Chengdu & Giant Pandas — 5 days

Sichuan cuisine, pandas and the Leshan Giant Buddha. Day-by-day itinerary: Arrival & Jinli; Giant pandas; Leshan Giant Buddha; Cooking class & Mount Qingcheng.

Day-by-day itinerary

Day 1 — Arrival & Jinli

• 15:00 — Arrival at Chengdu Shuangliu
• 17:00 — Hotel check-in — Quartier Wuhouci
• Walk to Jinli — Quartier Wuhouci → Jinli Street
• 19:00 — Jinli Ancient Street — Jinli Street
• Walk to the restaurant — Jinli Street → Jinli
• 20:00 — Sichuan hot pot — Jinli

Day 2 — Giant pandas

• 07:30 — Giant Panda Breeding Research Base — Chengdu Panda Base
• Taxi to the centre — Chengdu Panda Base → Centre Chengdu
• 12:00 — Dandan noodle lunch — Centre Chengdu
• Taxi to Kuanzhai Xiangzi — Centre Chengdu → Kuanzhai Xiangzi
• 14:00 — Kuanzhai Xiangzi alleys — Kuanzhai Xiangzi
• Walk to the theatre — Kuanzhai Xiangzi → Shufeng Yayun
• 17:00 — Sichuan opera show (face-changing) — Shufeng Yayun
• Taxi to Chunxi Road — Shufeng Yayun → Chunxi Road
• 20:00 — Kung Pao chicken & mapo tofu — Chunxi Road

Day 3 — Leshan Giant Buddha

• 08:00 — Fast train → Leshan (1h) — Chengdu Est → Leshan
• 10:00 — Leshan Giant Buddha by boat — Leshan
• 12:30 — Climb down to the Buddha's feet — Leshan
• 14:30 — Min River fish lunch — Leshan
• 17:00 — Back to Chengdu
• 20:00 — Street skewers on Wenshu — Wenshu Monastery area

Day 4 — Cooking class & Mount Qingcheng

• 08:30 — Mount Qingcheng excursion — Qingcheng Shan
• 13:00 — Taoist vegetarian lunch — Qingcheng Shan
• 15:00 — Back to Chengdu
• 17:00 — Sichuan cooking class — École culinaire, Chengdu
• Walk to the tasting — École culinaire, Chengdu
• 20:00 — Tasting the meal you cooked — École culinaire

Day 5 — Departure

• 09:00 — Wenshu Temple & morning tea — Wenshu Monastery
• Taxi to the park — Wenshu Monastery → People's Park
• 11:00 — People's Park — People's Park
• 14:00 — Airport transfer
• 17:30 — Return flight