Review of Chengdu
Chengdu
Take flights to Chengdu for Sichuan hot pots, lantern-lit tea houses and once-in-a-lifetime encounters with giant pandas.
Things to do
Arrive early for the 9.30am feeding time at the Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding. Towering bamboo is your lush backdrop at this hilltop conservation area, home to 50 giant pandas. Spring is mating season, but you can peek at tiny newborns in the nursery in autumn.
Shopping
Songbirds, turtles, miracle potions, fragrant teas, bonsai trees and mounds of fresh produce are for sale at bustling Qing Shi Qiao Market. Ornate lacquerware and shu silk embroideries make unique gifts from your Chengdu holiday.
Restaurants
Taste numbingly hot Sichuan flavours on your Chengdu city break. Find authentic restaurants in Qingyang and Chenghua districts to sweat over málà (numbingly spicy) hot pot or soft bean curd with fiery chilli-laced minced meat.
Nightlife
Gauzy red lanterns light the wooden-fronted silk-weaving shops, bars and tea houses on Chengdu’s Jinli Street at dusk. Shadow puppeteers and Sichuan opera singers entertain on the paved streets, where you can sip drinks and soak up the atmosphere of old China after flights to Chengdu.
When to go
KLM has frequent flights to Chengdu. See fire-breathing dragon lanterns and acrobatics at the Chinese New Year Lantern Festival, or May's flamboyant Dragon Boat Festival.
