Chengdu Panda Base Private Day Tour and Sichuan Cooking Class

Two things Chengdu is known for, in one private day: the giant pandas at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, and the cooking that made the city a byword for Chinese food.

The research base is a breeding and research centre rather than a zoo, and it is laid out as bamboo parkland with the enclosures set into it. Pandas are most active early, which is the argument for starting the day there — later in the morning they tend to have eaten and gone to sleep.

The red pandas are the surprise for most visitors: small, bushy-tailed and far busier than their famous neighbours, and often at arm’s length of the path.

The afternoon turns to Sichuan food, and it is hands-on rather than a demonstration. Alongside the cooking comes the background — where the cuisine came from, how the peppercorn and the chilli ended up in the same dish, and why the numbing heat of málà is a texture as much as a flavour.

You eat what you cook.

An early start is worth it for the pandas. Tell us at booking about allergies or anything you do not eat, and about how much chilli you actually want — Sichuan cooking can be adjusted, but only if the kitchen knows in advance.