Chengdu worth visiting?
 

Was planning on going to Chengdu next month (main city I've heard of in central china before coming to China to live/work) for vacation with wife but have only been getting luke warm feedback from chinese friends. Do you think it is a worthwhile place to visit?

I really enjoyed my visit. The Panda preserve is really worth the majority of a day alone.

The restaurants are great too.

And the new Ritz-Carlton hotel is the perfect place to stay.

This might give you an idea of what one can do in the city:

What’s Doing in Chengdu

Chengdu was memorable. We went to both the panda reserve about a 2 hour drive from town as well as the one in town. We thought to the Sanxindui Museum was awesome. And we enjoyed the Chinese folklore program including the amazing mask changing where there is simply no perception of it happening and yet the person has a different face.

I didn't like hot pot. It stunk up my clothes and hair. But otherwise, I enjoyed everything we did.

It's best to hire a car and driver. The city houses 14 MM and has many dramatic buildings. The airport is one of the most modern I've seen.

I enjoyed Chengdu a lot too. There is something about the laid back vibe of the city that really was appealing to me. Tea houses abound while you lazily spend your afternoon going through a mound of sunflower seeds.

I agree with SanDiego1k in that I could only do so much of the Sichuan hotpot. It was a bit over the top for me with the spices and the Sichuan peppercorn. However, the general Sichuan food was not too bad.

I spent almost a day at the Panda reserve and then we took a bus and spent another day at Leshan to see the Giant Buddha and the vast complex around it. I highly recommend it. It wasn't too crowded and the Buddha is truly remarkable.

In the evening/night you can always venture down to Jinli Street. A little touristy but tons of shopping, food and tea houses featuring Sichuan Opera late into the night.

I find the city to be rather compact and small for China, and after three visits, nothing in the city stands out as being memorable, save for one temple selling "potato juice."

Don't care about hot pot/pandas, but visiting Leshan was alright. For another trip to Sichuan, I'd choose Jiuzhaigou.

Chengdu is a nice city. is is a city worth making a special trip for? No not really. However if you like panda bears then the conservatory is well worth it. I wasn't a panda guy but my wife loved it. Having a baby panda on your lap as it sucks on honey covered bamboo and your wife with a goofy smile for the rest of the trip was well worth it.

Dujiangyan Irrigation System was something I really enjoyed. Just working out the engineering involved was very neat but if that isn't your thing then it wouldn't be worth it.

We also went to Jiuzaiguo (Nine Villages) and while the mass of humanity that also went to see the fall colors was overwhelming, we have no regrets.

Enjoying Chengdu would be dependant on your likes and interests.

Jiuzhaigou National Park (as well as the nearby Huanglong Scenic Area) are some of the most beautiful places of natural scenery in China (if you want to go when it's not so busy, consider visiting outside the peak summer months and major Chinese holidays). Leshan Giant Buddha is worth seeing; Emei Shan is an important Buddhist mountain. Qing Cheng Mountain is an important Taoist mountain.

There are also many great resorts/hotels situated in the area. Just a few months ago, Six Senses opened a new spa resort at Qing Cheng Mountain (http://www.sixsenses.com/resorts/qin...in/destination). Anantara has a resort at Emei Mountain which opened a year ago (http://emei.anantara.com). Intercontinental has resorts in Jiuzhaigou, Sancha Lake and Heilong Lake. And, of course, many chains have luxury hotels in Chengdu (Ritz-Carlton, St Regis, Shangri-la, Intercontinental, Kempinski, Sofitel). The Swire Group (which operates the Upper House in HKG and the Opposite House in PEK) has just opened a new boutique hotel, the Temple House, in CTU (http://www.thetemplehousehotel.com).

Chengdu is one of my favorite cities in mainland China, mainly because of the food, teahouses, and general laid-back attitude. One notable thing about Chengdu is that it is rarely sunny there. I agree that the city itself doesn't have many tourist-worthy places, but there are many things in the surrounding areas that make a one-week visit far too short.

* Leshan Giant Buddha (2 hrs by long distance bus)
* Panda Research Base (taxi, city bus--long ride)
* Jiuzhaigou (air, bus is far too long)
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if interested in Chinese culture/history
* Emeishan (2 hrs long distance bus, plus hiking and overnight)
* Zigong salt museum (3 hrs long distance bus)
---
within the city:
* People's Park (teahouses, people watching, public dancing, ear-pickers)
* Jinli Street (kitschy tourist old street, but some interesting restaurants if you take the time to explore)

San Diego, I assume you mean that one should hire a car and driver for the whole day and have that person take you around. Is this how you went to the panda preserve outside of town ? How did you go about finding one ? Do you have an idea of how much it would cost ? Thank you for any advice.

Temple House looks gorgeous, but from the address, it doesn't seem to be located at the airport. A boutique hotel in an airport terminal would be amazing.

Did you seriously think he meant to imply that it was at the airport?

To me,

CTU means at or near airport

Chengdu means city

This holds especially when other hotels are mentioned in the post as Chengdu while this one specifically says CTU. Some airports do contain rather good hotels (CDG, DTW, DFW, MUC while others have good hotels very close such as Radisson Blu at MOA/MSP, a castle hotel near FRA, some would say Crowne Plaza at SIN, etc.).

Using airport codes to refer to cities is a pet peeve of mind in the case of open ended questions (and, I always use city names as a matter of habit), but in the post you quoted, the poster provided other examples (of well known hotels that clearly aren't in airport terminals); this should have clued you in.

That's the same convention I follow, and I wish everyone would do the same. But I also remember when I was 20-something and wanted to show off my knowledge of city/airport codes, so I used them in everything. Although I would find it annoying when I see people do that now, I try to remind myself of where I came from and not assume "Chengdu Shuangliu Airport" when I see CTU. :)

Oops, I meant to say that Temple House has just opened in Chengdu, rather than CTU airport... I was using abbreviations for Hong Kong and Beijing, which is probably why I slipped in CTU instead of Chengdu. Hope the confusion has been cleared up!

As someone who often uses his phone to browse the internet, I'm with you wrt ctu; save characters! :D

In the context of China, "pvg" is the only airport code usage that irks me in the slightest. "Sh" requires less typing time, and "sha" covers the entire shanghai municipality.

Back to topic we stayed in Chengdu on our way to Lhasa several years ago. Did the panda reserve, hot pot, and found the city to be very nice, and we did a lot of walking and exploring on our own.

Great to come across a thread on Chengdu.

I moved to the states (NC) around 10 and have been here since. However, I was born in Chengdu and spent the my 1st 10 years in between Chengdu and Chongqing in Sichuan.

I love the city and its food. You get the city feel without feeling as if you've over dosed on caffeine pills. However, it has always lacked great hotels until recently.

So, I've just booked 6 nights in between the Ritz Carlton and the Temple House for this Christmas/New Years week. Super excited to show my wife Chengdu and pandas.

Waldorf Astoria Chengdu (situated in the Tianfu New Area, opposite Chengdu Tianfu International Financial Center) is scheduled to open in 2016/2017: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/hilto...-chain-69.html

(2016 according to the Hilton China calendar, and 2016/2017 according to the Waldorf Astoria website: http://waldorfastoria3.hilton.com/en...ngs/index.html)

Some photos of the hotel design: http://champalimauddesign.com/projec...a-chengdu.aspx

The owner is Chengdu Yincheng Property Co., Ltd (http://news.hiltonworldwide.com/inde...om/detail/6330)

Grand Hyatt Chengdu is now accepting reservations for stays from 1 March 2016: http://chengdu.grand.hyatt.com/en/hotel/home.html

I am heading to Chengdu in June so I am starting to plan things out. So far, my main thing is to hold a panda. :)

Then you better do some more research or prepared to be disappointed. The Giant Panda Breeding/Research Centre on the outskirts of Chengdu discontinued their panda holding/photo program about a year ago, and there's no word on when (or if) that will be reinstated. Similar in nearly all panda-public locations including Bifengxia in Ya'an. The only place currently offering contact opportunities--and likely to still be that way in June--is the Dujiangyan Panda Base--which isn't far from Chengdu city. It needs to be arranged in advance and costs about RMB 2000. They also have a one-day volunteer program. Note that there are two places in Dujiangyan: Panda Base and Panda Vallley which are run by different groups. I'm pretty sure the Base is the one that offers the photo contact, but you'll need to nose around for additional fresh information and phone/email number to set something up.

Yes going rate 325USD.

If you are an NBA star...probably free.
Pandas love basketball:D

http://cdnstatic.visualizeus.com/thu...7119261d_i.jpg

http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/...g_2106062i.jpg

http://hoopeduponline.com/wp-content...iant_panda.jpg

Yes, I've been doing my research and have already been in direct contact with the Dujiangyan Panda Base. My girlfriend is from Chengdu, so she's going to help me with the communication and transportation while I am visiting.

Any restaurant recommendations?

PVG code origin 1999

PUDONG

substituted "V" latin alphabet character for "U"

On May 11,Wolong Giant Panda Reserve Shenshuping panda base the opening ceremony
After efforts,, the Wolong Giant Panda Reserve - Shenshuping base has been open. Wolong Base that was destroyed by 2008 earthquake. The new Wolong base is located in Gengda. The CCRCGP built two new centers to replace the original Wolong base that was destroyed by the earthquake of 2008. The new centers are located in Dujiangyan and Gengda. Dujiangyan was completed in 2013. Arrangements must be made with the Dujiangyan base for volunteering or visiting the pandas. The Gengda center was completed late 2012. Opening to the public was delayed due to the roads being impassable due several catastrophes (washout, rock slides). It is now ready for visitors, ergo the re-opening. The old Wolong center is used by the CCRCGP for its wild training release program.

Closed for several years due to the earthquake, wolong giant panda reserve is expected to be opened for tourist again from May 12th. There are more than 32 giant pandas in this reserve.Base is giant panda breeding areas, wild training areas, wildlife public education area, there are 59 set of giant pandas housing, tourist center, office building scientific research, popular science education center, the vet, giant panda transition, wild training and other supporting hardware facilities.

The Shenshuping panda base, away from the Chengdu 105 km,ticket 90 Yuan/per.

The zoo in Chengdu does have that depressing animals-in-steel-cages feel, but it's fairly large, with pandas and an interesting selection of some other animals. Besides, zoos are great places for people watching.

As for food, I'm really fond of the 四川小吃 Sichuan Xiaochi banquet, where you get up to a dozen small plates of various Sichuan snacks, like Dandan Mian and Long Chao Shou. But food quality has become much less dependable in China over the past decade -- corners are being cut everywhere -- so I'm reluctant to offer a name or two. Perhaps someone else will.

I've long resigned from expecting transcendental food experiences in China. IMO, inconsistency is a primary characteristic of Chinese food in China (and followed closely by indifference). Better Chinese food experiences, quality-wise but also in general, are found in Taiwan and Hong Kong.

In Chendgu, to try the city's street snacks, I would recommend Long Chaoshou (龍抄手/龙抄手) on Chunxi Road in the heart of the commercial district. I'm not sure if it's still state-owned, but it originated in the socialized era when individual street vendors were forced to give up ownership and consolidated into massive eateries like this. I don't mind the food hall atmosphere and curt service. The food isn't all that spectacular, either. But it's a relic, which gives it some meaning.

Below is the 12-dish sampler (RMB 38 as of 2015 Nov):
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/membe...et-chengdu.jpg

Yep, that's it, from the kitchen for the masses. At one time at least, Long Chao Shou had an upper floor dining experience, with a separate kitchen and much better xiao chi at much higher prices. I assume they still do, but haven't tried it.

There's at least one other place like Long Chao Shou in that area, about 5-10 minutes away. Like Long Chao Shou, not everything is good -- you need to order the banquet to discover what you like, then order a la carte -- but overall the quality is better. Their Zhong Shuijiao, the dish at 7 o'clock, have a great sauce, and their Dan Dan Mian are boiled right and not gummy.

We will stay 3 nights ( 2 full days) in Chengdu mid-August.

Plan is mostly to recover smoothly from jet-lag but how would you spend both days ?

Day 1: Panda farm
Day 2: ?

HI,
3 nights 2 full days?There are a lot of places worth visiting.Such as Mount Emei,Leshan Giant Buddha,Dujiangyan water conservancy project, Qingcheng mountain,Sanxingdui Museum,Huanglongxi ancient town.
I suggest you this itinerary.
itinerary
Day1,you fly to chengdu.overnight in chengdu.
Day2,You become the panda volunteer.afternoon 16:00,go to Emeishan,overnight in emeishan.
Day3,go to golden dome,Watch the clouds sea and temple Temple.afternoon visit to Leshan Giant Buddha,and then back to chengdu.

Of course, you can also visit mount Qingcheng and Dujiangyan water conservancy project.

Thanks for the info. My short time I spent in Sichuan was well worth it. For those having more than a few days and willing to try to adventure, make your way to the 4 sisters mountain area (Siguniangshan). Was a bit of a PITA to get there but probably one of my fondest memories of China.

Yes, Chengdu-Wolong Panda Bse - Balang mountain-Siguniang mountain,This route, it is very beautiful.

Hello! Heading to Chengdu for 3 nights (2 1/2 days) in early January. I'll be staying at the Sofitel by the river (I know it has mixed reviews, but got their opera suite for very cheap on a flash sale and with various perks it seemed hard to refuse).

Is it fine (as in both safe and pleasant) to walk in Chengdu? (mostly in the centre, roaming towards People's park, Tianfu square, Jin Li street and the likes or basically any other central area people would recommend!).

In a vastly original move [ ;) ] I do fancy a half day or day trip to meet the pandas. In this thread, four different places are mentioned - is it worth going to one of the three more remote ones compared to the panda research base in Chengdu proper? Are there major differences between them beyond the "hold a panda" option (I'm considering it but it seems quite expensive. I need someone to convince me that they have done it and it has changed their life forever!! :) ). Great thread with lots of other useful recommendations which I'll be sure to use!

Good morning
If you want to watch Sichuan Opera , I advise you to Park,Shufengyayun the show is the best in chengdu.
in chengdu panda base,There have stopped holding the Panda program. If you want to hold a Panda only in dujiangyan.....

The least safe aspect about most of China is the person behind the wheel/pedal/mobile phone. As for personal safety, it's extremely safe.

I'd say Chengdu is one of the more pleasant places to stroll, at least downtown.

One thing I appreciate about more and more Chinese cities is that they are creating decent pathways along canals, creeks, and rivers; Chengdu is one example of this.

Thanks that's very helpful! Yes, I guess my main fear was "killer traffic" or what felt a bit like it in some of the larger cities I visited in the past (though nowhere as scary as Jakarta and the likes!). Glad Chengdu sounds like one of the more practicable ones as I love walking and if I understand correctly, January should be a more pleasant time of the year to walk about than anything summery! :)

Just know that the smog can be quite bad in Dec/Jan
3pm can be dark already.

Ouch!! Thanks!!