4 days / 3 nights
Start & End in: Chengdu (CTU)
From $795 USD per person
4 days / 3 nights
Start & End in: Chengdu (CTU)
From $795 USD per person
The Essentials:
As the backbone of Sichuan cuisine, Chengdu has been an UNESCO City of Gastronomy for over a decade. From local street food to roundtable hotpots, and giant pandas to cliff-side Buddha carvings, come experience why Chengdu and Sichuan cuisine are so famous around the world.
Join-in trips start at $795 USD per person, which may increase slightly due to seasonality. You can browse the calendar for each trip’s specific price. A $300 USD per person deposit is required to reserve your spot. Click here for more pricing details.
Small groups of 4-10, or contact us to ask about a private trip
Two nights in a 4-star hotel in the center of Chengdu. One night in a local guesthouse in Leshan.
This itinerary is subject to changes and adjustments based on seasonality and local operations.
Arrival & Check-In: Airport pick-up is available from CTU airport. Flight arrivals should be at or before 3pm.
Lost Plate’s Evening Food Tour by Tuktuk: Kick off the trip with a deep dive into Sichuan cuisine. Our tuktuks will take us to try all of Chengdu’s culinary highlights including popular street food, dandan noodles, local wontons, and a stellar selection of Sichuan dishes.
Driving: Approx. 30 mins from the airport to your hotel.
Hotel: 4-star hotel located in the heart of Chengdu.
Meals: Dinner
Giant Panda Research Base: Start the day by visiting this beautiful park that covers over 400 acres and provides a natural habitat for pandas and other rare animals like red pandas, plus countless viewing platforms to see all ages and sizes.
Chengdu Fly Restaurant: Don’t be put off by the name, this is the name locals have coined uber-authentic eateries that serve Sichuan staples like Mapo Tofu and Twice-cooked Pork…and this is our favorite spot!
Local Teahouse: Travel to the city’s outskirts to a special teahouse that hasn’t changed for decades. Experience a staple of Chengdu culture and enjoy a cup of tea with locals like they have their entire lives.
Hotpot Dinner: This tradition is almost 3000 years old, and the best way to enjoy it is with as many people as possible (aka as many dishes as possible).
Free Time: Feel free to explore Chengdu’s Narrow Wide Alley after dinner to experience what the city was like generations ago and grab a drink in a courtyard pub.
Driving: Short drives of no more than 30 minutes at a time around town.
Hotel: Same as previous night.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Market Visit & Cooking Class: Spend the morning exploring our favorite local market market, try some snacks, and grab some ingredients used to cook a selection of Sichuan dishes – which you’ll learn to make during a cooking class in a local cooking studio.
Drive to Leshan: This town is famous for its Giant Buddha, but we think the food is a real highlight! After checking in to our guesthouse for the night, we’ll head out for dinner and then have some free time.
Driving: Approx. 2 hours from Chengdu to Leshan.
Hotel: Boutique guesthouse in Leshan.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Giant Buddha: Visit Leshan’s famous Buddha carved into a 71 meter riverside cliff where the Minjiang, Qingyi, and Dadu rivers meet. Learn the story behind how this Buddha allowed an ancient town to trade its culinary specialities with the world by bringing calm to these turbulent rivers.
Leshan Food Crawl: Enjoy a multi-stop lunch that features the best of this foodie city including chuan chuan, a local style of skewered meat and veggies served in a communal pot of homemade chili sauce.
Airport Drop-off: Will be provided to Chengdu’s CTU airport. Flight departures should be at or after 7pm.
Driving: 2-3 hours to Chengdu airport.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Our founder hails from Chengdu and personally designed this trip, which includes all of Chengdu’s major highlights along with some favorite local spots she grew up going to.
The nature of this trip is relaxed. There are no long car rides over 2 hours, and no strenuous activities. The itinerary is quite packed, but there will be time to get off your feet.
Our trips are all-inclusive and do not have any shopping stops where you are obligated to purchase something. The only thing not included is your tourist visa, transportation to/from Chengdu, activities during your free time, and gratuities for your guide.
Accommodations may change based on group size and availability. If so, an equivalent will be used.
Our founder hails from Chengdu and personally designed this trip, which includes all of Chengdu’s major highlights along with some favorite local spots she grew up going to.
The nature of this trip is relaxed. There are no long car rides over 2 hours, and no strenuous activities. The itinerary is quite packed, but there will be time to get off your feet.
Our trips are all-inclusive and do not have any shopping stops where you are obligated to purchase something. The only thing not included is your tourist visa, transportation to/from Chengdu, activities during your free time, and gratuities for your guide.
Accommodations may change based on group size and availability. If so, an equivalent will be used.
The Lost Plate Style: Our trips are designed to give you a hassle-free and comfortable experience, focusing on authenticity and unique activities without the luxury price tag. We explore off the beaten path spots, eat authentic local food at family-run mom ‘n pop restaurants, and take care of all logistics so you can relax.
Our Itineraries are personally designed by our founder (psst, that’s her taste testing local Chengdu wontons). We do not “plug and play” typical itineraries like everyone else. Instead, we go the extra mile to take you to places that WE would travel to, making sure you get a unique (and delicious) experience.
Our Guides & Trip Leaders are hired and trained by us and lead our trips regularly. This means you’ll get a professional experience led by a team that is passionate about what we do (and eat).
Private trips can be arranged based on availability. This is ideal for families, large groups, or guests who don’t want to join with other travelers. An additional private trip fee will be charged (which is waived for groups of 8 or more). Simply contact us to book so we can check availability.
We are happy to make simple customizations to private trips, such as the start time/date or the duration of the trip.
Beyond that, we generally do not arrange customized tours. We work very hard to create our tour routes and build strong relationships with our vendors to ensure the quality and service they provide. It’s also important for us to share the stories of each destination and vendor that we visit. If your request involves visiting a destination or vendor that we don’t have an existing relationship with, we will politely decline.
We generally recommend join-in tours for children aged 8+. With that said, we ask parents to use their own judgement to determine whether the itinerary of this trip is appropriate for their children without impacting the experience of other guests. Due to the schedule each day, it is important that we stay on time and there may not always be an opportunity for you to take breaks or go back to your hotel for rest.
Due to the limited capacity on our join-in trips, discounts are not generally provided for children. This is always determined on a case-by-case basis and depends on the size of your family, the ages of your children, and how many hotel rooms you will require.
Booking a private trip for your family is always an option, based on availability. This allows you some added flexibility during the itinerary to make sure nothing starts too early/late and so you have time to rest when needed.
Travelers with children should always contact us before booking so we can provide detailed prices for you.
We welcome all travelers, but ask that guests use their own judgement to determine whether the itinerary of this trip is appropriate without impacting the experience of other guests. We do not recommend this trip for anyone who is unable to be on their feet for 1-2 hours at a time, or requires mobility assistance such as a wheelchair or walker.
Booking a private trip is always an option. This gives you some added flexibility during the itinerary to make sure you have extra time when needed during the day.
Yes! Our join-in trips are perfect for solo travelers because it gives you the ability to travel with others and the advantage of being able to try a large variety of food.
All of our join-in trips have a minimum of 4 people. Our website will accept your solo booking and we’ll keep in touch to let you know when the minimum number of people has been met. If it’s not met, and we are unable to reschedule you to another date that works for you, we will provide a full refund for your booking.
The single occupancy fee for this trip is $184 USD. This is necessary because accommodation is the largest cost of the entire trip, and it is designed to be split by two people. While we do our best to make this reasonable (the single occupancy fee doesn’t cover the entire gap), it is necessary for us cover this cost.
Feel free to contact us at any time if you’d like us to check your dates of interest and we’ll let you know if anyone else has booked the trip or if there are nearby alternative dates.
If you know anything about Lost Plate, you know that you’ll never go hungry. All meals are included on this trip. You can expect simple yet hearty breakfasts, plus lunches and dinners that offer a huge variety of dishes in large quantities. We often visit family-owned restaurants that specialize in one type of cuisine or dish, and there’s a reason why we visit every single place. Our goal is to make food the highlight of your trip!
Meals include local beer, soft drinks, and bottled water.
All dietary requests must be communicated at the time of booking. When booking online, you will have the opportunity to let us know if you have any dietary requirements or special requests. Please use the following information to understand if this trip is right for you.
This tour can accommodate vegetarian travelers, including those who are pescatarian and those who do not eat beef, pork, seafood, shellfish, and/or mutton. However, there will not always be direct substitutes for every dish that we try on the tour. Instead, we’ll order extra vegetarian items. Please note that every stop we visit during the trip does use meat in their kitchen. It is important for us to know how flexible your restrictions are (ie; are you able to have meat broth used for hotpot).
This tour cannot accommodate vegan or gluten-free travelers. Wheat products are featured in many dishes, in sauces like soy sauce and in tour highlights like noodles and wontons. There are no substitutes or alternatives available.
This tour also cannot accommodate severe allergies as we do not have full control over the preparation for your food. Travelers that don’t eat nuts are welcome, but kitchens do use nuts and cross-contamination is possible.
During this trip, you will learn that Sichuan cuisine isn’t only about spice, and not all dishes are spicy. If you prefer no spice at all, we have a variety of options.
If you have any questions not answered here, please contact us prior to booking.
Yes! Feel free to arrive early or stay in Chengdu after the trip. We are able to pass on our special hotel rates to you so you don’t need to switch hotels as well. Just let us know your dates and we will check rates and availability for you. Please note that airport pick-up/drop-off is not available if arriving/departing outside of our itinerary.
We ask all travelers to independently apply for their tourist visa to China. We typically are not arranging your entire trip to China, so this gives you flexibility on the dates and duration for your visa application. We are able to provide documents such as your trip itinerary and hotel confirmations to aid with your visa application. The price of obtaining this visa is not included in the tour price.
Visa policies change often and vary by nationality. You should do your own research to understand if your nationality will require a visa, and what the process and timeline is for your nationality.
We’ve rated this trip a level of 1 out of 3. While there are no strenuous activities required during the itinerary, but you will need to be on your feet for a few hours at a time while visiting some destinations, such as the Giant Panda Research Base and the Giant Buddha in Leshan. The itinerary also involves changing hotels once during the trip, and includes two car rides of approx. 2 hours.
Chengdu is located in Southern China and sits within the Sichuan basin surrounded by steep mountain ranges. The capital city is at an elevation of about 500 meters / 1640 feet above sea level. It’s bordered to the south by Yunnan, the North by Qinghai, Gansu and Shaanxi, the east by Tibet, and the west by Chongqing.
Chengdu has a humid and sub-tropical climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and mild winters. Summers are quite wet, with most of the annual rainfall occurring in July and August. Due to its geographic position in a basin, Chengdu has one of the lowest annual days of sunshine in China and is often overcast.
As an aggressively expanding Tier 2 city, air quality is not always great. On a clear day, the city offers incredible views of nearby mountain ranges.
We’re excited to provide all of our trip guests a self-curated travel guide to China. This detailed PDF includes information about the following:
Email: info@lostplate.com
China & Cambodia Tours: +86 156 9210 9030
Portland Tours: +1 503 409 5593
WeChat: lostplate
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