Chengdu Spotlight Experiences
As the homeland of giant pandas, Chengdu is one of the historic cities in China, with a long history of over 3,000 years.
It enjoys the title of "the land of abundance", not only for its abundant grain products, but also for its rich tourism resources. Lovely pandas, picturesque landscapes, Buddhist culture, and Tibetan villages are sparkling diamonds on the crown of Chengdu.
More surprises are waiting for you to discover.




98.8% positive customer reviews among 10,000+
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Fantastic Chengdu family visit
We explored wonderful Chengdu and surroundings in 4 days. City tour in a relaxed way with delicious local snacks, really nice! Spectacular new dinosaur museum, Dujiangyan (combined Panda and dam in one outing, very recommendable), Leshan Buddha. All above super cool with the kids (ours are 7 and 4). Emei Shan impressive, maybe a little long driving to explore it and watch out for the hotels there, not all are nice and in the town itself there is nothing. But we were blessed with perfect weather on the top and perfect views. Eating hot pot is spectacular in Chengdu, but watch out how spicy it can be. Michael is just a perfect tour guide! He speaks super fluent German and has a very relaxed and competent style of explaining, which made the whole tour so nice. We love Chengdu and will definitely come back! more
Apr 2023,
Stefan P
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Giant Pandas - Giant Buddha - Mount Emei
We had a wonderful 3 days in Chengdu area,visiting the Panda breeding Center, Leshan Giant Buddha and hiking at Mount Emei.We have been travelling several times with Chinahighlights and everything was well organised as usual. Our guide Michael (fluent in English and German) was great showing us the beauty of Sichuan. We can highly recommend travelling with him and Chinahighlights. more
Mar 2023,
steffenwet
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Two amazing tours
Both tours were led by excellent guides who knew a lot about everywhere we went, and were very helpful and friendly. The agent was equally helpful and quick in responding to questions which was ,especially in covid restrictions time, extremely convenient. more
Jul 2022,
Elizabeth
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Panda Keeper for a Day at Dujianyan Sichuan
This is was the second time that we had signed up for the program Panda Keeper for a Day, this time at the Dujianyan Panda Base, about 1 hour drive away from Chengdu. Great experience again. We will surely do it once again. more
Mar 2022,
Thomas
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Amazing Tibet experience in Sichuan
Henry was an informative guide who went out of his way to ensure positive experiences. Mr Wu was not only a safe and attentive driver on sometimes rough roads but also a great photographer, capturing shots of us as we toured. Henry went out of his way to talk to anyone around to help bring the place alive through stories so we had the opportunity to meet so many locals, real people, and hear about their lives. Another highlight was the opportunity to climb a 1000 year old watchtower in Danba and meet the local family who managed it. Truly magical. Henry was also a consummate foodie who provided us with great local food recommendations along the way. more
Jul 2021,
Deborah J
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Amazing visit to panda bases in Chengdu and Woolong
Jason was terrific; he understood our interests in pandas and he made our outings very enjoyable. We plan to return to Chengdu to visit pandas and will be asking for Jason again. more
Dec 2019,
victoriadH3461ED
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Panda heaven
We have just completed the Chengdu leg of our trip to China organised by Robert Hui at China Highlights. Our Guide for the 2 Day trip was Daisy Du who made us feel very welcome and helped us check in and ensured our rooms were satisfactory then gave us directions of where to go for the best food. The next day Daisy took us straight to the Giant Panda Breeding and Research centre. It was fantastic to see the Pandas so close. It’s a little sad that they are in captivity but it is essential to increase the breeding rate and so save these wonderful animals from extinction. We saw Pandas of all ages and sizes including a tiny little baby that was only 36 day old. After an extremely tasty lunch picked for us by Daisy she then took us into the people’s park and showed us the tea houses and dating area where parents can advertise their single ‘30 something’ children to potential partners. The day ended with a wander around Jinli Old Street where you can buy anything from food to souvenirs to furniture. We have had the best time in Chengdu helped no end by the friendly, helpfulness of our guide Daisy who knew all the best places to go and sights to see. Thank you Daisy, a great time was had by all. ---jayne_Stu Halifax, United Kingdom more
Nov 2019,
jayne_Stu
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Wonderful Chengdu tour with Jason
With other two friends I have visited Chengdu in September 2018 and our tour guide was Jason, who has been really amazing with us.He had the smart idea to bring us to the Pandas reserve very early in order to avoid the crowds, even if we were visiting Chengdu right during the Chinese national holidays.After the Pandas reserve, we visited the tea park and the city centre, where Jason could give us a lot of information about Chengdu. Jason gave us also very nice suggestions about places to visit in the evenings during our free time. Totally recommended!!! ---Vittorio C Berlin, Germany more
Nov 2019,
Vittorio C
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Cecelia is your guide in Chengdu
We had a great time in Chengdu seeing the pandas and other excursions. Cecelia, our guide, picked us up with a bag of fruit and a wealth of knowledge. She took great care of us, got us through lines quickly and brought us to great restaurants. We even took a cooking class. Highly recommend her. --Robert D,Seattle, Washington, US more
Oct 2019,
Robert D
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Chengdu and Wolong Panda base with Aaron
Aaron picked us up from the airport and drove us straight to the Chengdu Panda Breeding and Research Center. We had a very enjoyable time touring the Research Center with Aaron. Even though he has probably been to the research center many times he seemed just as excited to see them as we were. Especially the babies! The next morning we headed to the Wolong Panda Base with a stop at the 2008 Earthquake memorial site. We had a great lunch in the small town of Gengda and then went on a hike in the Dengsheng Gorge with a local guide. The next day we did the panda keeper program which entailed cleaning cages (inside and out), feeding pandas, making panda cakes, watching a film about the program and walking around the base looking at the many pandas. After the program we drove back to Chengdu. While we were working Aaron took some great pictures of us cleaning and feeding the pandas. The next morning tour guide Snow took us to the train station. Aaron was such fun to be around, he spoke English wonderfully and gave us great info about the pandas. ---Cougfan Auburn, Washington, US more
Oct 2019,
Cougfan
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Panda keeper program
Had a wonderful time on the panda keeper program which we booked through China Highlights. We generally avoid doing organised tours whenever possible as we prefer to do our own thing. Cecilia was our guide for the day and quickly made us feel at ease in her company she was interesting, knowledgeable and enthusiastic everything you want in a guide. The whole day was great and Cecilia certainly enhanced the experience, she took lots of photos for us throughout the day which was brilliant as it’s difficult getting photos together, she also provided us with buckwheat tea and biscuits which was a lovely touch. A big thank you to Cecilia. --Maria & Peter Foulger more
Sep 2019,
Mariafoulger
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During this whole trip, at anytime , if we need to modify our schedule or activities, Aaron and the driver can accommodate. They are friendly, knowledgeable, good communicator, flexible, and dedicated to making sure our needs are met. Aaron, thanks for making this an unforgettable trip for us! --Venture114992 more
Sep 2019,
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The Last Farmers' Market in Chengdu (one hours)
It is very hard to travel like an insider when you are surrounded by thousands of tourists in crazily crowded tourist areas. Instead, visiting a local market, hidden in the concrete jungle, will be one of the best ways to discover a strong flavor of local life.
The farmers' market is a hub of ordinary lifestyles, local delicacies, and warm community relationships. You can see all kinds of locally-grown fresh vegetables and authentic local food that is sold without the fancy packaging. People spend hours each week picking various fresh ingredients just for family dinners, and they bargain with the farmers for cents off, but in a friendly way.
Dive into the local atmosphere by getting closer to Chengdunese daily life and their beloved food. You can also learn how to properly wrap Chengdu dumplings from one of the shopkeepers, who can easily make 100 perfect dumplings in minutes.

Be a Half-Day Chengdunese in Local Park (2 hours)
Chengdu is probably the laziest city among China's new first-tier cities.
Take a seat and sip a cup of tea. Your guide will explain the etiquette to you of how to drink tea and the intentions you express when you put the lid, bowl, and tray in different places.
Square dancing is already a part of the locals' lifestyle and the dance form nowadays is much more interesting and uniquely Chinese. Feel the good vibes and join in with line dancing, a waltz, or a little Chinese salsa if you want to.
You will also see some vibrant scenes that may only happen in Chengdu: desperate parents are posting messages in a marriage market looking for a partner for their unmarried offspring; a local man is enjoying a traditional teahouse ear massage with a metal rod in his ear; Chengdunese are playing mahjong everywhere in summer - even in the river.

Learn the Sichuan Cuisine Recipes from Local Chef (2.5 hours)
Chengdu was named as the first city of gastronomy in Asia by UNESCO.
It is very hard to travel like an insider when you are surrounded by thousands of tourists in incredibly crowded tourist areas. Instead, a visit to a local chef's home will be one of the best ways to get a taste of local life.
Unearth the secrets of Sichuan cuisine as you cook three typical Sichuan dishes with the chef and invent your own recipe.
Try to play mahjong in the living room as well if you want to.

Evening Private Date with the Pandas (2 hours)
This evening visit in Wolong Panda Research Center is a smart plan that China Highlights originally designed to beat the crowds during the off-peak period. Compared with other panda bases near the city, this is a new one with less tourist.
Led by an experienced panda keeper and your guide, you will enter the staff-only control room in the breeding area.
If you visit the base in late summer, you will be able to observe mother pandas and their babies via live monitors and learn more interesting facts about them.

Be a Baby Panda Nanny for a Day (5 hours)
We've got the best job offer for a panda lover like you - to be a panda cub nanny!
Seize this rare chance to interact closely with panda cubs as you bottle-feed them, supply them with bamboo, and clean their enclosure with your own hands.
In the morning feeding and cleaning, you will go inside the panda babies' bedroom and help clean it. After lunch, enjoy a special documentary movie about a panda's life cycle.
Enjoy the plum job of feeding the playful babies again. Later, you will make cakes for the pandas with your own hands. At the end of the program, you will receive a panda keeper certificate.

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