Thinking of visiting Chengdu with your tween or teen – here’s an itinerary by Mama S to share. She took her family on a 8D7N trip to Chengdu, China as a post-PSLE celebratory trip and it was a memorable time for the whole family. There were many animal encounters including red pandas, meercats and even horserides as well as scenic sights to enjoy.
8-Day Itinerary To Chengdu: Teen-friendly Things To Do
Day 1: Arrival and Beef Daoxiaomian
We took a flight that landed in Chengdu Tianfu airport at around 5 pm. Our accommodation was at Luxi Anlun Hotel which was great for 2 adults and 2 kids (it has two bedrooms with a TV and balconies with a shared living area and bathroom).
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Dinner was eaten just down the street from the hotel. We had some beef daoxiaomian. Here’s a lesson we learnt. We asked for non spicy (Bu La) for the kids but we didn’t realise they still added the “Ma” part of the Mala flavour here in Chengdu so we all had numb tongues and lips. We thought the noodles and beef dumplings were really good.
Day 2: Luxe Island with an Animal Farm and Land of Wilderness
Our hotel was just a 10 min drive to the Luxe Island. As the key recreational island of the Luhu Ecological City, it is covered with lush lakeside greenery. There is an animal farm there with feeding of all sorts of farm animals such as cows, donkeys, sheep, ducks, baby goats, rabbits and deer. Animal feed can be bought at rather reasonable price.
Some of the animals like alpacas would wander out of their enclosure into the park areas which was really nice.
We had lunch at the Matata Restaurant, which provided free interaction with their in-house meerkats as long as you dine at their restaurant.
The kids loved the meerkats so much they requested to visit them a second time on Day 4. After lunch and the meerkat interactions, we took a boat from the Luhu pier to “land of wilderness”. It was a pity they didn’t have any event on the day we went because they are known for their parades, carnivals and festivities.
However, we visited the “cat park” with many free-roaming cats to pet and feed in an open space. Cat food can be bought on site.
You can also have a go at driving their go-karts beautifully made using recycled scrap. After that, we had dinner at Tianfu Global Center.
Day 3: Dujingyan & Red Panda Forest Park
We drove 1.5 hours to Dujiangyan, a place known for the famous dam that was built by our ancestors 2000 years ago. Thanks to the dam, the city of Chengdu is known to be the most relaxed and “chill” in China. This history dates back to the building of the dam as this allows farmers to have a steady supply of water for their crops, unlike in other areas where floods and droughts are common. We did not visit this dam but this could be interesting for history buffs. Perhaps we will visit this dam next time.
Instead, we visited the Red Panda Forest Park, which is a reserve dedicated specially for red panda lovers. In here, there is some feeding for some racoons and rabbits, before we were brought to a forested area where we can observe the red pandas in their natural habitats and also walk into the same area.
If you are lucky, they might come up to you! We were brought along a trail to spot them and finally, we could interact with them by allowing them to put their paw on you for some pictures. We were also placed in a room where the red pandas can come around you and if you are lucky they might crawl onto your lap!
Visitors are not allowed to pat or touch the red pandas so the only way you can get close to them is if they come up to you. It was still a great experience for the kids who are big red panda lovers.
After lunch at a local restaurant with traditional dishes, we went horse riding at a nearby stable. My daughter got to ride independently under the guidance of an instructor for 30 to 40 minutes in the open fields and had a wonderful experience on a galloping horse.
We would highly recommend this experience for kids who love to ride horses but would like more than just a small walk around the arena. After horse riding, we visited a nearby kiwi farm to pluck some kiwis which were delightfully sweet!
We then drove back to the luxe island area and had dinner at CPI, a shopping and eating district located in a park. This place is great for nature lovers who want to dine and shop in a nature-centric setting!
Day 4: Dongjiaojiyi and People’s Park
Visited Chengdu city center like Dongjiaojiyi for some local food and shopping, walking down the streets of Wenshuyuan, ear cleaning at People’s Park and a family massage (dinner was provided there) followed by wandering the streets of Chunxi Road.
Day 5: Back to Luxe Island
In the morning, we visited the Peacock obstacle course at Luxe island where kids can try their hands at the rope obstacles. The levels range from very manageable for young kids to extremely challenging! Adults can also try the courses as the hardest routes are really quite challenging. Do take note we had to come back on a sunny day to try this as they did not allow kids to attempt the obstacle course when it is wet from rain.
Lunch was at Matata café again before we tried their go-karts. We got to drive 30 minutes around the park and it was a very fun experience. After that, we drove 2 hours to Emei Utopia Hentique Hotel. We checked in and admired the beautiful scenery before having dinner at the restaurant by the lake.
Day 6: Utopia, Horse-riding and Suji Ancient Town
The scenic Utopia area beside our hotel was idyllic. The hotel provides buggy services as it was a huge area.
There was a lovely coffee place to have a cuppa, relax and chill. Our daughter also opted for DIY activities in the hotel. We had lunch at a traditional radish soup place before going horse riding again at a local horse riding school.
We opted for a 45-minute beginners course which taught the kids basic horse riding techniques like steering the horse, teaching it how to gallop and stop and also posture etc. There are also some animals to feed there.
After that, we visited Suji Ancient town for some local snacks and sweets. The black sugar tofu pudding, shaved ice and sweet skin duck are highly recommended.
Day 7: Mount Emei
We went for a short hike at the foot of Mount Emei. For families who do not want to go up to the summit since the bus ride is long and weather conditions may not be favourable, this is a good alternative. We hiked from Fuhu temple down a foresty path for about 1.5 km to Baoguo temple. After visiting the temple, we hiked back down to the Emei city street.
There were many other challenging hiking paths to take. However, because of my health condition, I chose the easiest one and this was very manageable. Weather was great in mid October with temperature about 18 degrees celsius in the forest. We had lunch again at a traditional restaurant before resting back at the hotel and going for a short hike at Utopia down to the stream.
Day 8: Leshan Giant Buddha
On our final day, we planned a morning visit to Leshan Giant Buddha. We opted for a boat ride as the hike would take too long and it would be quite strenuous. The Leshan Giant Buddha is listed as one of the world’s UNESCO heritage sites. It is the largest stone Buddha statue in the world. Then we had traditional tofu rice lunch before driving 2 hours back to the airport for our flight home in the evening.
Food in Chengdu for Kids and Those with Low Tolerance for Spice
For those concerned about food in Chengdu especially the level of spice in dishes, we thoroughly enjoyed our meals with no spice or no mala. Firstly ask for no ma, no la in mala dishes if you have younger children or travellers who have a low tolerance for spicy food.
Our meals reminded us of home-cooked food, similar to the Zi Char meals we have in Singapore. The kids had scrambled eggs and tomato everyday! Dishes such as fried meat (小炒肉) and soups were sumptuous too. The meals were also very affordable.
Best of all, there’s free flow rice. If there’s a dish that’s too spicy, rice is a good way to put out the burning sensation. We also appreciated the cleanliness in all the eateries. Everything was clean and sanitised even in rural ares with bowls and utensils sterilised then wrapped in plastic.
8D7N Teen-friendly Itinerary to Chengdu
Day 1: Arrival and Beef Daoxiaomian
Day 2: Luxe Island with an Animal Farm and Land of Wilderness
Day 3: Dujingyan & Red Panda Forest Park
Day 4: Dongjiaojiyi and People’s park
Day 5: Back to Luxe Island
Day 6: Utopia, Horse-riding and Suji Ancient Town
Day 7: Mount Emei
Day 8: Leshan Giant Buddha
This itinerary was generously shared by Mama S who has a 9 year old and a 12 year old.
