Chengdu

Chengdu is the capital of Sichuan province in southwest China, a city of more than twenty million people with a reputation for taking life slowly. Its tea houses are full from morning to evening, its parks fill with people playing mahjong and its restaurants are among the most celebrated in China. Visitors usually come for the giant pandas, but the city and the province around it reward a longer stay.

The pandas are the main draw. Chengdu has a well-known research and breeding base on its northern edge, with large enclosures, a nursery for young cubs and a separate area for red pandas. Pandas are most active in the morning, when they are fed, and the base gets crowded as the day goes on, so an early arrival matters. For a quieter and more natural setting, the Wolong reserve in the mountains to the west is roughly two hours away. It is larger, higher and much less visited, and it is also the area where captive-bred pandas are prepared for life in the wild.

Other excursions reach back through history. The Dujiangyan irrigation system, built more than two thousand years ago on the Min River, still controls the water that reaches the Chengdu plain, and it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Leshan, about two hours south, has a Buddha carved into a cliff beside the river at the meeting of three waters, standing 71 metres tall. The statue was begun in the Tang dynasty and is best seen from a boat, which gives a view of its scale that the cliff-top path cannot. Mount Emei, one of China's four sacred Buddhist mountains, rises nearby.

The food deserves its own days. Sichuan cuisine is built on chilli and on the numbing citrus flavour of Sichuan pepper, and the classic dishes include mapo tofu, twice-cooked pork, dan dan noodles and hotpot with a red, oil-heavy broth. The cooking is varied, with milder dishes alongside the spicy ones, and a guide helps with ordering and with asking for less chilli. Tea houses, such as those in People's Park, are the best place to sit for an hour and watch the city.

In town, the Kuanzhai and Jinli streets recreate old Sichuan alleys, with shops, snacks and performances, and the city's Taoist temple Qingyang Gong is a quieter stop. Sichuan opera, with its famous face-changing performers, plays in theatres in the evenings. The Jinsha site museum, a short drive from the centre, displays gold masks and jade from an ancient culture that flourished here about three thousand years ago.

Chengdu is often cloudy and humid, so the best months are spring, from March to May, and autumn, from September to November. Summers are hot and sticky, and winters are damp and mild. The city is served by two airports and by high-speed trains to Chongqing, Xi'an and other cities, and Chinese train tickets need a passport. Check your visa requirements before you travel, since entry rules for many nationalities have changed in recent years.

Chengdu is also the gateway to a much larger region. Sichuan has some of China's best scenery, from the glacier-fed lakes of Jiuzhaigou and the hot springs of Huanglong to the snow peaks of the Siguniang range, and from the city these places are reached by long drives, high-speed rail or flights. Tibetan communities live in the western part of the province, and the culture, food and architecture change as the road climbs onto the plateau. Many of these trips take at least two days, so plan the time and the weather accordingly.

Language can be a barrier. English is not widely spoken outside hotels and major sights, and signs are often in Chinese only. Translation apps work well, though they need a data connection, and payment apps dominate daily life. A guide who speaks English helps with tickets, with restaurant orders and with understanding the sights. Carry your passport at all times, since you need it for train tickets, for entry to many attractions and for hotel registration.

Choose the base that suits you. The area around Chunxi Road and Tianfu Square is central and well connected by metro, while the quarters near Kuanzhai Alley and Wenshu Monastery are quieter and more atmospheric. Hotels range from international chains to small courtyard guesthouses. If you plan an early visit to the pandas, stay in the north or take a car, since a morning start matters more than the exact location of the hotel.

Pack for damp, changeable weather. Sichuan is often overcast, so a light waterproof jacket and comfortable walking shoes are more useful than sunglasses, although a hat helps in summer. Mountain areas around the city are cooler than the plain, and a warm layer is worth carrying on day trips to Wolong or Mount Emei.

Plan two nights for the city and the pandas, and add one or two more for Wolong, Dujiangyan or Leshan. A private guide is particularly useful in this region, as English signage is thin outside the main sites and distances are large.