Best Things to Do in Southwest China

The Chengdu Sichuan Opera Art Center on Huaxingzheng Street in Jinjiang District is one of the city’s premier dedicated venues for experiencing the ancient art of Sichuan opera (Chuanju) — a performing tradition that blends music, acrobatics, comedy, and visual spectacle into a form unlike any other regional opera style in China. Performances at the center are specifically curated for both local and international audiences, presenting the art form’s most celebrated elements in an accessible, well-produced format.

The undisputed highlight of any Sichuan opera performance is bianlian — face-changing — in which performers switch between elaborately painted silk masks with movements so swift and subtle that audiences invariably gasp. A single performer may change through a dozen or more masks in the course of a performance, the method of each switch a closely guarded secret passed only within the discipline’s lineage. Complementing face-changing are fire-breathing set pieces, rolling light performances using lanterns attached to performers’ garments, clapper opera singing, and shadow puppetry. The center’s staging and sound design are professional and the experience is polished without feeling sanitized. Pre-show tea service is included in most ticket packages, maintaining the traditional link between Sichuan opera and teahouse culture. Booking ahead is essential for weekend performances.

Chongqing Zoo — Chongqing Dongwuyuan — sprawls across 45 hectares of forested hillside in the Jiulongpo District and houses one of the most diverse animal collections in western China, including the unmissable resident population of giant pandas that draws visitors from across the country and the wider world. The zoo's generous size and varied topography create a genuine parkland setting rather than the cramped urban zoo experience, with animals housed in spacious, naturalistic enclosures connected by winding paths through mature trees that provide welcome shade in Chongqing's famously hot summers.

Beyond the celebrated panda enclosure, the zoo maintains impressive populations of golden snub-nosed monkeys — a spectacularly coloured primate endemic to China's mountain forests — alongside Siberian tigers, African lions, giraffes, hippopotamuses, and the full spectrum of species expected from a major national zoological institution with decades of collection-building behind it. The bird collection is particularly extensive, with peacocks roaming freely through the public areas while rarer species occupy dedicated aviaries designed for their specific needs. Children's interactive areas, keeper-led feeding sessions, and animal talks run throughout the day. The zoo is easily accessible by Chongqing's extensive metro network and makes an excellent half-day excursion for families visiting this dramatically hilly and culinarily celebrated city. Arrive early to catch the pandas at their most playful and energetic before mid-morning lethargy inevitably sets in and the bamboo meals give way to extended napping.

Du Fu Cottage (Du Fu Caotang) is one of China’s most venerated literary heritage sites — the memorial park and museum preserving the site where the great Tang Dynasty poet Du Fu lived in self-imposed exile from 759 to 765 CE. During those six years, Du Fu composed over 240 poems in the thatched-roof cottage he built on the banks of the Huanhua Stream in what is now Qingyang District, Chengdu. Works created here — including "Spring View" and the famous "Eight Laments" — are cornerstones of classical Chinese literature.

Today the site encompasses a beautifully landscaped 24-hectare park of bamboo groves, flowering plum trees, and reflective ponds that evoke the naturalistic aesthetic of Tang poetry. The main memorial hall contains a celebrated Song Dynasty portrait of Du Fu alongside manuscripts, calligraphy, and scholarly materials tracing his life and literary legacy. A rebuilt thatched cottage marks the approximate location of his original dwelling. Spring visits are particularly atmospheric, when plum blossoms blanket the park in white and pink — a scene Du Fu himself famously described. The Du Fu Cottage Museum holds an exceptional library of classical Chinese poetry scholarship. The site is deeply meaningful to Chinese visitors and increasingly sought out by international travelers interested in China’s extraordinary literary heritage.

The Dujiangyan Panda Base offers a compelling alternative to Chengdu’s main research facility for visitors seeking a giant panda encounter with fewer crowds and a more relaxed atmosphere. Located near the ancient Dujiangyan Irrigation System, the base operates as part of China’s national giant panda conservation network, caring for pandas and red pandas in spacious enclosures set within forested mountain terrain in western Sichuan.

Unlike the urban setting of the Chengdu Research Base, Dujiangyan’s mountain environment provides a notably more natural backdrop for observing these magnificent animals. The facility also offers unique volunteer programs that allow participants to spend a day assisting keepers with food preparation, enclosure cleaning, and cub observation — experiences that have become popular with wildlife enthusiasts worldwide. The surrounding Qingcheng Mountain area adds scenic hiking to any visit. Combined with a tour of the Dujiangyan Irrigation System — a UNESCO-listed engineering marvel just minutes away — the panda base makes for a rich full-day excursion from Chengdu. Visitor numbers remain significantly lower than at the main Chengdu facility, which means more unhurried time observing the animals. Booking in advance is recommended, particularly for the volunteer experiences.

Erhai Lake — Lake Er — lies at an elevation of 1,972 metres on the Yunnan Plateau in western China, cradled between the Cangshan Mountains to the west and rolling hills to the east, and it is the scenic heart of the Dali region that has captivated Chinese poets, painters, and travellers for over a thousand years. At roughly 40 kilometres long and 8 kilometres wide, Erhai is the seventh-largest freshwater lake in China, and its size lends it a maritime quality — whitecaps form on windy afternoons, and the far shore dissolves into blue haze on overcast days.

The lake takes its name from its shape, which resembles a human ear when viewed from the Cangshan peaks above. Traditional Bai fishing villages dot the eastern shore, and cormorant fishing — practised here with trained birds perched on bamboo poles — remains a living tradition rather than a purely tourist performance. Cycling around the lake's 116-kilometre perimeter is a classic two-day journey, taking riders through whitewashed Bai villages adorned with painted murals, past photogenic fishing harbours, and along causeways that cut straight across the water with the snow-dusted Cangshan peaks floating on the western horizon. Boat trips between lakeside villages and the small Nanzhao Fengqing Island provide a different and equally rewarding perspective on the landscape that makes Dali one of Yunnan's most compelling and repeatedly visited destinations for both Chinese and international travellers.

Fengdu Ghost City perches on Ming Mountain above the Yangtze River in Chongqing Municipality, and it is one of the most theatrically unusual destinations in China — a sprawling temple complex dedicated entirely to the Chinese conception of the underworld, its courts, demons, judges, and the elaborate bureaucratic machinery of the afterlife. The site's origins reach back to the Eastern Han dynasty, when two officials surnamed Yin and Wang reputedly became immortals here; the combination of their surnames — Yinwang — happens to mean "King of Hell," and the ghostly association has been enthusiastically elaborated ever since.

Today the hillside is packed with vivid, often unsettling statues depicting the Ten Courts of Hell, the torments awaiting sinners, and the fearsome guardians who enforce divine justice. Visitors cross the Bridge of Helplessness, stand before the Gate of Hell, and navigate the trials that, in Chinese cosmological tradition, the soul must pass to reach paradise. The theatrical intensity is remarkable — red-faced demons, writhing sinners in permanent plaster agony, and lurid murals of Daoist cosmology line every path. The complex on the current site was rebuilt on the north bank after the original Ming Mountain was partially flooded by the Three Gorges Dam reservoir. Most visitors arrive as part of a Yangtze River cruise, making Fengdu Ghost City a memorably strange and darkly entertaining highlight of any journey through the historic Three Gorges region.

Green Lake Park in central Kunming is the city's most beloved urban green space, a 56-hectare complex of connected lakes, willow-lined causeways, classical pavilions, and manicured gardens that has served as a social gathering place for Kunming residents for several centuries. The park takes its name from the algae that gives the lake a distinctive jade-green tint in summer, and its location just a short walk from the main shopping district makes it the city's natural outdoor living room throughout the year.

Green Lake is internationally celebrated among birdwatchers for a remarkable annual phenomenon: from November through March, thousands of red-billed gulls migrate from Siberia and northern China to winter on the lake, drawn by the mild Kunming climate and supplementary feeding by residents who have welcomed the birds for many decades. The gulls — small, elegant, and surprisingly bold — swarm the causeways and lake surface in dense clouds, landing on outstretched arms to take food directly from visitors' hands in a spectacle that transforms an already pleasant park into something genuinely magical. Throughout the rest of the year the park fills with retirees playing traditional musical instruments, couples dancing ballroom-style in pavilions, calligraphers practising giant water-brushwork on dark stone slabs, and grandparents occupying every shaded bench with infants and folding chairs. The park represents Kunming's distinctive blend of ethnic diversity, cultural tradition, and the famously relaxed local pace of life at its most genuine and accessible for visitors of any background.

Happy Valley Chengdu delivers high-octane thrills and family entertainment on a grand scale at its sprawling park along Xihua Boulevard in the Jinniu District. As one of China's premier theme park chains, the Chengdu outpost blends cutting-edge roller coasters with themed zones inspired by ancient civilizations, futuristic worlds, and Sichuan cultural motifs. Signature rides include towering steel coasters with multiple inversions, drop towers reaching frightening heights, and water attractions that guarantee a full soaking on hot summer afternoons. The park's themed districts are meticulously designed, with each zone offering its own dining, retail, and entertainment experiences independent of the rides themselves. Live performance stages host daily shows ranging from acrobatic displays to costumed character parades. Younger visitors are well catered for with dedicated children's zones featuring gentler attractions and interactive play areas. Seasonal events — Halloween fright nights, spring lantern festivals, and New Year countdowns — transform the park into dramatically different experiences throughout the year. Happy Valley Chengdu operates year-round and is easily reached by metro, making it a practical full-day destination for families and thrill-seekers exploring western China's most dynamic city.

Huanglongxi Ancient Town, roughly 40 kilometers south of Chengdu, is one of Sichuan’s best-preserved historic market towns — a compact settlement of Ming and Qing Dynasty architecture that clusters along a meandering riverbank shaded by enormous ancient banyan trees. First established over 1,700 years ago during the Three Kingdoms period, Huanglongxi grew into a prosperous river trading post whose stone-paved streets and wooden shopfronts have survived largely intact, earning it the title of "the living fossil of ancient Bashu culture."

Three ancient temples — Gulong Temple, Chao’en Temple, and the Zhenjiang Tower — anchor the town’s historic core, and visiting all three is a natural organizing framework for exploration. Local restaurants specialize in traditional Sichuan riverbank cuisine, including the town’s celebrated Huang La Ding (yellow catfish) braised in fermented bean paste. On weekends, outdoor Sichuan opera performances and shadow puppet shows take place in the main square. The Jinjiang and Luxi rivers meet here, and the scenic riverbanks are ideal for early morning or late afternoon walks when golden light catches the water. Huanglongxi is accessible by bus or taxi from Chengdu and combines well with other southern Sichuan attractions. Admission to the town itself is free.

Jinli Ancient Street is Chengdu’s most famous historical commercial lane — a reconstructed Han and Tang Dynasty-style streetscape adjacent to the renowned Wuhou Shrine in Wuhou District. Named after the prosperous silk trading street that once ran through this district over 1,800 years ago, Jinli was restored and reopened in 2004 as a pedestrianized showcase of Sichuanese folk culture, traditional architecture, and regional gastronomy.

The street stretches roughly 550 meters and is packed with wooden-fronted shops selling everything from Sichuan embroidery and lacquerware to bamboo handicrafts and Three Kingdoms-themed souvenirs. The food stalls are the main event for most visitors: skewered rabbit kidneys glazed with chili oil, glutinous rice cakes dusted with sesame, spicy Sichuan sausages, and cool bowls of ice jelly (bingfen) are among the most popular offerings. In the evenings, lanterns illuminate the eaves of the shopfronts, creating a warm, festive atmosphere that draws enormous crowds of both tourists and locals. Street performers demonstrate the jaw-dropping art of Sichuan face-changing (bianlian), switching painted masks with invisible speed. Entry to Jinli is free, though resisting the temptation to spend at every turn requires more willpower than most visitors can muster.

The Jinsha Site Museum preserves and interprets one of China’s most important archaeological discoveries of recent decades — a ceremonial site of the ancient Shu Kingdom buried for over 3,000 years beneath what is now western Chengdu. Unearthed accidentally during construction work in 2001, the Jinsha site revealed thousands of artifacts including elaborately worked gold, bronze, jade, and ivory objects that shed new light on the civilization that also produced the extraordinary bronzes of nearby Sanxingdui.

The museum’s most iconic artifact is the Sun and Immortal Birds Gold Foil — a thin, intricately cut gold disc depicting four birds in flight around a solar symbol, representing the ancient Shu people’s cosmology. So celebrated is this image that it was selected as the emblem of China’s Intangible Cultural Heritage program. The main exhibition hall is built directly over the excavation site, allowing visitors to peer down at the ongoing archaeological work below — a rare opportunity to observe active heritage science. A separate artifact hall houses the full collection across themed galleries exploring ritual, agriculture, and daily life in Bronze Age Shu. The museum is spacious, well-lit, and excellent for children and adults alike. Plan at least two hours for a thorough visit.

Kuan Zhai Alley (Kuan Zhai Xiang Zi) — literally "Wide Narrow Alley" — is Chengdu’s most celebrated historic neighborhood, a meticulously restored complex of three parallel lanes that preserves the architectural character of Qing Dynasty residential Chengdu within the heart of a modern metropolis. The alleyways were originally built during the early 18th century as military housing compounds for Manchu bannermen stationed in the city, and their distinctive gray-brick courtyard architecture reflects that origin.

Today the three lanes — Wide Alley, Narrow Alley, and Well Alley — function as a vibrant cultural and culinary district. Traditional courtyard buildings have been converted into teahouses, craft workshops, restaurants, and boutique shops, many retaining their original wooden facades and decorative roof tiles. Street food stalls dispense Sichuan specialties: rabbit heads seasoned with chili and Sichuan pepper, sugar-coated hawthorn skewers, freshly pulled noodles, and of course mapo tofu from nearby kitchens. Evenings bring street performers, face-changing artists, and crowds of locals enjoying a space that feels simultaneously ancient and contemporary. Kuan Zhai Alley is entirely pedestrianized and free to enter, making it one of Chengdu’s most accessible and rewarding urban attractions for visitors of all ages.

Kunming Dragon Gate — Longmen — is one of Yunnan's most spectacular examples of classical Chinese rock carving, a sequence of grottos, pavilions, corridors, and statues cut directly into the sheer sandstone cliffs of West Mountain above Dianchi Lake, 15 kilometres west of Kunming city centre. The carving was carried out almost entirely by hand over a 72-year period during the late Qing dynasty — primarily by a Taoist monk named Wu Laiqing and his successors — using nothing more than chisels and extraordinary patience.

The site is reached by cable car and then a narrow walkway — in places barely wide enough for two people — that winds along the cliff face above a sheer drop to the lake. Doorways, windows, and guardian figures are carved with remarkable precision in a stone that offered no tolerance for error: a single miscalculation could have sent irreplaceable work tumbling hundreds of metres into the lake below. The innermost grotto houses an exquisite tableau of Guanyin and celestial attendants, their stone robes carved in flowing, naturalistic folds that rival the finest workshop sculpture of the period. From the outermost viewing platform, Dianchi Lake spreads across the entire western horizon — at nearly 300 square kilometres, it is the largest lake in Yunnan — with Kunming's modern skyline rising beyond the far shore in striking contrast to the ancient carvings behind you. Dragon Gate is most rewarding visited on weekdays, when the narrow cliff-face path is significantly less congested than on weekend afternoons, allowing proper contemplation of the remarkable craftsmanship throughout.

Lingyun Temple in Xin County, Xinyang, Henan province, is a serene Buddhist sanctuary set against forested hillside terrain in central China’s Dabie Mountain range. Though less internationally famous than Sichuan’s great Buddhist mountains, Lingyun Temple carries significant local and regional religious importance, drawing pilgrims and visitors who seek a quieter, more contemplative retreat from urban life. The temple complex includes multiple prayer halls, residential quarters for resident monks, incense pavilions, and gardens maintained in the classical Chinese Buddhist tradition.

The surrounding mountain environment enhances the experience considerably: forested trails extend from the temple grounds into the hills, offering meditation walks through pine and bamboo groves where birdsong and the sound of temple bells are the dominant sounds. The temple’s architecture reflects southern Henan building traditions — lower, more intimate in scale than the grand imperial Buddhist temples of the north, with upswept eaves and carved wooden details that repay close inspection. Festival days on the Buddhist calendar draw the largest crowds, when the courtyards fill with incense smoke and the chanting of sutras. Xinyang is known throughout China for its green tea, and the surrounding countryside’s tea gardens make the broader Xin County area a rewarding destination for cultural and nature tourism. Accessibility from Xinyang city is straightforward by local transport.

Luodai Ancient Town is one of the best-preserved Hakka settlements in southwest China, tucked within the Longquanyi District just outside Chengdu. Dating back over 1,600 years, its cobblestone lanes wind past ancestral halls, wooden shopfronts, and ornate clan temples that tell the story of Hakka migrants who traveled south from central China centuries ago. Four major guildhall complexes — Guangdong, Jiangxi, Huguang, and Chuan — stand as the heart of the old town, each displaying distinct architectural styles unique to their founding communities. Visitors wander freely through dimly lit courtyards decorated with carved stone reliefs, lanterns, and century-old inscriptions. Street vendors sell sticky rice cakes, spiced rabbit, and the famous Sichuan-style fermented tofu that locals swear by. The central axis street stretches nearly a kilometer, flanked by two-story timber buildings that lean gently over the pavement below. Cultural festivals, especially around Chinese New Year and the Torch Festival, transform the town into a vibrant spectacle of dragon dances and traditional music. Luodai Ancient Town is ideal for travelers seeking authentic historic atmosphere without the intense crowds of more famous heritage sites.

Mengding Mountain, rising above the misty tea gardens of Ya'an in Sichuan Province, holds a singular place in Chinese history as the earliest site of cultivated tea in the world. Legend credits the Han Dynasty monk Ganlu Pujui with planting the first seven tea bushes here over 2,000 years ago, and those sacred plants — now heavily guarded — still stand at the mountain's summit temple. Mengding Shan's slopes are blanketed in manicured rows of green tea bushes that thrive in the mountain's characteristic cloud cover and moist soil. The premium teas produced here — including Mengding Ganlu and Mengding Huangya — were once tributary teas sent exclusively to the imperial court during the Tang and Song dynasties. Hiking trails wind past ancient stone pathways, meditation pavilions, and a series of Buddhist temples clinging to cliff edges at elevations above 1,400 meters. The scenery is reliably atmospheric, with low cloud banks drifting through bamboo groves and tea terraces throughout the cooler months. Tea tastings and cultural demonstrations offered at hillside guesthouses give travelers a genuinely immersive understanding of China's most storied beverage.

Mt. Emei (Emeishan) is one of China’s Four Sacred Buddhist Mountains and one of the country’s most iconic pilgrimage and hiking destinations. Rising to 3,099 meters in western Sichuan, Emeishan has been a center of Buddhist practice since the 1st century CE, and its slopes are dotted with more than 30 active monasteries, temples, and hermitages accumulated over nearly two millennia of continuous religious use. The mountain is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, jointly designated with the Leshan Giant Buddha nearby.

The classic ascent combines cable cars, paved pathways, and forest trails through ecosystems that shift from subtropical jungle at the base to subalpine fir forest near the summit. Baoguo Monastery at the mountain’s foot and Wannian Monastery — home to a celebrated bronze Buddha cast in 980 CE — are essential stops along the way. The Golden Summit (Jin Ding) at 3,077 meters is the spiritual and scenic apex, offering panoramic views over Sichuan’s plains on clear days and the remarkable phenomenon of Buddha’s Light — a circular rainbow halo that appears in the mist on bright mornings. Emeishan’s most notorious residents are its Tibetan macaques, bold enough to pilfer food from unsuspecting hikers. Long trousers and firm resolve are recommended gear.

Mt. Qingcheng (Qingcheng Shan) is revered as the birthplace of Chinese Taoism — the mountain where the legendary sage Zhang Daoling founded the Way of the Celestial Masters movement in 142 CE, establishing one of the most influential religious traditions in East Asian history. Located 68 kilometers west of Chengdu in Sichuan province, Qingcheng Shan is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of China’s most important pilgrimage destinations.

The mountain divides into a Front Mountain (Qian Shan) and a quieter Rear Mountain (Hou Shan), each offering distinct hiking experiences. The Front Mountain’s forested trails wind past ancient Taoist temples — including the grand Tianshi Cave and the summit Laojun Pavilion — connected by stone staircases and cable car options for those who prefer to conserve their energy. The forest is extraordinarily lush, earning Qingcheng its classical name: "Green City Mountain." Mist clings to the bamboo groves and ancient ginkgo trees year-round, giving the landscape an otherworldly, ink-wash quality. The Rear Mountain features waterfalls, fewer crowds, and a more contemplative atmosphere suited to those seeking the mountain’s spiritual dimension. Combined with nearby Dujiangyan, Qingcheng Shan makes for a superb full-day journey from Chengdu.

The Museum of Sichuan Cuisine (Chuancai Bowuguan) in Pidu District, Chengdu, is a one-of-a-kind cultural institution dedicated entirely to the history, philosophy, and practice of one of China’s most celebrated regional cooking traditions. Sichuan cuisine — with its characteristic combination of chili heat and the numbing, citrus-floral tingle of Sichuan peppercorns (huajiao) — has influenced cooking across East and Southeast Asia and earned a devoted international following. This museum explores that tradition with scholarly seriousness and genuine enthusiasm.

Exhibits trace the 5,000-year culinary history of the Bashu region, from Neolithic salt-making practices through the Han Dynasty’s development of fermented sauces, the Ming and Qing era introduction of chili peppers from the Americas, and the 20th-century codification of "23 flavors and 56 cooking techniques" that define classical Sichuan gastronomy. Hands-on cooking classrooms offer visitors the chance to learn techniques such as dry-frying, twice-cooking, and the preparation of proper mapo tofu under the guidance of experienced chefs. A recreation of a historic Sichuan restaurant interior provides atmospheric context. The museum’s gift shop stocks high-quality Sichuan seasonings and cookbooks unavailable in ordinary tourist shops. For food-focused travelers, the Chuancai Bowuguan is unmissable.

Qingyang Palace (Qingyang Gong) — the "Green Ram Palace" — is Chengdu’s oldest and most important Taoist temple, a complex of halls, courtyards, and garden spaces in Qingyang District that has served as a center of Taoist worship for over 1,300 years. Legend holds that this is the spot where Laozi, the semi-mythical philosopher credited with founding Taoism, told his disciple Yin Xi to meet him here before departing westward — a story that gives the site its profound spiritual resonance.

The complex as it stands today was largely reconstructed during the Qing Dynasty and features multiple grand ceremonial halls dedicated to Taoist deities, including the Hall of the Three Purities and the famous Bagua Pavilion — an eight-sided structure decorated with symbols of the Eight Trigrams that is among the finest examples of Taoist sacred architecture in China. The two bronze rams at the palace’s entrance are its most iconic symbols: tradition holds that touching the correct corresponding body part of the rams cures ailments. Morning visits coincide with incense offerings and ritual chanting by resident Taoist clergy, creating an atmosphere of genuine spiritual activity. The adjacent Chengdu Cultural Park shares its grounds during the famous Lantern Festival each year. Entry fees are minimal.

Renmin Park (People’s Park) is Chengdu’s most beloved urban green space and a window into the authentic daily life of one of China’s most livable cities. Located in Qingyang District at the heart of the city, the park has served as a gathering place for Chengdu residents since 1911, when it opened as one of China’s earliest public parks. Its teahouses are legendary — bamboo chairs arranged under parasols beside a willow-fringed lake, where locals spend entire afternoons playing mahjong, receiving ear-cleaning services from wandering practitioners, or simply watching the day pass.

On weekends, the park’s Marriage Market draws one of China’s most poignant spectacles: parents and grandparents gather to post handwritten notices advertising their children’s attributes — height, education, income, and astrological sign — in hopes of arranging a compatible match. It’s heartfelt, sometimes humorous, and entirely genuine. Paddle boats circle the central lake, food vendors sell sunflower seeds and freshly cut fruit, and retired residents practice tai chi in morning groups beneath the plane trees. Entry is free, hours are long, and the atmosphere is completely unpretentious. Renmin Park is not a tourist attraction so much as a living expression of Chengdu’s famously unhurried civic culture — and that distinction makes it unmissable.