Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan Province, located in the west plain in the Sichuan Basin, is a famous historic and highly cultural city with a history over 3,000 years. Known as the land of abundance, Chengdu boasts plentiful local products, a pleasant climate, a large number of scenic spots and historical sites, and fine traditional handicrafts well known both at home and abroad.

Chengdu is a city with a population the size of New Zealand! Coffee culture is growing in Chengdu but not to the detriment of the amazing tea culture. Chengdu is known for its tea houses! There are hundreds, maybe thousands. A good tea to get in Sichuan province is the locally produced jasmine bamboo leaf green tea from Mt Emei.

Some great local delicacies include spicy chicken with peanuts (gongbao jiding), dry fried green beans (ganbian sijidou), mapo tofu, and boiled and stir fried pork with salty and hot sauce (huiguo rou). Kung pao chicken handmade sweets are called Dragon's whiskers.

It is advised that you make enough time in Chengdu to visit the Giant Pandas and the Giant Buddha. The Pandas are amazingly cute and China’s national animal. The Panda research centre is most impressive. It holds the largest number of captive red pandas, and most possibly also Giant pandas.

As well as the Leshan Buddha there is several beautiful temples, tombs, a fishing village, and a massive collection of different Buddhas.It’s also recommended to have a night at the Sichuan opera to watch the 'changing faces' Sichuan opera.