Chengdu

Chengdu is the capital of Sichuan province, famous for giant pandas, fiery food and a relaxed pace of life built around teahouses and parks. It is also the gateway to the Leshan Giant Buddha, Mount Emei and Chongqing, and the first thing a visitor needs to know is that Chengdu has two airports, far apart.

Arriving in Chengdu: Shuangliu and Tianfu airports

Chengdu has two international airports, and they are a long way from each other, so check which one your ticket names before you book a hotel or a transfer.

• Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport (CTU) lies southwest of the center, relatively close to the city. Metro Line 10 connects it to the wider metro.
• Chengdu Tianfu International Airport (TFU) lies far to the southeast. Metro Line 18 runs from the airport into the city, with faster express trains on part of the route. Allow well over an hour to reach the center.

Taxis and ride-hailing serve both airports; use the official taxi rank, and ignore drivers who approach you inside the terminal. Never plan a tight connection between Shuangliu and Tianfu.

Arriving by train, many high-speed services, including some from Xi’an and Chongqing, use Chengdu East station, but Chengdu has several other major stations. Check your ticket and book on 12306, the official rail channel. For entry rules, see Visas and entry, and for your arrival day, First 24 hours.

Getting around Chengdu

The Chengdu metro is extensive, cheap and signed in English and Chinese, and it is the easiest way to get around a city that sprawls in every direction.

• Line 1 runs north to south through Tianfu Square at the center.
• Line 2 runs east to west through Tianfu Square and Chunxi Road, out to Chengdu East station.
• Line 3 runs through Chunxi Road and north toward the panda base area.
• Line 4 crosses the center east to west near the Kuanzhai Alleys.

Ride-hailing and taxis are cheap and handy, especially for an early start at the panda base. Shared bikes suit the flat center and the riverside paths. Pay with Alipay or WeChat Pay; hotpot restaurants and street stalls expect it. See Paying in China and Getting around.

Chengdu’s must-see sights and which ones need booking

Chengdu’s top sights, and how to get in:

• The Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding: real-name tickets with your passport through the official channel. Go when it opens: pandas are most active in the cool of the morning and often sleep by midday.
• The Sanxingdui Museum: extraordinary bronze masks and figures from an ancient Shu culture, about an hour north of the city. Real-name booking required; book ahead on weekends and holidays.
• The Jinsha Site Museum: gold and jade from the same ancient world, inside the city.
• Wuhou Shrine and Jinli: a temple to the heroes of the Three Kingdoms period, next to a busy old-style shopping street.
• The Kuanzhai Alleys: restored lanes of courtyard houses, busiest in the evening.
• Wenshu Monastery: an active Buddhist monastery with a tea garden and a vegetarian restaurant.
• Du Fu Thatched Cottage: a garden memorial to one of China’s greatest poets.
• People’s Park: teahouses, matchmaking boards, mahjong and the slow-city life Chengdu is known for.

Many museums close on Mondays, so plan the pandas or a park for that day.

Check before you go: Booking windows, daily caps and closing days change. Check each sight’s official channel, and see our sight bookings tool and the Booking sights guide.

Where to stay in Chengdu

The best base in Chengdu for a first visit is in the center, within walking distance of a station on Line 1, 2 or 3.

• Chunxi Road and Taikoo Li (Line 2, Line 3): the shopping and dining heart of the city, with hotels at every level and easy access to the panda base on Line 3.
• Tianfu Square (Line 1, Line 2): the dead center, where the two main lines cross.
• Around the Kuanzhai Alleys and Wenshu Monastery (Line 1, Line 4): more traditional streets and quieter evenings.

If you’re flying from Tianfu, consider how long the transfer takes and leave plenty of time, or choose a hotel near Line 18 for the last night. Your hotel registers you with the police at check-in; see Hotels and registration.

What to eat in Chengdu

Chengdu is one of China’s great food cities. Sichuan cooking is famous for 麻辣 málà, the combination of chili heat and the tongue-tingling numbness of Sichuan pepper, but not every dish is spicy.

• Hotpot (火锅 huǒguō): a bubbling pot of broth for cooking meat and vegetables at the table. Ask for a split pot (鸳鸯锅 yuānyāng guō) with one spicy and one mild side.
• Mapo tofu (麻婆豆腐 mápó dòufu): soft tofu in a spicy, numbing sauce with minced meat.
• Kung pao chicken (宫保鸡丁 gōngbǎo jīdīng): chicken, peanuts and dried chili, much better than the versions abroad.
• Dandan noodles (担担面 dàndàn miàn): small bowls of noodles with chili oil and minced pork.
• Chuanchuan (串串 chuànchuàn): skewers cooked in a hotpot broth, paid for by the stick.
• Sweet water noodles and dumplings in chili oil: classic Chengdu snacks.

To keep the heat down, say 微辣 wēi là (“mildly spicy”) or 不要辣 bú yào là (“not spicy”). Food and ordering has more phrases, including how to explain an allergy, and peanuts are common in Sichuan dishes.

Day trips from Chengdu: Leshan, Mount Emei and Chongqing

Chengdu is surrounded by some of China’s great sights, and high-speed rail puts many within a day trip.

• The Leshan Giant Buddha: a vast Buddha carved into a riverside cliff. High-speed trains run to Leshan, with an onward bus or taxi. Book tickets through the official channel and expect queues on the stairs down beside the statue.
• Mount Emei (Emeishan): a sacred Buddhist mountain with temples, forests and a golden summit. Easier as an overnight trip, and often combined with Leshan.
• Qingcheng Mountain and Dujiangyan: a Taoist mountain and an ancient irrigation system, both reachable by train from Chengdu.
• Chongqing: a dramatic hillside megacity on the Yangtze, roughly one to two hours away by high-speed train depending on the service. It deserves at least a night.
• The highlands: Jiuzhaigou, Kangding and Siguniang are spectacular but high and far; treat them as separate trips and read up on altitude first.

Book trains on 12306, and avoid public holidays when Leshan and Emei are packed.

How many days in Chengdu?

Three days in Chengdu is a good first visit, plus a day or two for Leshan, Mount Emei or Chongqing.

• Day 1: The panda base in the early morning, then People’s Park and a teahouse, with hotpot for dinner.
• Day 2: Sanxingdui, then the Kuanzhai Alleys in the evening.
• Day 3: Wenshu Monastery, Wuhou Shrine and Jinli, and Du Fu Thatched Cottage.
• Day 4: The Leshan Giant Buddha.

Summers are hot and humid, and winters are damp and gray, with little heating in older buildings. Chengdu pairs well with Xi’an by high-speed train, and many visitors fly in from Beijing or Shanghai.

The book: Chengdu, Day Zero

Chengdu, Day Zero: A First-Timer’s Guide to the Walls You’ll Actually Hit, by Kevin Gu, takes this page much further. In Chengdu the first wall is at the airport, because there are two, far apart. Then come the ones every visitor meets: phone payments at the hotpot table, apps you can’t reach from home, pandas and Sanxingdui booked by passport, a heat scale that runs from mild to numbing, and teahouses that come with no instructions.

Each chapter explains what stands in the way and how to get past it, then tells the story behind the pandas, the Three Kingdoms shrines and the bronze masks. It covers the Tianfu arrival, the booking wall, choosing a bed, how to see the pandas awake, Sanxingdui and Jinsha, the heat scale, a hotpot chapter, Chengdu after dark, Leshan, Emei, Qingcheng and Dujiangyan, the highlands and the altitude question, two chapters on Chongqing, and routes for 2, 3 and 5 days, with a phrasebook and place names in characters and pinyin. The facts are checked for travel in 2026 and 2027, and the US edition is written for readers from the United States and Canada.

The book is coming soon to ebook stores. See the contents and details at Chengdu, Day Zero.