4 posts · Curated China travel tips
Chengdu ranked 5th nationwide for inbound tourism in 2025 — and 1st in central and western China. I went to university here. This 10-day itinerary takes you past the pandas and into the Chengdu that made me fall in love with travel.
Took a French couple to a food market in Chengdu last month. They wanted to try everything but had no idea where to start. I told them: pick whatever vegetable or meat catches your eye, hand it to any stall owner, ask them to cook it. No menu. No prices. Just point, nod, and wait. The wife grabbed a green leafy thing she had never seen. Turned out to be water spinach (空心菜). The owner stir-fried it with garlic in two minutes. Cost: 8 yuan. She stared at the plate like it was magic. She told me later that was the best meal of their trip. She still does not know what she ate. Some of the best meals in China do not happen in restaurants. They happen on plastic stools in a market alley, eating something cooked by someone whose grandmother taught them.
Took a French family to the panda base this morning. 7:30 AM opening, pandas at their most active — always the best time. I bring all my clients to Dujiangyan base instead of the main breeding center. Same pandas, way fewer crowds. One of the kids asked me why baby pandas are pink. Told her they don not get their black-and-white until three weeks old. She did not believe me until the guide confirmed it 😂
Everyone comes for the pandas. But the real magic of Chengdu is in its food alleys, tea houses, and the laid-back attitude you won't find anywhere else in China.
