an easy bridge for people who aren't ready for hotpot.
Where to try it: Long Chaoshou on Chunxi Road, a time-honored brand since 1941. Day two has lunch there.
The drink of Chengdu. Jasmine, Longjing and Biluochun are the usual teas in a gaiwan with endless hot water refills. Spend an afternoon in a tea house, not just 10 minutes.
Where to try it: Heming Teahouse in People's Park (1923), or the tea garden at Wenshu Monastery.
Hotpot on a stick. You take skewers from the fridge, boil them in a spicy pot, and pay by the count at the end. It's cheaper and faster than regular hotpot and doesn't require a group.
Where to try it: Neighborhood chuànchuàn places with a pot at the table. Skip anywhere with no queue and no locals.
Pork belly simmered, sliced thin and stir-fried with garlic sprouts, chili bean paste and sweet fermented sauce. It's rich and less aggressive than most Sichuan dishes, which makes it the safest first order.
Where to try it: Any family restaurant. It's on every menu.
Sichuan pepper (huājiāo) isn't a chili or a true pepper. It leaves a tingling, numbing buzz on your lips, and combined with chilies it makes the flavor called málà, numb-spicy. If you like heat but not the numbness, say bú yào huājiāo. A bottle of sweet soy or almond milk puts the fire out better than water.
Where to try it: Everywhere. Try it before you decide you don't like it, because it also adds a citrus note.
Bangbang chicken in sesame and chili sauce, spicy snails, rabbit, duck necks, spicy crayfish and barbecue skewers (shāokǎo) make up the late-night side of Chengdu eating. They're cheap, messy and often the best thing you'll eat.
Where to try it: Small shops and stalls, and the evening street food around the river bars. Street vendors have become harder to find, so look for the small restaurants.
China's national spirit, a strong clear liquor, and Sichuan is baijiu country. It's served in small glasses at banquets and toasts. Sip it with food, not as a shot, and expect it to taste like nothing you know.
Where to try it: Restaurants with business groups, and bars along the Jin River. The Shuijingfang Museum in Jinjiang shows a distillery site said to be 600 years old.
Pick by metro line and by what you'll do after dark. Chengdu is big, but the center is covered by lines 1, 2, 3 and 4.
Best for: First-timers who want the metro under their feet
Lines 1 and 2 meet at Tianfu Square, and Chunxi Road is on Lines 2 and 3, so almost every plan in this guide is one ride away. Taikoo Li and the shopping streets are on the doorstep. The catch is the mall-and-crowd character, with more noise and more traffic than you'll find in the quieter parts.
Best for: Old-city atmosphere and walkable evenings
On Lines 1 and 4, with the monastery tea garden in the morning and the alleys at night. The lanes are narrow and pedestrian only, so you'll walk the last stretch with luggage, and Kuanzhai itself is crowded at midday.
Best for: Three Kingdoms fans and the panda base on Line 3
Gaoshengqiao on Line 3 runs straight to the panda base and to Chunxi Road, and the shrine and Jinli are within a short walk. The catch: Jinli is loud on weekend nights, and it's a bit farther from Taikoo Li and the hotpot streets.
Best for: Nightlife and river walks
The bar street runs along the river, most bars open until 02:00, and the walk to Anshun Bridge is a good way to end any day. The catch: it's the noisiest option, and it's farther from the day-one sights.
Pinpoint: click each country on the world map - inside the border for full points, the closer the more you earn.
The practical stuff that makes the first day in Chengdu easier.
On the National Immigration Administration's list dated 17 February 2026, citizens of 50 countries with ordinary passports can enter China visa-free for tourism, business, family visits or transit, for up to 30 days counted from 00:00 the day after arrival. It covers most EU countries (not Czechia or Lithuania), the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Brazil and Russia; the United States isn't on it. The exemption was announced to run to 31 December 2026, and only Russia has an announced extension, to the end of 2027, so for trips after December check the NIA page before you book. Other nationalities should look at the mutual exemption page or apply for a visa.
If you're not on the list, or want longer, the 240-hour transit rule lets nationals of 57 countries, including the US, UK and Canada, enter visa-free through 65 ports and stay up to 10 days in permitted areas. You need an ordinary passport and an onward ticket with a confirmed seat and date to a third country or region, meaning somewhere other than where you flew in from: Tokyo to Chengdu to Hong Kong qualifies, a round trip back to Tokyo doesn't. Both Chengdu airports are designated ports, and the permitted Sichuan area covers 11 cities, including Chengdu, Leshan and Ya'an. You can also arrive elsewhere, say Shanghai or Beijing, and take a train to Chengdu: travel between the permitted areas of the 24 listed provinces is allowed. Foreign travelers can also complete the arrival card online from the NIA site, the NIA 12367 app or WeChat and Alipay mini programs; on arrival there's still a QR code or paper card.
Chengdu has two international airports and your ticket says which. Tianfu (TFU) opened in 2021 and is 51 km southeast; Metro Line 18 runs to South Railway Station and Tianfu Square in about 50 minutes (11 CNY in 2024, roughly 06:00-23:00). Shuangliu (CTU) is 16 km southwest, and Line 10 reaches the center in 30-40 minutes. Line 19 links the two airports in about 30 minutes. Taxis from Shuangliu average around 45 CNY. Have your destination written in Chinese.
Set up Alipay or WeChat Pay before you fly: both now let you link a foreign card, and the central bank's branch reported limits of 5,000 USD per payment and 50,000 USD a year in 2024. Beijing's government listed WeChat as taking Visa, Mastercard, JCB and Diners Club, and Alipay as taking Visa, Mastercard, Diners Club and Discover (2023), so check your card brand in the app. Foreign cards on their own are rarely accepted outside international hotels and big chains, and Apple Pay mostly needs a UnionPay card. Carry some cash as a backup, and some guides report a 3 percent fee on payments over 200 CNY.
Google, Gmail, Google Maps, WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and Wikipedia are blocked in mainland China. Two ways around it: a roaming eSIM or your home plan with roaming, where traffic goes through the foreign network, so blocked sites usually work; or a VPN. VPN use is heavily restricted and unauthorized use can bring fines, VPN sites are blocked inside China, and VPNs get disrupted, so install and test before you land. Download offline maps, a translation app and your payment apps before you fly.
Google Maps doesn't work properly on the mainland. Apple Maps works and Amap (Gaode) has an English international version, so use one of those for walking, metro and taxi directions. Metro ticket machines have an English mode and take WeChat, Alipay and, at most machines, international cards; bags go through an x-ray at the gate and you need the ticket to exit. Screenshot your destination in Chinese for taxi drivers, because few speak English.
Book on the English 12306 site or app, or on Trip.com. Foreigners buy with a passport, finish identity verification once, and can pay with foreign cards or mobile payment online; counters also take cash. Names must match the passport exactly, paper tickets are collected with the passport at a counter, and station gates scan it. The same passport scan applies at the Giant Panda Base, Leshan and many other sights, so carry it every day.
Hotels must register foreign guests with the police, so expect the desk to scan your passport at check-in. If you stay in a private apartment, the host or you must register within 24 hours. Since September 2026 you can do it online through the NIA service platform, the NIA 12367 app or WeChat and Alipay mini programs; failing to register can bring a warning or a fine.
Yes, if you're happy with a slow pace. Five days covers the old center, the pandas, one day trip to Leshan and one to Dujiangyan and Qingcheng, plus hotpot and an opera night. With only three days, do days one, two and five and add Leshan.
It depends on your passport. Citizens of 50 countries, including most of the EU, the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, can enter for up to 30 days without one under a policy announced to run to the end of 2026. The US isn't on that list but is covered by the 240-hour transit rule. Always check the National Immigration Administration pages before booking.
For one day, Dujiangyan and Qingcheng. They're within an hour of Chengdu by train and fit a day, whereas Emei is a long day of transfers even when rushed and is much better with a night in a monastery. Leshan Giant Buddha is already part of the same UNESCO site.
Online, with your real name and passport details, through the base's official WeChat account or authorized apps like Meituan, Trip.com and Douyin, up to 14 days ahead. Tickets cost 55 CNY, and entry is by passport scan. Avoid unofficial sellers and paid fast-track offers.
Very, but not always as hot as you expect. Say bú yào là (no chili) or wēilà (mild) when you order, and bú yào huājiāo to skip the Sichuan pepper numbness. If you want it the local way, say you like chili, or staff may tone it down.
Not normally. They're blocked in mainland China, along with Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and Wikipedia. A roaming eSIM usually gets round it because traffic is routed abroad, whereas VPN use is restricted and unauthorized use can be fined.
Only in places that cater to foreigners. Link your card to Alipay or WeChat Pay before you fly and pay by QR code, and carry some cash. Metro ticket machines accept international cards at most stations.
Generally yes, but watch your bags in crowded places such as buses, the markets at Yanshikou and the area around the North Railway Station. Ignore strangers who try to lead you somewhere or sell you something, and avoid any investment pitch. Traffic is chaotic, so cross carefully even on a green light.
Find Chengdu on the map, learn the flag and check how much you really know about China.
The first capital of China, with a wall you can ride and a noodle as wide as a belt. Five days, planned properly.
A harbor city with a car-free colonial island, earthen castles in the hills and a medieval port nearby. Five days, booking rules included.
A treaty port that became a skyline. Five days in China's biggest city, with the entry rules and apps sorted out first.
China