Trip highlights
- 1Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding
- 2Sichuan hotpot
- 3Jinli Ancient Street
- 4Teahouse culture
- 5Sichuan opera with face-changing
Daily spend
Where you're going
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In pictures
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Day-by-day plan
Arrival & Jinli Ancient Street
Wednesday, October 13
Est. spend
$90
per person
🌅 Morning
Arrive at Chengdu Shuangliu or Tianfu International Airport
Chengdu International Airport
A metro or taxi connects either of Chengdu's two airports to the city centre in roughly 40-50 minutes.
Confirm which airport your flight uses in advance — Chengdu operates two major international airports serving different routes.
☀️ Afternoon
Jinli Ancient Street
Jinli Ancient Street, Chengdu
A restored Qing Dynasty-style pedestrian street near the Wuhou Shrine, lined with traditional architecture, snack vendors, and craft shops.
Try the sugar painting (tanghua) vendors, who create intricate animal shapes from molten sugar — a fun, photogenic street snack.
🌙 Evening
First Sichuan hotpot dinner
Hotpot restaurant, Chengdu
A bubbling pot of fiery, numbing mala broth shared at the table, with thin-sliced meats, tofu, and vegetables cooked tableside — Chengdu's defining culinary experience.
Order the half-spicy, half-mild split pot (yuanyang) if it's your first time with Sichuan's intense mala (numbing-spicy) flavour.
🍽️ Meals
Airport breakfast
Chinese · $6
Jinli Street snack lunch
Sichuan street food · $10
Sichuan hotpot dinner
Sichuan (hotpot) · $20
Giant Panda Base
Thursday, October 14
Est. spend
$110
per person
🌅 Morning
Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding
Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding
A leading conservation centre for giant pandas, home to dozens of pandas across naturalistic enclosures, with the best viewing typically in the morning when pandas are most active.
Arrive right at opening (around 7:30am) — pandas are most active and least crowded by visitors in the first couple of hours.
☀️ Afternoon
Panda base nursery and red panda enclosure
Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding
Beyond the giant pandas, the base also houses red pandas and, seasonally, newborn panda cubs in a dedicated nursery viewing area.
Check the base's website for nursery viewing availability, as cub access varies by season and breeding cycles.
🌙 Evening
Sichuan opera and face-changing show
Shufeng Yayun Teahouse, Chengdu
A traditional Sichuan opera performance featuring bian lian (face-changing), where performers swap ornate masks in a blink, alongside shadow puppetry and fire-spitting acts.
Book seats close to the stage — the face-changing technique is famously fast and easy to miss from the back rows.
🍽️ Meals
Early hotel breakfast
Chinese · $6
Panda base café lunch
Chinese · $10
Pre-show dinner
Sichuan · $16
Teahouse Culture & People's Park
Friday, October 15
Est. spend
$90
per person
🌅 Morning
People's Park teahouse
People's Park, Chengdu
A sprawling public park where locals gather for tai chi, mahjong, and the city's beloved teahouse culture — sipping jasmine tea for hours while chatting or having ears cleaned by traditional street barbers.
The ear-cleaning service, performed by specialised street practitioners, is a quirky local tradition worth observing even if you don't try it.
☀️ Afternoon
Wenshu Monastery
Wenshu Monastery, Chengdu
Chengdu's best-preserved Buddhist temple complex, with incense-filled courtyards, a vegetarian restaurant, and an adjoining old teahouse street.
The monastery's vegetarian restaurant is excellent and inexpensive — a good lunch stop tied directly to the temple visit.
🌙 Evening
Kuanzhai Alley dinner and bar street
Kuanzhai Alley, Chengdu
Three parallel restored alleyways combining historic Qing-era architecture with modern restaurants, bars, and boutique shops.
🍽️ Meals
Hotel breakfast
Chinese · $6
Wenshu Monastery vegetarian lunch
Chinese (Buddhist vegetarian) · $8
Kuanzhai Alley dinner
Sichuan · $25
Wuhou Shrine & Departure
Saturday, October 16
Est. spend
$75
per person
🌅 Morning
Wuhou Shrine
Wuhou Shrine, Chengdu
A historic temple complex dedicated to Zhuge Liang and the heroes of the Three Kingdoms period, one of the most significant Three Kingdoms-related sites in China.
If you've read or watched any Three Kingdoms adaptations, this site carries far more resonance — worth a quick refresher beforehand.
☀️ Afternoon
Final shopping for Sichuan spices and tea
Chunxi Road, Chengdu
A last stop for Sichuan peppercorns, chili oil, and local Mengding green tea to take home before departure.
🌙 Evening
Transfer to Chengdu International Airport
Chengdu International Airport
Allow about 1.5-2 hours for the airport transfer plus check-in time depending on traffic.
🍽️ Meals
Hotel breakfast
Chinese · $6
Chunxi Road lunch
Sichuan · $12
Airport food
Chinese/International · $12
Before you go
📅 Best time to visit
March–May and September–November offer mild temperatures (15-24°C). Chengdu is famously overcast much of the year, with summer bringing humidity and occasional heat.
🛂 Visas
Many nationalities can use China's 144-hour visa-free transit policy for Chengdu specifically, but a standard Chinese tourist visa arranged in advance is recommended for most travel plans beyond that window.
💱 Currency
Chinese Yuan/Renminbi (CNY). Mobile payment apps (Alipay, WeChat Pay) dominate daily transactions — set up the tourist version with an international card before arrival for a much smoother trip.
🆘 Emergency numbers
police: 110
ambulance: 120
💬 Things you won't find in a guidebook
- Sichuan cuisine's mala (numbing-spicy) flavour from Sichuan peppercorns is intense — pace yourself with hotpot and ask for mild options if needed.
- Arrive at the Panda Base right at opening — pandas are most active in the cool morning hours and far less active by midday.
- Set up Alipay or WeChat Pay's tourist payment feature before the trip, as cash and foreign cards are accepted less widely than expected.
- Chengdu's teahouse culture is meant to be slow — don't rush a tea session, as lingering for hours is the entire point.
- A VPN may be necessary for accessing certain foreign apps and websites — set one up before arrival.
One thing worth not skipping
A 4-day trip to Chengdu, China without insurance is a gamble. Medical emergencies, cancelled flights, lost luggage — cover yourself before you leave.
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