Chengdu/Chonqing visit
 

Planning a trip where I'll be in various parts of Asia, but will have a few days in China. I'm focused on Chengdu and Chongqing. I have been to several cities in China but I have not been to either of these. I arrive in China from Japan and land in Chengdu in the evening like 6pm. I already have three nights booked in Chengdu. My question is do I book a fourth night in Chengdu because I arrived in the evening on the first day or do I head to Chongqing for the fourth night?

My initial thought was do four nights in Chengdu and then take an early morning high speed train to Chonqing. Then stay one night in Chongqing (hotel is already booked for this night). I need to catch a flight from Chongqing to Beijing the next day around lunch time. Is this the best way to spend my stay or should I do three nights Chengdu and two nights Chongqing?

3 + 2 sounds better. Personally of the opinion that Chongqing is very overrated but if its your first time may as well sample both cities. Be sure to checkout the Sanxingdui Museum in Chengdu.

My only concern with 3&2 is that the first night in chengdu I'm arriving in evening so it only gives me two full days. I'm not sure if that is really sufficient enough time. I guess I could take a later train on the fourth day to Chongqing so that way I have a day in Chengdu and still get to Chongqing to explore at nighttime and then I wake up fresh there the next day to get a full day.

Two full days should be sufficient imo/ime.

Ok thanks. Since I have never been in this part of China and to these cities I don't have a firm grasp on timing.

Those cities are too big to cover in one day, but two days is probably sufficient for you to get a decent impression.

Chongqing 重庆 is just a really big city, not that much historical culture to it. Chengdu 成都, while having lost a bit of that with the usual chinese style développement, has enough for 3 days minimum, even 4 if at relaxed place.

I know you already reserved a hôtel, but i'll mention the Grand Hyatt as a recommendation in 成都。

I booked grand hyatt for the first three nights. I will arrive in Chengdu in the evening. Hopefully there will be a little time to walk around. The next day I would like to see the Panda base in the morning and explore the city in the afternoon and evening. The following full day I was considering getting up early and taking a high speed train to Mount Emei and then taking the bus and cable car up to the summit then heading back to Chengdu in the evening. I don't know if Mount Emei is something where you have to book all the transports well in advance or if I can do it the day before and decide based on current weather conditions. I'm not sure how much interest I would have in the Leshan Giant Buddha as it looks like a lot of steps and massive crowding. Not that there aren't crowds other places but people seem really jammed together at that location so I'm not sure how enjoyable it would be.

Save some time to enjoy the amenities of the Grand Hyatt. They're really quite decent, and I usually don't say that about many hôtels.

The People's Park (人民) was surprisingly nice. The Jinli Ancient street is reeks touristy, I'd skip that unless remade traditional architecture and street stalls is something new to you.

The panda base was pretty cool. For some reason a lot of people like specific pandas (I believe they’re popular on social media) but they all looked pretty similar to me if you want to avoid the queues. Also, I kind of liked the red pandas more than the white ones…

Just resurrecting this thread. I am arriving from ICN around 23:00 and then I have 5 full days in Chengdu. Is taxi/bus/rideshare service into the city an issue at that time?

I have a refundable hotel booking currently.

Just wondering if I should just stick to Chengdu and take some day trips and return to the same hotel at night, or if I should do a 3+2 (Chengdu, Chongqing) via the high-speed rail?

I'll take a look at Chengdu-area day trips in the meantime, and if fellow posters recommend going to Chongqing, then I can factor that in, too.

Thanks for any advice you can provide.

I'd be inclined to stay in Chengdu. With the train trips and checking in and out of hotels you'll lose almost 2 days of your short trip.

As for midnight airport transfer, remember there are two big airports in Chengdu.

Chongqing is way less interesting imo. It’s fine as a day trip if you want to see it, but I personally wouldn’t bother. The cityscape is somewhat unique but attractions-wise there is not much.

If you want to spend two nights somewhere else I’d go to Zhangjiajie rather than Chongqing. Early morning train, see Tianmenshan in the afternoon, then you have a full day for the park the next day.

Chengdu and a few day trips could easily make for a good trip by itself, though.

I really, really, really liked Chongqing and it felt quite different than the other places I have visited in China or anywhere else in the world.

Yes, the famous (cyberpunk) places are all over the blogs, but they are very fun to see in person. Having said that: Two days was enough for me!

If you decide to spend the night, I would suggest to try to get a hotel room on a very high floor near the Xinhua building , with a view towards the Liberaion Monument / Raffles City. I will never forget that view.

Yes - ICN-TFU.

I may just try to stay overnight at the Joyhub Cheer hotel before heading into town.