Everyone comes to Chengdu for the pandas, and then they leave, which is a mistake. The pandas take half a day. The rest of Chengdu is a lesson in how to be unhurried, and that is the part I keep going back for.

The teahouse is the whole point

Chengdu runs on tea. Not the ceremony kind, the everyday kind, where you sit under a bamboo canopy with a lidded cup and nobody bothers you for three hours. Renmin Park is the classic spot, and the Heming Teahouse there is famous enough that you should arrive before ten to get a decent table.

What happens at a Chengdu teahouse is not much, and that is exactly what to expect. Someone will come around with a long-spouted brass kettle and top you up. An ear cleaner will walk past with a bundle of metal tools and offer to clean your ears for a small fee. It looks alarming and feels strange, and I have never regretted saying yes. You pay for the tea, not for the time.

Pandas, but do it properly

Go to the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding on the northern edge of the city, and go at opening time. Pandas are most active in the cool early hours and mostly asleep by eleven. Take the metro to Panda Avenue station and then a short taxi, or join a shared shuttle from the city centre. Buy your ticket in advance on the official WeChat mini program if you can, because the queues at the gate are slow.

• Arrive for the 7:30am opening, not 10am.
• The nursery, where you can see cubs, is the busiest area. Go there first, then work backwards.
• Skip the optional panda-holding photo sessions. They are expensive, tightly controlled and not offered most of the year.

Hotpot, and how not to embarrass yourself

Sichuan hotpot is not a meal, it is an event that lasts two hours and leaves your clothes smelling of chilli for a day. The pot is divided into a spicy half and a mild half, which is the correct choice for a first visit. Do not try to prove anything.

Order a mix of sliced beef, tripe, potato slices, tofu skin and greens. Then watch the table next to you and copy them. Everything goes into the broth for between ten seconds and two minutes depending on what it is, and the staff will tell you if you ask. The dipping sauce station is self-service: sesame paste, garlic, coriander, a little of the broth.

One warning worth taking seriously, especially if you are travelling with children or anyone with a shellfish allergy. Sichuan hotpot broth commonly contains a lot of dried shrimp and fish. Ask before you commit.

A slow afternoon that I recommend

Walk the Wide and Narrow Alleys, the Kuanzhai Xiangzi, in the late afternoon. It is touristy but pretty, and the side courtyards hide small tea rooms and bookshops. From there, a fifteen-minute walk gets you to the Baihuatan park area, where locals play mahjong outdoors and the pace drops another notch.

If you want the classic Chengdu evening, book a Sichuan opera face-changing show. The face-changing is genuinely impressive, the rest of the show ranges from charming to baffling, and the whole thing lasts ninety minutes. It is a good rainy-day option.

Getting around and when to go

Chengdu's metro is cheap, clean and covers almost everything a visitor needs. Spring and autumn are the comfortable months. Summer is humid and hot, and winter is grey and damp rather than cold, so pack accordingly. Two full days is the right amount of time, three if you want a day trip to Leshan or Mount Qingcheng.

Originally published on 71Asia Tours blog.