四川省

Why this place

Sichuan is the most popular province in China for a reason: pandas, the most relaxed big-city culture in the country, food that has conquered the world, and a western half that climbs from the Chengdu plain to the Tibetan plateau with some of the most spectacular mountain scenery anywhere. It is genuinely several trips in one.

What to see

• The Chengdu panda base, and the city's teahouses and shrines
• Jiuzhaigou and Huanglong — the terraced lakes and travertine pools
• Mount Emei and the Leshan Giant Buddha
• The Sanxingdui bronzes at Guanghan; the Dujiangyan irrigation works
• Garze and the Tibetan west: Kangding, Tagong grassland and Daocheng Yading

What to eat

• Hotpot and the Sichuan classics: mapo tofu, dan dan noodles, twice-cooked pork
• Chengdu's teahouse culture, and the whole street-snack repertoire
• Leshan's bobo ji; Zigong's salt-flavour cooking; wild mushrooms in the west

How to plan

Ten days: Chengdu three, Jiuzhaigou or Emei three, plus four for the Tibetan west.

Best time

March–May and September–November; the plateau is best May–October

Practical tips

• Sichuan's west is high — allow a day or two to acclimatise before going above 3,000m

Cities 21

成都市 Chengdu自贡市 Zigong攀枝花市 Panzhihua泸州市 Luzhou德阳市 Deyang绵阳市 Mianyang广元市 Guangyuan遂宁市 Suining内江市 Neijiang乐山市 Leshan南充市 Nanchong眉山市 Meishan宜宾市 Yibin广安市 Guang'an达州市 Dazhou雅安市 Ya'an巴中市 Bazhong资阳市 Ziyang阿坝藏族羌族自治州 Aba甘孜藏族自治州 Garze凉山彝族自治州 Liangshan