Chengdu travel info

At three in the afternoon, Chengdu pulls up a bamboo chair. In the People's Park teahouses, someone tops up a lidded gaiwan with hot water, mahjong tiles clack at the next table, and an ear cleaner wanders past jingling his steel tweezers. Hardly anyone is in a hurry, which is why this city keeps topping China's lists of easy places to live.

Mornings belong to the pandas. Get to the breeding base at opening time and they're right in front of you, hugging armfuls of bamboo and chewing noisily. By late morning they're draped over branches, fast asleep. Spend the afternoon in the Qing-era lanes of Kuanzhai Xiangzi, then pick at skewers in Jinli alley beside the red walls of the Wuhou Shrine.

Then night falls and every hotpot joint behind Chunxi Road breathes beef-tallow steam into the street. The tongue-tingling Sichuan pepper is a shock at first; by day three you'll miss it. Order wei la, 'a little spicy', to start. A little, in Chengdu, is plenty.

Chengdu Tianfu International Airport (TFU)

Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport (CTU)