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Guide library
Everything you need for a first trip.
Three complete guides, written to be read before you fly and used again while you are there. No filters, no filler categories and no sponsored rankings.
Quick answers
Start with the question you have.
Most trip planning comes down to a handful of decisions. These links jump straight to the relevant section rather than another overview.
Every link goes to a real section on a page you can read in full.
The guides
Three guides, one coherent trip.
Read them in order, or use the one that matches the decision in front of you. Each page stands on its own and includes sources for details that change.
First Time in Chengdu
The logistics that decide how smooth the trip feels: when to come, where to stay, which airport you are flying into, how the metro works, how to pay, and what to do if something goes wrong.
- TFU and CTU arrivals compared
- Five hotel areas and their trade-offs
- Metro, taxi and walking basics
- Payments, eSIMs and essential apps
- Weather, packing, etiquette and emergencies
Three Days in Chengdu
A realistic route grouped by neighborhood, with one main anchor per half-day. It includes meal suggestions, rest breaks, transport links and wet-weather alternatives instead of a list of must-sees.
- Day one: pandas, Wenshu and the river
- Day two: parks, teahouses and museums
- Day three: Jinli, Wuhou, Du Fu Thatched Cottage and Yulin
- Costs, booking notes and pacing
- Day trips and rainy-day swaps
Chengdu Food Guide
What to order, what it will taste like, and how to ask for the right level of heat. Written for visitors who want to eat widely without pretending to be fluent.
- 16 dishes and snacks explained
- Spice levels, numbing and ordering
- A printable Chinese allergy card
- Vegetarian, halal and gluten notes
- Hotpot without guesswork
Trip length
If you have two, three or five days.
Do not try to compress everything into a short stay. Chengdu’s pleasures are cumulative: a second teahouse visit, an unhurried lunch, an evening walk. Pick the version that fits your time.
Pandas and the center
Spend one morning at the panda base, then keep the rest close to Tianfu Square, Chunxi Road and the river. Skip the southern sights.
What to prioritize → Three daysThe full first visit
Our core route: pandas and Wenshu, People’s Park and museums, then Jinli, Wuhou, Du Fu Thatched Cottage and Yulin. Still leaves evenings free.
See the day-by-day route → Four to five daysAdd a day trip
Use the extra day for Leshan and its giant Buddha, or Dujiangyan and Qingcheng Mountain. Keep one slow day in the city.
Day trips and alternatives →How to use this site
Plan, then put the plan down.
The site is deliberately small. It covers the decisions that matter and leaves room for discovery, rather than trying to list every restaurant and attraction in a city of more than 20 million people.
- Read the first-time guide before booking. It covers airports, areas, payments and the entry rules to verify for your passport.
- Choose the three-day route, then adapt it. Move days around by neighborhood rather than crossing the city for single sights.
- Keep the food guide on your phone. The phrase table and allergy card work offline once the page is loaded.
Prices, opening hours, visa rules and transport services change. The guides list relevant sources and a page-update date. Confirm changing details with the official operator; an update date does not mean every venue was visited or every detail verified on that date.
Found something wrong? Send a correction with the page and a reliable current source.