成都市

Why this place

Chengdu is famous for not being in a hurry — the teahouses are full all day, the parks are full of people playing mahjong, and the city has been the cultural capital of the west for two thousand years. It is also the only place to see giant pandas, and the food is some of the best in the country.

What to see

• The Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding — go at opening, when the pandas are active
• People's Park and Heming Teahouse, for the ear-cleaning and the mahjong
• Wuhou Shrine and the Jinli ancient street, for the Three Kingdoms layer
• Du Fu's Thatched Cottage, where the Tang poet lived and wrote
• The Sanxingdui museum in Guanghan, an hour away — the bronze masks of a civilisation nobody expected
• Qingcheng Mountain and the Dujiangyan irrigation works, both UNESCO sites and both day trips

What to eat

• Hotpot, Sichuan style — with a divided pot so you can try the mild side too
• Mapo tofu, dan dan noodles, twice-cooked pork — the Sichuan classics, at their source
• Chuanchuan (skewers cooked in the pot) and the whole street-snack repertoire
• Tea, taken seriously, in a bamboo chair in a park

How to plan

Four days: pandas one morning, the city's shrines and teahouses two days, Sanxingdui or Dujiangyan one day.

Best time

March–May and September–November; the city is grey and damp in winter but rarely freezing

Practical tips

• Book panda-base tickets online in advance; arrive at 7:30am and go straight to the nursery