Teddy Bears and Tea Houses

Whether you arrive by plane or by train, one of our representatives will be waiting for you on your arrival to transfer you to your hotel.

Our hotels in Chengdu are centrally located in town and within walking distance from the backpacker guest houses. Your own accommodation will be more comfortable than the guest houses and during your Chengdu trip, you’ll spend the night in a comfortable mid-class hotel with a shower, toilet, telephone, and air conditioning in your room. However, the English-speaking staff in the nearby guest houses will also be on hand to help you, share their knowledge and arrange any additional excursions.

On the first day of your Chengdu trip, why not visit Jinli Street in the afternoon; a charming, pedestrian district next to the Wuhou temple. You'll enjoy walking through the small, traditional streets, having a bite to eat on ‘Snack Street’ and having a drink at one of the lantern lit bars or Chinese tea houses. You won’t know where to look, there’s so much to see…

If you’d like to experience a panda encounter during your China holiday in Chengdu, the best place to see them is at the Panda Breeding Research Centre. The Research Centre is a large bamboo filled park where pandas can be seen in large fenced enclosures. We really enjoyed our visit here, especially because it’s the only opportunity to see these mystical creatures up close.

Of course it’s still a zoo; however it’s a very responsible and well maintained zoo and seeing these giant creatures is extremely moving. On this Chengdu trip, you’ll learn a lot about these animals, their breeding habits, their heritage and you might get to see new-born pandas (depending on the time of year).

Your Chengdu trip is planned for early in the morning which is the best time of day to visit as this is when they are most active. This means that you’ll be picked up at your hotel around 7am. You’ll get to the park in time to see the pandas being fed. After about 3 hours in the park you’ll have seen all you’ll want to see and you’ll be back in your hotel by 11:30.

Please note: The Panda Breeding Centre is the only place in world where you can hold a baby panda. It costs approx. 1000 Yuan p.p. and can only be paid in cash so make sure you bring enough money with you if this is something that you would like to do.

About three hours drive away from Chengdu, in the town of Leshan lies the Leshan Giant Buddha. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and it is also the largest Buddha statue in the world, therefore it draws millions of tourists and pilgrims from across the world.

The Leshan Buddha is carved out of a cliff-face and lies at the confluence of the Dadu, Qingyu and Min rivers. It took 90 years to carve and it is 71m tall, the shoulders are 28m wide, the head is 15m high, the nose is 6m long and even the fingers are 3m long.

This China trip is available seven days a week and has a minimum of two participants. Please ask your travel specialist for details.

If you have more time to spare during your Chengdu trip, you could always extend your stay here with one or more nights - it's completely up to you. If you'd like to visit Yunnan to see the Lanterns of Lijiang then please ask your travel specialist who will include it in your China holiday.

If you decide not to travel to Tibet, but would like to experience the feeling of being in Tibet, why not travel through China on a 4-day trip from Chengdu to visit Yak herders and nomadic villages in Xiahe. Alternatively, you could head to Southern China to see some of the beautiful countryside on our trip from Guilin to Yangshuo.

Or, if you like, you could continue your China experience on a trip to the crystal lakes of Jiuzhaigou National Park. Just let our friendly China travel specialists know and they'll build a China travel plan to best suit you.