01 Food tours
Original food tours, curated with our local tastemakers to showcase the neighbourhood kitchens, markets and family-run eateries that define Chengdu.
No tours listed for Chengdu yet — check back soon.
Numbing Sichuan peppercorn, roasted chilli oil, doubanjiang bean paste, fermented mustard tuber. Nowhere on earth pushes ma la further than Chengdu.
04 The pantry
- Doubanjiang, fermented broad-bean and chilli paste at the heart of Sichuan cooking
- Sichuan peppercorn, huajiao that produces the numbing ma tingle
- Chinese celery, ribbed and fragrant for cold appetisers
- Yacai, salt-preserved mustard stems for dan dan noodles
- Dried chillies, Facing Heaven and Er Jing Tiao varieties by the sack
05 In the kitchen
- Building mala heat with peppercorn ma and chilli la
- Frying dried chillies in oil for hong you chilli oil
- Fermenting doubanjiang in Pixian for months to develop depth
- Cooking hui guo rou twice, first boiled then stir-fried with paste
- Simmering huoguo broth with dozens of spices at the tabletop
06 Eat this first
- Mapo tofu, silken tofu smothered in numbing chilli oil and minced beef
- Dan dan mian, wheat noodles under chilli oil, sesame paste and pickled greens
- Hui guo rou, twice-cooked pork with leek and fermented bean paste
- Huoguo, Chengdu hotpot fired with peppercorn and chilli oil
- Fu qi fei pian, cold sliced beef and offal drenched in chilli oil
What happens inside a hammam kitchen
A morning with the cooks who feed the neighbourhood before dawn. Charcoal, dough, the smell of a bakery working its second oven.
10 Field Notes
Quick field notes to help you get accustomed to Chengdu.
Weather
Humid subtropical — mild, damp winters and hot, sticky summers (30°C-plus with rain). The city is famously overcast; sunny days are called out on the news.
Currency
The Chinese yuan (CNY); WeChat Pay and Alipay dominate — cards are barely used at street level. Set up mobile payment before you land.
Language
Mandarin Chinese is standard; the local Sichuanese dialect is spoken widely too. English coverage is thin outside high-end hotels; translation apps are essential.
Etiquette
Chengdu is famously laid-back — the local pace is slow, tea houses are a way of life. Don't rush conversations or meals; it's a city that rewards lingering.
Getting around
The metro is fast, cheap, and expanding rapidly; Didi covers everywhere. Bike-share (Meituan, Hello) is huge — the city centre is mostly flat.
Prayer
Officially secular. Wenshu Monastery is a beautiful active Buddhist site in the centre; the Muslim (Hui) community has a long history in the west of the city.