High-speed rail links Xining and Chengdu: 3-day, 2-night weekend travel plan
Depart from Xining, and instead of being a hurried passerby, take a leisurely stroll and immerse yourself in the daily life of this city.
🚝🚄Travel preparation
Transportation: Book a high-speed rail ticket from Xining to Chengdu East in advance. After arriving at Chengdu East, if you have a lot of luggage, taking a taxi to the hotel will be more convenient; if you want to experience Chengdu's public transportation, the subway is also a good choice, convenient and affordable.
Accommodation: Hotels or homestays around Chunxi Road business district are the first choice, where not only is the transportation convenient, but also the surrounding shopping malls, supermarkets, and restaurants are all available.
Arrive in Chengdu - Find food on Chunxi Road
After a little tidying up, head to Chunxi Road. There are many street food stalls and restaurants. Considering the elderly and children, first choose some light and delicious snacks, such as Long Chaoshou, with thin skin and large filling, and delicious soup! Of course, you can also have a spicy rabbit head for yourself who loves spicy food, and start your food journey in Chengdu in advance.
Chengdu Museum
Morning: Go to Chengdu Museum, where the rich collection fully presents the historical changes of Chengdu. The plateau exhibition area is especially friendly to us tourists from Xining. It is worth mentioning that there is also an area dedicated to hot pot, which tells the story of the origin and development of hot pot in detail through pictures, text, and physical displays.
Spend 2-3 hours with your children and let them gain knowledge in the ocean of history and culture.
Afternoon: After a tiring walk, find a teahouse nearby and sit down. Order a pot of fragrant tea and some Bobo chicken, and enjoy the food while experiencing a leisurely afternoon in Chengdu.
Wide and Narrow Alley - Experience Sichuan Opera
Morning: Although it is full of commercial atmosphere and constant hawking, if you calm down, you can still feel the leisure of Wide Alley, the tranquility of Narrow Alley, and the bustle of Well Alley. Find a teahouse, order a cup of covered-bowl tea, and immerse yourself in the slow life of Chengdu.
Afternoon: There are many teahouses in Wide and Narrow Alley with Sichuan Opera face-changing performances. After experiencing it, we found that the performance here is too fast, and the commercial atmosphere is strong. Before finishing a cup of tea, the performance is over, and then we are urged to leave by the merchant, which is not a good experience. However, watching the hand shadow and face-changing performances up close is still very shocking, and the children watched it intently. So I sincerely suggest that friends who want to appreciate Sichuan Opera go to a regular theater to watch it, where you can better appreciate the charm of Sichuan Opera culture.
Free food hunting - Enjoy a slow life
No specific attractions are arranged on this day, just stroll around the streets and alleys of Chengdu at will. When you are hungry, find a restaurant nearby to eat, and don't deliberately look for popular restaurants according to the strategy. We just walked and stopped like this, but we discovered a lot of delicious food hidden in the alleys, such as sauce rabbit head, food stall barbecue, hot pot, Bobo chicken, Chongqing noodles, etc. These heavy-tasting foods are very suitable for the taste of people in the northwest. And avoid queuing and crowding, and the store service is more enthusiastic and thoughtful.
PS: We went to see the Giant Panda Base, and the experience was extremely poor. You can check my previous strategy.