8 Chengdu Hotels Near the Pandas and the Teahouses

The Dujiangyan irrigation system was completed around 256 BC and it is still working. It waters something over half a million hectares of the Chengdu plain, and it does it without a dam.

The engineering is elegant enough to be worth understanding. A fish-mouth shaped levee splits the Min River into an inner and outer stream, apportioning flow differently at high and low water so that irrigation gets what it needs and floods are shed. A second structure lets excess water and silt spill back out. And a channel was cut clean through a mountain spur to carry the inner stream onto the plain — before gunpowder, by heating the rock with fire and then dousing it with cold water until it cracked, over eight years.

It is a UNESCO site, it is an hour from Chengdu, and it is the reason Sichuan has been called the land of abundance for two thousand years. The engineer's descendants maintained it for generations and there is a temple to him above it.

Pandas, and a word about how

Chengdu is the centre of giant panda conservation. The research base on the city's northern edge is the accessible one and is genuinely a breeding and research facility rather than a zoo; go at opening, because pandas are most active in the early morning and sleep through the middle of the day.

The larger reserves at Dujiangyan and Bifengxia are quieter. Note that panda-holding photo opportunities have been discontinued at most facilities and where they persist they are worth declining.

The city

Chunxi Road and the centre hold the shopping, the Taikoo Li development and the restored Daci temple.

Kuanzhai Alleys are three restored Qing-era lanes, busy and commercial but architecturally intact.

Wuhou and the Jinli quarter, south, have the temple to Zhuge Liang and the tea houses.

People's Park, west, has the Heming teahouse, where people sit under the trees with bamboo chairs, bottomless tea and ear-cleaners working the tables. It is the most Chengdu thing there is.

And the food. Sichuan cooking is built on the numbing tingle of Sichuan pepper alongside chilli heat — the combination is called mala — and Chengdu was designated a UNESCO City of Gastronomy in 2010, the first in Asia.

The eight below are grouped that way.

The centre and Taikoo Li

Around the restored temple quarter.

The Temple House occupies a restored Qing dynasty courtyard building at the heart of the Taikoo Li development, with a modern wing built around it, a long lap pool and a bar in the old house. It is the best hotel in western China.

Niccolo Chengdu sits above the same development in a tower with a spa, a pool and the shopping directly below.

The Ritz-Carlton, Chengdu occupies a tower in the centre with a very large spa, several restaurants and the most polished service in the city.

The St. Regis Chengdu sits in the financial district with panoramic rooms and full facilities.

The wider city

Waldorf Astoria Chengdu occupies a position near the Jinjiang river with a spa, a pool and gardens.

Diaoyutai Boutique Hotel Chengdu sits in a low property with courtyards and a design drawn from Sichuan craft, and a smaller room count than the towers.

Sofitel Chengdu Taihe occupies a tower with large rooms, a pool and rates below the luxury cluster.

Sheraton Chengdu Lido Hotel sits near the Lido district with reliable rooms, a pool and good value.

What we have left off

The courtyard guest houses in the restored lanes are excluded, and several are in genuinely old buildings. They are guest houses rather than hotels.

What to do

Go to the panda base at opening, before the coaches and before the animals go to sleep for the day.

See Dujiangyan and walk the suspension bridge over the diversion, then climb to the temple for the view of the whole system.

Sit in a teahouse at People's Park for two hours and do nothing. Order the bamboo-leaf green, let them top it up, and have your ears cleaned if you are brave.

Eat properly: mapo tofu, dan dan noodles, fuqi feipian, and a hotpot, which is the city's social institution and comes with a butter or a clear broth depending on how much you want to suffer.

See Sichuan opera and the face-changing act, which is a genuinely guarded technique passed down through families.

Take the train to Leshan for the 71-metre Buddha carved into a cliff face in the eighth century, about an hour by high-speed rail.

Practical notes

Chengdu has two international airports and is a major hub for western China and Tibet. High-speed rail reaches Chongqing in an hour and Xi'an in three.

March to June and September to November are best. Summer is hot and humid. Winter is grey and damp, and the city is famously overcast — Sichuan dogs are said to bark at the sun.

Air quality in the basin can be poor, particularly in winter.

Questions people actually ask

Is the 256 BC irrigation system still used?

Yes, and it waters over half a million hectares without a dam. The channel through the mountain was cut by cracking rock with fire and water.

When should you see the pandas?

At opening. They are most active in the early morning and sleep through the middle of the day.

How hot is the food?

Sichuan pepper numbs as much as the chilli burns. Restaurants will adjust, and hotpot comes with a mild broth option.

How many nights?

Three. One for the pandas, one for Dujiangyan and one for the city and the food.

If you only book one