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.
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12 Day Family Tour to the 4 Corners of China!
The activities were carefully picked, some of them were obvious like the things you have to see (Forbidden City, Great Wall, Panda bears...), but even these involved good choices by the guides of exactly where to go inside a massive site. We saw a lot of panda bears! The guides were super knowledgeable in the history and culture, and we learned so much more from their contribution than if we just went and looked at old (beautiful) buildings. ? more
Sep 2024, motif one
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Loved Chengdu with guide EVAN
Our guide Evan was excellent. He was knowledgeable about the places we visited in and around Chengdu, as well as about Chinese history and Buddhism. He was also adept at navigating the complexities of crowds, hot weather, and ticket lines. He knew the best places to go at the Panda center, so we saw a lot of pandas even on a hot day.He still remained in contact, helped us see a Sichuan opera, and offered useful advice to us. Evan was really top as a guide and just a great guy to hang out with, and thanks also to Ellen at China Highlights who expertly organized the whole tour. more
Sep 2024, motif o
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Fantastic tour from start to finish
Our guide, Fi Fi, was so much fun, so enthusiastic, so accommodating and packed so much into our limited time. She made the whole day special. more
Aug 2024, Keth
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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.