If you ask American travellers about the best cities to visit in China, 8 out of 10 will mention Chengdu. The 3,100-year-old city is like Sichuan hot pot – red-hot at first glance, but richly layered at second. From the bamboo-hugging roundness to the spicy flavours that make your tongue dance, from the 1,000-year water miracle to the Silicon Valley-like tech parks, Chengdu has a way of refreshing your perceptions in unexpected ways. Are you ready to explore the city that National Geographic has rated so highly?
1.The Panda Universe (Keyword: Chengdu Giant Panda Base)
The first stop in Chengdu has to be the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, the world’s only urban habitat for giant pandas. More than 200 black and white pandas live here, and the daily feeding time from 9-11am is like the ‘Breakfast Club’ of the panda world. Watching them peel bamboo shoots with their furry paws, you’ll instantly understand why even NBA stars customise their sneakers in panda colours.
Pro Travel Tip: Want to be a panda pooper scooper? The volunteer programme at the base is limited to 20 people per day, so remember to book on the official website three months in advance. And don’t forget to bring non-slip shoes – panda poo can be even more slippery than ice!
2. Adventureland on the Tip of Your Tongue (Keywords: Sichuan hotpot, Sichuan cuisine)
Chengdu people eat 10 billion skewers a year, and there are 20 times more hotpot restaurants than Starbucks. At the Shu Dajian hot pot restaurant on Chunxi Road, the waiters will teach you the authentic ‘seven up, eight down’ tripe shabu-shabu method. Don’t dare to challenge the devil’s spice? Try the lychee-flavoured soup base at New School Hot Pot, which is made with more than 20 types of fruit and would make a Texas BBQ chef give a thumbs-up.
Must-eat list:
- Bell Dumplings: Sweet and spicy ‘Chinese taco’.
- Omelette: A crepe in an egg shell.
- The Three Cannons: Singing glutinous rice desserts.
3.A magical city where the ancient and the modern collide (Keywords: Dujiangyan, Wide and Narrow Alley)
At the Dujiangyan scenic spot, you will see that the damless water diversion system designed by Li Bing and his son 2,000 years ago is still irrigating the Chengdu Plain. It’s recommended to rent a Chinese interpreter, as this invention, born 2,300 years after Dujiangyan, will allow you to listen to the black technology of water conservancy during the Warring States period.
As night falls, delve into the Republican complex of Broad and Narrow Alley. Eat mapo tofu with a knife and fork in a modified Sichuan restaurant, and listen to dialect rap in a courtyard bar, a magical sense of time and space mash-up that even New York’s Lower East Side has to bow to.
4, the unexpected new city of science and technology (keywords: Chengdu High-tech Zone China Silicon Valley)
Chengdu has more than just antiques and chillies. The high-tech zone is home to 300 of the world’s top 500 companies, and Intel produces 65 per cent of the world’s laptop chips here. Programmers in office buildings on Tianfu 3rd Street discuss blockchain code in Sichuanese, a contrast that’s like seeing a panda playing e-sports.
A must-visit for tech fans:
- Elite Town: China’s ‘Silicon Valley of Drones’.
- Jiaozi Park: the birthplace of digital currency
- Tencent Mansion: the birthplace of Glory of Kings
5.The Ultimate Philosophy of Slow Living (Keywords: Chengdu Teahouse, Ear-digging)
The Crane Teahouse in People’s Park harbours Chengdu’s ultimate secret: the 10 RMB/seat Gai Bowl Tea can taste like Starbucks’ Third Space. Watching the master perform the ‘Eighteen Styles of the Dragon’ with a long-spouted copper kettle, and experiencing the tingling sensation of non-heritage ear picking, you’ll suddenly understand why Chengdu people can turn ‘ba shi’ into a verb.
6.The Miracle of Symbiosis between Nature and City (Keywords: Qingcheng Mountain, Chengdu neighbourhood)
Just an hour’s drive from the city centre, you can stand in front of the thousand-year-old Taoist temple of Mount Qingcheng. Called the ‘Switzerland of the East’ by the New York Times, this quiet mountain forest hides the heavenly place where Zhang Sanfeng created Taijiquan. With skiing at Xiling Snow Mountain in winter and rafting at Hongkou in summer, Chengdu people have made ‘work hard, play harder’ a part of their city’s DNA.
Now do you see why Lonely Planet lists Chengdu as the ‘World’s Best City to Visit’? Whether you’re a family traveller looking to rua pandas or a digital nomad in search of inspiration, there’s always something to see and do in a city that’s always refreshing the senses. Tell me in the comments section: which aspect of Chengdu would you most like to experience? If you find the guide useful, remember to share it with your friends who are planning to go to China!
