Chongqing & Chengdu

Into the city from the airport

In from the airport this morning — DiDi or Metro Line 10/3 into town, check into your Jiefangbei sky-hotel, drop bags and have a first bowl of noodles. An easy start while the day heats up.

Mc Sky Hotel · Hongyadong 麦悦·空中酒店复制Hotel ↗ (Your booked base, by Jiefangbei/Hongyadong. You land 7/3 — first night at the CKG-airport 美宸 hotel.)

Into the old core on foot

Drop the bags and ease in among the icons: Jiefangbei, the city's landmark crossroads; the Kuixing Tower viewpoint over Hongyadong; and the cliff-hugging City Trail (山城步道). All on the central peninsula — an easy first afternoon.

Jiefangbei 解放碑复制Map ↗ Kuixing Tower 魁星楼复制Map ↗ City Trail 山城步道复制Map ↗

Saturday drone show over the rivers — with dinner in view

Tonight the sky performs: every Saturday at 9:00pm a fleet of drones paints dragons and pandas above the Yangtze–Jialing confluence (~20 min, free). Eat where you can watch it. On the south bank, Yemaoxi Market (野猫溪市集) is a buzzy riverside food market that looks straight on at the drones with the lit peninsula behind — the classic head-on view. Prefer a calm sit-down? Take a window table at Jing, the river-view Chinese restaurant high in InterContinental Raffles City at Chaotianmen — a short hop from your Hongyadong hotel, and the best indoor confluence view.

Yemaoxi Market 野猫溪市集复制Map ↗ Jing · InterContinental Raffles City 景·来福士洲际复制Map ↗

Working monastery → Qing-dynasty guild hall

Start at Arhat Temple — 524 individual clay arhats amid the CBD towers. Walk to Huguang Guild Hall and time the 11:20 "Drunk in Bayu" face-changing & shadow-puppet show on its historic stage.

Arhat Temple 罗汉寺复制Map ↗ Huguang Guild Hall 湖广会馆复制Map ↗

Three Gorges Museum, then Testbed 2

Beat the afternoon furnace inside the air-conditioned Three Gorges Museum on Renmin Square — Bronze-Age Ba-Yu vessels and the human story of the great dam relocation (free; reserve a slot. Open Sat; closed Mon.). Then cool, arty Testbed 2 (鹅岭二厂) nearby — a Republican-era printing works turned design park, galleries and a free rooftop over the rivers.

Three Gorges Museum 三峡博物馆复制Map ↗ Testbed 2 鹅岭二厂复制Map ↗

Hongyadong at dusk → the river by night

Walk to the stilt-house cliff complex as its golden lanterns flick on; cross Qiansimen Bridge for the full-facade photo. Then your first proper Chongqing hotpot — beef-tallow broth, nine-grid pot — before sailing the Two-Rivers Night Cruise past the floodlit skyline.

Hongyadong 洪崖洞复制Map ↗ Two-Rivers Night Cruise 重庆两江夜游复制携程 ↗ Liziba monorail 李子坝复制Map ↗

Bullet train to Wulong → Three Natural Bridges

Walk the gorge floor beneath three colossal stone arches — the Three Natural Bridges, where Transformers and Curse of the Golden Flower were filmed.

Three Natural Bridges 天生三桥复制Tickets ↗

Longshuixia slot gorge — natural cool

Descend into the Longshuixia Fissure Gorge: ~18–22°C even in July, with waterfalls and cyan pools. A packable rain shell beats an umbrella in the spray.

Longshuixia Gorge 龙水峡地缝复制

Fairy Mountain sunset → a space-capsule under the stars

Up on the 1,900 m grassland of Fairy Mountain (仙女山) for golden hour — wide meadows and pine for the sunset shots — then bed down in a space-capsule at a star-camp (~1,200 m, ~15 min from the bridges). Far from city light, the Milky Way is the ceiling; it's ~20°C, so pack a layer.

Fairy Mountain 仙女山复制Map ↗ Star-camp capsule 仙女山逸宿太空舱复制Map ↗

Furong Cave — a jewelled underworld

Down off the mountain to Furong Cave (芙蓉洞), one of China's great show caves — a vast, naturally cool gallery of backlit stone curtains, crystal pools and a giant flowstone organ. Take it slow; it's the coolest hour of the day.

Furong Cave 芙蓉洞复制Map ↗

The Wujiang Gallery by boat

Then the Wujiang Gallery (乌江画廊) — emerald water threading sheer ink-painting cliffs. Drift it by boat and time it for the low golden light; this is the sunset frame of the trip.

Wujiang Gallery 乌江画廊复制Map ↗

Back to Chongqing — a south-bank night

Private car back to the city (~2.5–3 hr). Land on the quieter south bank: the lantern-lit Longmenhao Old Street, a stroll along Nanbin Road with the neon peninsula glowing across the water, then ride the vintage Yangtze Cableway back over the river.

Longmenhao Old Street 龙门浩老街复制Map ↗ Nanbin Road 南滨路复制Map ↗ Yangtze Cableway 长江索道复制Map ↗

Ciqikou old town + the red-rock history

A last full day in town. Start at Ciqikou Ancient Town (磁器口) — flagstone lanes of old Chongqing, mahua twists and chicken-giblet stalls (slip onto the quieter side lanes). Nearby, the sobering Zhazidong / Baigongguan revolutionary prison sites.

Ciqikou Ancient Town 磁器口古镇复制Map ↗ Zhazidong / Baigongguan 渣滓洞/白公馆复制Map ↗

《Chongqing·1949》 — a rotating-stage epic

Right beside Ciqikou, the Chongqing 1949 Grand Theatre mounts a spectacular immersive show on a giant rotating stage — the city's story on the eve of liberation. Catch the afternoon show (~3pm, ~70 min); take a mid-tier seat or above for the full 360° sweep.

《Chongqing·1949》 show 重庆1949复制携程 ↗

Straight out from Shapingba — bullet train to Chengdu

The theatre is minutes from Shapingba Station, so leave from there — no backtracking to the centre. The evening G8632 departs 17:56 → Chengdu East 19:08 (~1h12; others run ~every 30–60 min). Check into The Temple House in Taikoo Li — if you have energy after the journey, the lantern-lit Jiuyanqiao (九眼桥) riverside and Dongmen Market (东门市井) lanes are a short hop.

Shapingba → Chengdu East 沙坪坝→成都东复制Trains ↗ The Temple House 博舍复制Hotel ↗

A proper Chengdu morning — tea, ears & mahjong

Do as the locals do: a gàiwǎn tea under the trees at the He Ming Teahouse in People's Park, a clatter of mahjong, and the theatrical 采耳 (ear-cleaning) with its tuning-fork tools — pure Chengdu slow-life (peek at the famous "marriage market" corner). Then stroll the restored lanes of Kuanzhai Alley next door.

People's Park · He Ming Teahouse 人民公园 鹤鸣茶社复制Map ↗ Kuanzhai Alley 宽窄巷子复制Map ↗

Three-Kingdoms heroes at Wuhou Shrine → Jinli

The Wuhou Shrine — China's grandest memorial to the heroes of the Three Kingdoms, all red walls and bamboo shade — flows straight into Jinli, the lantern-strung old street, for a snack graze (rabbit-head, sāndàpào, dāndān noodles) as the lights come up.

Wuhou Shrine 武侯祠复制Map ↗ Jinli Street 锦里复制Map ↗

Makeover banquet — costume, photos & performance

Tonight is the one you asked for: at Shu Yan Fu you pick a hanfu from 100+, get full hair & makeup, shoot across 14 immersive sets, then dine through a multi-course Sichuan feast as Han/Tang/Song court dances unfold under sweeping projections. (Prefer a pure show? Shufeng Yayun face-changing opera, 8pm.)

Shu Yan Fu 蜀宴赋复制Book ↗

Sanxingdui Museum — the new hall

An easy run northeast to Guanghan for Sanxingdui, the eerie 3,000-year-old Shu civilisation: towering bronze masks with protruding eyes, the 4-metre bronze sacred tree, a gold mask and the haul from the newly-opened sacrificial pits — all in the vast 2023 museum.

Sanxingdui Museum 三星堆博物馆复制Map ↗

Jinsha Site Museum — the Sun-bird gold

Back in Chengdu, the Jinsha site picks up the same Shu story 500 years on — the gossamer Golden Sun-bird (China's cultural-heritage emblem), jade and ivory, set over the actual excavation pits.

Jinsha Site Museum 金沙遗址博物馆复制Map ↗

Kuixinglou snack-street dinner

Wind down on Kuixinglou Street — Chengdu's buzziest little food lane: Granny Yan's guōkuī flatbreads, spicy skewers and a teahouse or craft-beer nightcap, a short hop from the Temple House. (Back at your hotel tonight.)

Kuixinglou Street 奎星楼街复制Map ↗

Leshan Giant Buddha — at the feet of a giant

First train to Leshan (~1 hr; C5651 成都东 06:15→07:07 is the earliest, ~hourly after) and straight to the gate. Walk the cliff staircase past the 71-metre Tang Buddha, then take the river boat for the only full-body view. A weekday start keeps the stair-queue short.

Leshan Giant Buddha 乐山大佛复制Tickets ↗

Bowl-chicken lunch, then to Mt. Emei

A Leshan lunch (bōbō-jī, dòuhuā) before the short train to Emeishan (~20 min). Check in by Baoguo Temple — and a hot spring soak tonight.

Baoguo Temple at dusk

Wander Baoguo and Fuhu temples as pilgrims light evening incense. Early night; the mountain starts at dawn.

Baoguo Temple 报国寺复制Map ↗

Up to the Golden Summit (3,079 m)

Eco-bus to Leidongping, then the cable car to the Golden Summit — the vast golden Samantabhadra rising from the mist, often above a sea of clouds. After a week of heat, you'll want that fleece.

Golden Summit 峨眉山金顶复制Tickets ↗

Down the mountain & train back

Descend at your own pace, a last temple or two, then the afternoon train back to Chengdu (e.g. C6308 13:13 → 成都东 14:36, ~1h20; runs ~hourly).

Mi Xun spa — recover from the mountain

Back in Chengdu, soothe the Emei legs at Mi Xun Spa inside your own Temple House — a bamboo massage in a restored Qing courtyard and a skylit pool, then a quiet dinner. (Tomorrow: up to Qingcheng and a night at the Six Senses.)

Mi Xun Spa 谧寻 · 博舍复制携程 ↗

Up to Qingcheng, drop the bags

An easy hop northwest from Chengdu to Mt. Qingcheng — Metro 2 to Xipu + an S-train to Qingchengshan (~25–40 min, ¥10; e.g. S5003 07:37→08:12), or a private car door-to-door (~1–1.5 hr). Check in / drop bags at Six Senses Qingcheng at the foot of the mountain, then walk straight to the front gate before the crowds.

Mt. Qingcheng 青城山复制Map ↗

The classic front-mountain loop

The birthplace of Taoism — misty cedar forest and cliff temples, the headline sights in one easy loop:

1. In the gate → Yuecheng Lake (15–20 min walk), then a ¥5 boat across the water.
2. Buyunlang cable car (¥35 one-way) up — saves the legs.
3. Shangqing Palace → Laojun Pavilion, Qingcheng's highest point — the "all-mountains-small" panorama.
4. Walk down the spine, the best stretch: Chaoyang Cave, Tianshi Cave and the Tianran Tuhua "natural-painting" arch — ancient cedars the whole way.

Six Senses Qingcheng — the forest spa

Back down to Six Senses Qingcheng for the evening — Watsu water therapy, Tai Chi in an ancient temple, a hot-spring soak and garden-sourced treatments. Tonight's base, deep in cool forest.

Six Senses Qingcheng 青城山六善复制携程 ↗

Dujiangyan Panda Valley

A short hop down from Qingcheng to the forest-set Panda Valley — pandas in big, semi-wild mountain enclosures, a fraction of the city crowds, cooler air. The unhurried panda morning.

Panda Valley 熊猫谷复制Tickets ↗

The 2,300-year-old waterworks

Lunch riverside, then the Dujiangyan Irrigation System — Li Bing's 256 BC engineering that still tames the Min River. Walk the weirs and the swaying Anlan Bridge.

Dujiangyan 都江堰复制Tickets ↗

Back to Chengdu — the farewell feast

An easy ~40-min train back to the city (成灌 line runs frequently, last ~22:54), and your last big China dinner — Yu Zhi Lan (two Michelin stars) if your concierge secured it weeks ago; otherwise Michelin-listed Ma's Kitchen in Taikoo Li, or the Temple House's Green-Star Mi Xun.

Yu Zhi Lan 玉芝兰复制2★ Ma's Kitchen 马旺子复制

A final Chengdu morning

Spend the last calm hours at Du Fu's Thatched Cottage — the poet-sage's bamboo-shaded garden, a natural oxygen bar — and the free Huanxi Stream Park right beside it, with a lakeside tea before you go. A last bowl of dàndàn noodles for lunch. (Prefer a temple? Swap in serene, free Wenshu Monastery + its vegetarian hall.)

Du Fu Cottage 杜甫草堂复制Map ↗ Huanxi Stream Park 浣花溪公园复制Map ↗

5pm flight from Tianfu (TFU) → Moscow

Leave the city by ~12:30. It's an international departure from far-SE Tianfu (TFU) — ~1–1.5 hr out by Metro Line 18 or DiDi, and you want to be there ~3 hrs before the 17:00 flight; have your driver hold the bags so you head straight from the morning. (~9 hrs to Moscow, which is 5 hrs behind — you land the same evening.) Twelve days, two great food cities, a dozen pandas — and not one rushed photo-and-leave.