<About Chengdu>

Chengdu is the largest city in Sichuan province in the West of China (if you look at a map it’s East of Tibet and halfway down) and the 5th or 6th largest city in China. It has a population of about 1.5 million in the city itself and 7 million in the surrounding area.

In my opinion it is one of the nicest cities in China, and I’ve been to most, as it still has some of the traditional ways left and its not so big that you need to spend 2 hours just to get out of it.

People here are incredibly friendly and accommodating, they actually stand up for old people on the bus etc., which you will almost never see in Beijing, Shanghai or Guangzhou, and they enjoy simple pleasures like drinking tea in the park with friends. Saying that, it is also the most modern city in the West so there are McDonald, KFC and all the other 'conveniences’ of the West drifting in, but not as much as other cities. There are also lots of bars, discos and nightlife.

Chengdu is close to mountains, not so far from wild grasslands and there are hundreds of places to visit for day trips or weekends, especially if you like hot springs and mountains. It also has a very large Tibetan area if you are interested in traveling.

I'm sure we can rant on for ages about Chengdu and Sichuan but other websites have probably done it better. Here are a few links for some of the more well-known travel sites.

http://www.synotrip.com/chengdu/introduction/