Known for its spicy cuisine, spicier people, slow pace of life and teahouse culture, Chengdu is home to around 10 million people and a few hundred pandas.

Chengdu's key location in southwest China makes it the country's most trafficked hub for those connecting from major cities to other provinces in the region, Tibet, or Southeast Asia. Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport offers direct flights to several foreign cities, including Amsterdam, Bangkok, Singapore, and Seoul. From Chengdu travelers can access most other cities in China via rail - including a ride on the world's highest railway to Lhasa and high-speed journeys to Chongqing.

Widely recognized as one of China's key "second-tier" cities, signs of its explosive growth abound. Amenities such as international schools and medical clinics, five-star hotels, and first-class shopping centers stand alongside some of the country's most prestigious universities.

Home to representative offices of over 100 Fortune 500 companies, Chengdu is the choice of a number of multinational firms looking to establish representative offices in China.The city has won major accolades by national tourism bureaus and in nationwide public polls expressing the sentiment that Chengdu is one of the most desirable cities to live in.

Climate

Chengdu residents rejoice on the rare days that the sun makes an appearance; part of the claim of Chengdu women's legendary beauty lies in their milky, unblemished skin that allegedly results from the humid, overcast climate. Summers are hot and sticky with sudden, heavy rainfalls frequently occurring at night. July and August receive the bulk of the rainfall during the year.

The damp winters feel much colder than they are; the thermometer almost never dips below zero Celsius, and if snow falls, the flakes melt upon touching any surface. But the perpetually grey skies and penetrating damp chill leave many longing for the arrival of spring.

During the transition periods between seasons, the weather can be erratic, glaringly hot and sunny for several days, and suddenly chilly and overcast the next. This leaves a short period in April and May and again in September and October when the weather is relatively stable and mild.

History & culture

Geographically removed from the rest of the country due to the mountains surrounding Sichuan, Chengdu, and the Sichuanese in general, have long held a reputation for keeping a distance from the rest of the country culturally, politically, and even with their distinctive dialect of Mandarin.

Sichuan is rich in heritage and traditions, and this can be seen in its tea culture and renowned "face-changing" operas in which performers peel off layers of masks with a flick of their wrist. The Tang Dynasty poet Du Fu, one of China's most highly regarded men of letters, spent some of his later years in Chengdu, and today Du Fu's Thatched Cottage is one of the city's most popular attractions.

In 1929, it was discovered that the history of the land as it relates to human civilization goes back much farther than anybody realized. That year, archaeologists discovered ruins at a site called Sanxingdui around 40 kilometers outside Chengdu, they knew they had uncovered a clue to an ancient civilization. For more than half a century, generation after generation continued excavating the site; in 1986 it was revealed that the artifacts dug up at the location were pieces of the Shu Kingdom, one of the oldest civilizations known to exist in the region, dating back to the Bronze Age.

A related, more recent discovery was made in 2001 during excavation for real estate at the Jinsha site, not far from one of Chengdu's major intercity transportation hubs. Artifacts found at Jinsha were similar to those found at Sanxingdui, and in 2007, the Jinsha Site Museum opened to give visitors the chance to view the excavation sites from above as well as showcase artifacts found.

For all of its efforts to preserve traditional cultures, Chengdu is one of the most rapidly developing cities in the world. Despite that, the Sichuanese maintain a reputation among the Chinese as easygoing, friendly people with a lifestyle that starkly contrasts the hustle and bustle of China's eastern cities.

Traditionally known as the "Land of Abundance" due to its plentiful natural resources and ideal conditions for agricultural production, Chengdu is home to a number of citizens who enjoy a marked level of affluence in relation to the rest of the region. And the fact that more and more world-class luxury brands are setting up in Chengdu and that there are more cars per kilometer of road than in any other city in the nation, seems to indicate that not only is there wealth, but a proclivity toward decadence as well.

Food

Mention Chengdu or Sichuan to any Chinese person, and he or she will certainly start talking about food. Sichuan (sometimes spelled "Szechwan" cuisine) is known the world over for its liberal use of spices, most importantly the red hot chili pepper and the mouth-numbing Sichuan peppercorn. World-renowned dishes such as mapo tofu and kungpao chicken are available at any local restaurant, and in a city so enamored of food, day and night, streetside vendors can be found selling snacks on every corner. A true Sichuanese-style meal might involve dipping skewers of meat and vegetables into a hotpot full of bubbling red oil or the comparatively tame chuanchuan xiang, which maintains the oil and skewers but ditches the open flame.

The city's restaurant offerings don't end there. "Chuancai," as Sichuan cuisine is called in Chinese, might be the favorite of the locals, but cuisine from the rest of the country is seeping in as well¡ªfrom southern China's Cantonese to northeastern dumpling restaurants to northwestern Muslim restaurants. With the city's rapid economic growth, the selection of international restaurants is diversifying. Visitors to Chengdu can find restaurants serving cuisines from the world over, including India, Thailand, Korea, Japan, Singapore, France, Italy, and Turkey.

Attractions

With its central location within Sichuan, Chengdu makes for a convenient starting point to access many of the region's scenic spots, including UNESCO World Heritage sites Jiuzhaigou National Park, the ancient Dujiang Irrigation Project, and the Leshan giant Buddha.

Sichuan is also a haven for hikers, trekkers, and mountain climbers with numerous scenic routes just a few hours outside the city. Popular mountainous destinations include Qingcheng Shan, Emei Shan, and Si Guniang Shan (Four Sisters' Mountains). Within the city itself, historical digs, museums, temples, traditional-architecture streets, pagodas, and public parks about.

Surrounding villages and ancient towns such as Luodai and Ping'le make for nice day-trips outside of the city. And of course no trip to Chengdu would be complete without visiting China's national treasures at the Giant Panda Research Base.

Modern life

In addition to numerous teahouses, ranging from the quaint to the grandiose, Chengdu is home to coffeehouses aplenty¡ªboth of the hippie-backpacker variety and the upscale, baroque-style.

After the sun goes down until long after it rises again, Chengdu's party crowd can be found at the city's multitude of live-music bars, booming nightclubs, and baijiu-infused KTV lounges. Any long night ends with a massage or a stop at a barbecue stand.