Chengdu, in the country's southwest basin ， is one of the most leisurely and carefree cities in China. It was founded in 3rd century BC, when the Qin conquered all of China within two centuries. Chengdu flourished in the Han Dynasty and picked up its name of ‘brocade city' as it grew rich because of the thriving silk brocade industry. Also known as the land of abundance, Chengdu boasts its pleasant climate and plentiful products.

Thatched Cottage of Dufu is a beautiful garden and museum to honor Du Fu, one of the greatest Chinese poets of all times. You could stroll through the huge garden area and find many awesome and picturesque places.

Then continue to Wuhouci Temple , another very beautiful spot. It is special because it is a temple to honor an Emperor and his Minister. In Chinese history, there is strict grading between Emperor and Minister, who are not supposed to set together. Moreover you find a nice tea house in the temple and have a cup of tea to relax and watch the locals chatting, playing MaJiang and Chinese poker. Tea houses in Sichuan really have unique atmosphere. Here you can find many old people, who seem to spend the whole day there, many tourists, Chinese families and even sometimes young people meeting up with friends. It is always very nice and interesting to watch the people having a good time and enjoying themselves.

Jinli Old Street is located next to Wuhouci Temple . The street stands for the folk style in Western Sichuan and is lined with many old houses and shops of Ming and Qing Dynasties style. Local food and products can easily be found here.

A big draw of Chengdu is the delicious Sichuan Cuisine and local snacks. You will have a chance to taste Hot Pot in Sichuan Style tonight. Sichuan is famous for its spicy food, and one of its delicacies is the hot pot. It's where you have a pot of spicy broth boiling in front of you and you choose which ever food to cook. The Sichuan hot pot is a bubbling cauldron of extremely hot oil and water. Dip all kinds of food including meats, vegetables and tofu into the pot. It's a very social meal. People sit around to enjoy it and make a long evening out of it. As the saying goes, 'When in Rome , do as the Romans do', your trip of Chengdu will be completed with the traditional spicy hot pot.

After dinner, Sichuan Opera is optional. The opera is staged in a tea house so during the show you can have tea and snacks while enjoying the music, opera (like the scene from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms ), some solo music, a bit of comedy, acrobatics, shadow puppets, and the face changing as well as fire spitting. You will find that the part with the mask changers is really cool. They change their masks so fast that you could hardly be sure that it really did change.