chengdu questions
 

My wife and I are staying in Sheraton, Hotel quoted 700RMB round trip from airport,
Do I utilize it or take taxi?
Any recommendations as to English speaking guide would be appreciated.
Thanks






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Y350 each way is pretty reasonable as far as hotel arranged airport transfers go in China, but only you can decide if the premium (over taxis) is justified.

With respect to the guide question, it would be useful if you provided information about your length of stay and the places you'd like to see.

We are arriving on the 20th and departing on the 26th.
Suggestions on what to see would be appreciated.
What do you think Taxi cost should be?
Thanking you in advance

If it's the Sheraton on Huajin Road, that's reasonably close to the airport. I should think a taxi to hotel would only be about RMB 30-ish. You can see the huge premium the hotel is charging.

Five full days 21-25 is quite a long time for Chengdu city and environs. I'd suggest Giant Panda Breeding Center of course (go first thing in morning), one or more of the large parks and a bit of teahouse visiting, Wenshu Temple in center of town. North suburbs and beyond: Sanxingdui Museum (in Guanghan city) and Baoguang Temple. West of Chengdu--Dujiangyan Irrigation System. All of this plus some city filler sights can be done in about 2.5 days. Consider going somewhat farther afield to Leshan (Giant Buddha) and maybe an old town like Luocheng or Shangli. Emei Shan if you are interested in Buddhist Mountains, don't mind climbing a lot of steps, and have at least one day of favorable forecast. Usually a Leshan-Emei Shan trip will be at least one overnight outside of Chengdu. Yet another option, if you don't mind spending the cash, is to go to Jiuzhaigou and Huanglong in the mountains, which at the time you're going (assuming October) is peak fall foliage season. You'd need to fly up and back ex-Chengdu and it would take 3 days/2 nights including the travel days. There is a Sheraton near JZG park entrance but it's possibly sold out by now.

IMO, staying this entire time in Chengdu city is a waste of good opportunity, if you aren't working the sightseeing around business commitments and your time is completely flexible.

I'm arriving in Chengdu around 11pm. I'm not sure if the taxi drivers know where the newly opened St. Regis is. Would you recommend a hotel car or taxi? The price difference is huge, obviously.

I wouldn't lose a moment of sleep over this. In the unlikely event that the driver happens to be hopelessly clueless, you can always pull the hotel up on your phone's map or call for directions.

Where are the interesting headwater parts of Dujiangyan Irrigation System located relative to Dujiangyan Station on Chengdu-Dujiangyan High Speed Railway?

there is a 99.9% chance the taxi driver will speak no English. either print out the hotel's address in Chinese or download it to your phone so you can show him. also make sure he uses the meter.

If the taxi driver seems lost, have him call the hotel on his cell phone for directions.

As someone already said, be sure to have the name and address of your hotel written in Chinese characters. IME going into a Starwood Chinese hotel's SPG website (click the link from your reservations page or start a new search) will give you something that you can print in advance. Usually this requires something like clicking on local area, then transportation and directions, but for some properties it might be somewhere under contact us.

If this doesn't work, try emailing the concierge and asking that they send you a pdf to print with the hotel name/address/phone and any special instructions (such as access with one way streets or road construction) to show to taxi drivers.

For my first trip to Shanghai, I had the St Regis info printed out in large font on a plastic coated half-size sheet of paper.

The Dujiangyan HSR station is not the preferred station for the Irrigation System site since it's a bit far out of town, though when first built, it was the only option. The better option is the newer Liduigongyuan station which terminates in town and within easy walking distance to the Irrigation System main gate area. All the interesting parts are inside that complex, which spans a peninsula, island, and part of the nearby Min River bank area.

If one is heading to Qingchengshan, then the Dujiangyan line is the one you want, not the Liduigongyuan line.

As suggested repeatedly in up-posts. Get a copy of the hotel name and address written in Chinese.

You will easily find taxi at that hour without problem. There will be a line outside the terminal for taxi. As usual, some people may try to jump the line.

Once inside the taxi, hand the hotel address to driver and off you go. My guess for the fare will be less than 80 yuan (there is a small toll on the second ring road, if I recall correctly). Your journey at that hour should be about 30 minutes.

Leaving chengdu airport there are no fees and none of the roads have a fee. On the way to the airport a taxi will have a 7rmb toll road fee. It is always cheap to take taxis in Chengdu. When you walk out of domestic terminal two turn left and walk towards taxis. In domestic terminal 1 and international walk out and go towards the right at the end of the taxis lined up you get in. You have to be a little aggressive and move people won't wait in you. We have lived there for 16 years and have learned to love it.

I have about 1 and a half day in Chengdu and was hoping if anyone could give a me a nice condensed itinerary of what to see in Chengdu? Basically I arrive at noon, so I pretty much have the whole of the afternoon and the next day. I'll be off to Leshan and Emeishan on the 3rd day with an overnight in Emeishan on my 5th day I'm flying to Lhasa.

Is the Giant Panda Reserve far? Can I do it in 1-2 hours? What else can I see in Chengdu?

Is there a food tour in Chengdu?