Chengdu

The old west of the walled city: the rebuilt Manchu-garrison alleys and the quiet lanes beside them, the city's oldest park with its 1923 teahouse, the restored 1930s street across from it, and the Taoist temple, park, lantern street and opera stage on the western ring road.

The Three Kingdoms shrine and its folk street, the Tibetan quarter behind them, the missionary-era university campus to the east, and the two free parks — a warlord's mausoleum and a bonsai garden — on the district's edges.

The modern centre: the civic square with the free city museum, the science museum and the ruins behind it; the pedestrian shopping street and its snack houses; the open-air mall around Daci Temple with the IFS panda; the café street behind; and the theatre where Chengdu watches its own opera.

The giant panda research base — the reason most people are here, with its two gates and two zones — plus the older zoo and its neighbouring monastery, the lake park, the botanical garden, the Xindu monastery of 500 arhats, and the new art-park museums across the north of the city.

The poet's cottage and the creek-side park, the provincial museum, the walk-in imperial tomb, the brocade looms, the Sunday antiques fair and the Pritzker architect's concrete ring — with the Jinsha gold-mask site closed for rebuilding until the end of April 2027.

The city's living Buddhist monastery and the pastry lanes around it; across the river, the 1950s factory turned music park, a ticketed dinosaur museum that accepts passports in writing, a student snack lane, and the riverside supper street under the 339 tower — a temple morning and an east-side evening, joined by a taxi.

The south bank: the bar street and night boats where the two rivers meet, the working 600-year distillery, the neighbourhood from the song and the expat quarter beyond it, and the bamboo park and university museum for the daytime.

The 2,000-year-old irrigation works and the Taoist mountain, one train ride north-west — plus the old town's blue-lit bridge, the back-mountain gorge and its two old towns, and the two lesser-known panda centres (one open, one closed for rebuilding since April 2026).

The bronze-age Shu kingdom's masks and sacred trees in the 2023 new hall — the only ancient-Shu museum open while Jinsha is shut — plus the working restoration hall, the closed dig outside, and the two county-town parks that fill the hour before the train.

46 dishes by shelf — start with these, the sichuan table, street and breakfast, in season, tea, coffee and imports, souvenirs, vegetarian and halal — each with where to get it.

Nine-bowl country banquet in Jan, spring greens: toon shoots and fish-mint in Mar, garlic pork slices in Jun, jianyang mutton soup in Nov — eat what the season is eating.

Choose where to see pandas: the original base, expansion zone, Panda Valley or the zoo.

Pick the museum that fits one half-day: Sanxingdui, Sichuan Museum, Chengdu Museum or Jinsha.

Decide whether Dujiangyan pairs with Qingcheng’s front mountain, the back mountain, or a second day.

Decide whether you can make the Panda Base and Sanxingdui one coherent day.

Choose between Sichuan opera, a night boat, Jiuyanqiao bars and a Taikoo Li stroll.

Choose which pieces of old Chengdu belong in one half-day: Kuanzhai, People’s Park, Wuhou, Jinli or Du Fu’s cottage.

Shape a downtown half-day around Tianfu Square, the city museum, Chunxi Road and Taikoo Li.