About Best of Chengdu

Most travel guides for Chengdu skim the surface: see the pandas, eat hotpot, visit Jinli. But Chengdu is a city of layers. It is a teahouse where someone has been sitting in the same bamboo chair for forty years. It is a noodle shop with no sign that makes one dish and has done so for three generations. It is a temple courtyard where incense has been burning continuously since the Tang dynasty.

We started Best of Chengdu because the English-language guides we found online were either outdated, surface-level, or clearly written by people who spent three days here and moved on. We wanted something different: a guide that reflects what it actually feels like to live in and love this city.

Our team has a combined 25 years of experience living in Chengdu. We spend our weekends eating at restaurants that are not on any English-language list, walking streets that tourists skip, and talking to the people — chefs, tea masters, temple caretakers, neighborhood elders — who make this city what it is. Every recommendation on this site is something we have personally experienced, usually multiple times.

Research. Before visiting a new restaurant, attraction, or experience, we gather context: who runs it, how long it has been operating, what locals say about it on Chinese social media, and how it compares to similar options in the city.

Visit. We go in person, anonymously, and pay our own way. For restaurants, we typically visit at least twice — once at a busy time and once during off-peak hours — to assess consistency. For attractions, we visit on both weekdays and weekends to understand crowd patterns.

Write. Every page is written by someone who has personally experienced what they\'re describing. We include specific details you can verify: what the light is like at a certain time of day, which dishes to order, how to navigate practical logistics.

Review. Before publication, another team member reviews each page for accuracy, clarity, and usefulness. We ask: would this actually help someone have a better experience in Chengdu?

Update. Every three months, we systematically revisit our listings. Prices, hours, menus, and quality all change — we update our pages to reflect reality on the ground, not what was true six months ago. The "last updated" date on each page reflects when it was most recently checked.

We don\'t earn commissions from bookings. No affiliate links, no kickbacks from hotels, no referral fees from tour operators. When we link to a booking platform, it\'s because it\'s genuinely useful — not because we get paid.

We don\'t run display ads. No banner ads, no sponsored content masquerading as editorial, no "partner content" that someone paid to place. Best of Chengdu is funded by our readers through our newsletter. Our only obligation is to you.

We tell you when things change. If a restaurant we recommended changes chefs and the quality drops, we update the listing or remove it. If a hotel declines, you\'ll know before you book. Our credibility is worth more than keeping a listing up.

We admit what we don\'t know. Chengdu is enormous, and no guide can cover everything. When we haven\'t personally visited a place, we don\'t write about it as if we have. Our recommendations are narrower than many guides — and that\'s intentional.