Pandas, hotpot and Sichuan ease. Here is when to go, what a day costs on site and what to see, then Okela composes your itinerary hour by hour.

Compose my trip to ChengduSee Chengdu in Okela

When to visit Chengdu

Best months: March, April, May, September and October.

What to see in Chengdu

1. Base de recherche des pandas
   It is both a working research centre and a visitor site, where giant pandas live in large enclosures planted with bamboo.
2. Rue Jinli
   This pedestrian lane of timber façades, upturned roofs and red lanterns recreates the feel of an old Chengdu neighbourhood in the Qing style, right next to the Wuhou Temple.
3. Temple Wuhou
   This complex honours Liu Bei, Zhuge Liang and the heroes of the Three Kingdoms, a story almost every Chinese visitor knows.
4. Kuanzhai Xiangzi (ruelles)
   These three parallel alleys preserve the layout and courtyard houses of a former Qing-era garrison district, set in the middle of a very modern city.
5. Grand Bouddha de Leshan (excursion)
   Carved straight into the cliff where three rivers meet, this Tang dynasty Buddha rises about seventy metres above the water.
6. Parc du Peuple (maison de thé Heming)
   This is where you best grasp the rhythm of Chengdu: locals settling in for hours by the water with tea, conversation and card games.
7. Monastère Wenshu
   This working Buddhist monastery in the middle of the city is one of the best places to feel the unhurried rhythm of Chengdu.
8. Shu Jiu Xiang (hotpot)
   Shu Jiu Xiang is a Chengdu hotpot house that opened in the early 2000s.

A sample itinerary for Chengdu, three days

Composed by Okela from the places in its database, with times. Yours takes your dates, pace and group into account.

Budget

Expect about €83 per person per day on site (accommodation, meals, transport and visits), depending on the comfort you choose. Okela shows the price of every step of your itinerary.

My Chengdu itinerary, hour by hour

More destinations: China

Photo: FISU, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons.