Giant pandas, teahouses and fiery Sichuan food
Chengdu has a reputation as China's most relaxed big city, a place of teahouses in People's Park and mahjong in the afternoon. The Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding lets you see pandas early in the morning when they are most active. The food is the big draw: mapo tofu, dan dan noodles, hotpot and the numbing tingle of Sichuan pepper. Visit Wenshu Monastery and the Wuhou Shrine, see Sichuan opera with its face-changing, and take trips to the Leshan Giant Buddha or Mount Emei.