The city's signature attraction — a large facility built specifically for panda conservation and breeding, with dozens of pandas across naturalized enclosures. Early morning visits generally mean more active pandas, before the midday heat sends them toward a nap.
Chengdu is one of the two spiritual homes of Sichuan hot pot (alongside Chongqing) — the mala (numbing-spicy) broth built on Sichuan peppercorn and dried chili is a genuinely different experience from hot pot found elsewhere in China.
In Chengdu my friend Guan Ruyu picked me up with his girlfriend, and I stayed at their apartment. We met a Chinese teacher who had also come to VIT on exchange (in Guan's 2011 batch), and I had Sichuan hotpot for the very first time — a genuinely special moment. I also met my friend Martin (now in the US, then living in Chengdu), and together we visited the Panda Research Center. On the last day Guan dropped me at the airport for the flight home.
Guan holds a special place in my story: he was instrumental in bringing my brother Shubham to study medicine in China — something I can never forget. From Chengdu I flew on to Singapore and then Kolkata, closing the loop back home.
Guan hosted me in Chengdu, introduced me to Sichuan hotpot for the first time, and took me to see the pandas with our friend Martin. More than that, he helped bring my brother Shubham to study medicine in China - a kindness that shaped my family's path.