🛫 T1 — Regional + Small-Domestic

Opened: 2004; 138,000 m².

Operations 2026: Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan regional flights (progressively resuming mid-2026); selected smaller-airline domestic.

⭐ T2 — Air China Hub + the Lounges

Opened: 2012; 350,000 m². The dominant terminal by passenger volume.

Operations: Air China domestic hub; Sichuan Airlines, China Eastern, Shanghai Airlines, Xiamen Air, Hainan Airlines, Spring Airlines, Tibet Airlines, Lucky Air, Kunming Airlines, Shandong Airlines.

240-Hour TWOV — 10 Days, Third-Country Onward

55 eligible nationalities including US, UK, Canada, EU member states, Australia, NZ, Japan, South Korea, Singapore. Stay max 10 days from 00:00 the day after entry. Must have onward ticket to a third country/region (not back to country of origin). Apply at the airport entry desk on arrival — no online pre-registration required.

Standard Tourist Visa (L)

For non-TWOV travellers (longer stay, no third-country onward, or non-eligible nationality), apply for a Chinese L-visa at the nearest Chinese embassy or visa application centre. Single-entry tourist visas USD 30-80 depending on nationality; processing 4-10 working days.

CNY — Mobile-Payment Dominant

Currency is the Chinese yuan (CNY / RMB / 人民币). $1 ≈ CNY 7.2 (May 2026). WeChat Pay and Alipay dominate — both now support international cards via their tourist functions. Cash works but is increasingly used only by older Chinese; Visa/Mastercard work at upmarket hotels and chain restaurants. Bank ATMs (ICBC, Bank of China, China Construction Bank, Agricultural Bank) at the airport.

⭐ Metro Line 10 — The Default

• Direct from both T1 and T2 to downtown Chengdu — terminus at Shuangliu West Station (3 stops); transfer to Lines 3, 7 and 17 for other parts of the city.
• Fare: CNY 6 (~$0.85) for most central destinations — buy at the station ticket machine, with WeChat/Alipay, or with a Tianfutong transit card.
• Journey time: 45-50 minutes to downtown stations like Tianfu Square (Lines 1+2 interchange) or Chunxi Road (the main shopping district).
• Operating hours: ~06:00-23:00, trains every 6-8 minutes during the day.

📱 Didi (滴滴) — Chinese Ride-Hail

• Didi (the dominant Chinese ride-hailing app) operates at CTU with a dedicated pickup zone outside arrivals at each terminal.
• Fare to central Chengdu: CNY 70-100 (~$10-14) depending on neighbourhood. Faster than the metro for evening or luggage-heavy arrivals.
• Payment via WeChat Pay or Alipay only — international cards inside the app are now supported for tourists via the linked-card facility.
• Pre-install Didi before flying and verify your account in advance — registration on the spot is awkward without a local phone number.

🚌 Airport Express Buses

• Multiple airport express bus lines run from CTU to fixed stops across Chengdu — typically CNY 10-15 (~$1.50-2.00) per journey.
• Routes serve the major railway stations (East, South, North) and selected downtown drop-points.
• Useful for travellers heading directly to the high-speed-rail network without going into the centre.
• Schedules align with major flight banks rather than running on a strict fixed timetable.

🚕 Official Metered Taxi

• Metered yellow taxis at the rank — flag fall CNY 9, then CNY 1.9-2.4 per km; fare to downtown CNY 80-120 (~$11-17).
• Avoid drivers approaching you inside the terminal — use the official rank only.
• Most drivers speak Mandarin only; have your hotel address written down in Chinese characters. Google Maps doesn’t work in China; pre-install Amap (高德) or Baidu Maps.

🛋️ Comfort Zone (×2) — T2 Airside

Location: two separate airside Comfort Zone lounges in T2.

Hours: one location 24/7 (00:00-23:59); the second 07:00-21:00.

Programmes: Priority Pass listed; verify LoungeKey / DragonPass / Amex acceptance at the door.

💆 Legang Massage — T2

Location: T2 airside.

Hours: 06:30-22:30.

Format: the Chinese-massage lounge category (Priority Pass treats it as a credit) — Priority Pass cardholders typically receive a complimentary 30-min foot or back-and-shoulder massage in lieu of food and drink. Useful for long T2 layovers.

Mapo tofu — silken tofu in a thick chilli-bean (doubanjiang) and Sichuan-pepper sauce with minced beef or pork — is Sichuan’s most-exported dish and the textbook málà preparation. Traditionally named after a pockmarked (“ma”) elderly woman (“po”) in 19th-century Chengdu. At a Chengdu restaurant: CNY 25-50 (~$3.50-7).

Dan dan noodles — hand-pulled noodles in a chilli-oil, soy, peanut, Sichuan-pepper and minced-pork sauce — named for the “dan dan” (carrying pole) of the street vendors who originally sold them. A defining Chengdu street-food bowl. CNY 12-25.

Chengdu hot pot is the city’s defining communal meal — a deep wok of bubbling chilli-and-Sichuan-pepper broth (often divided into yin/yang halves with a clear broth on one side) into which you cook meat, offal, mushrooms, leafy greens, tofu, lotus root. Each person dips into a sesame-oil-and-spring-onion sauce. The Chongqing variant is more aggressive; the Chengdu variant is herbier and more nuanced. Major addresses: Shu Jiu Xiang, Lao Ma Tou, Haidilao. CNY 80-200 (~$11-28) per person.

Lai Tangyuan (sweet rice-flour dumplings in clear broth), Zhong Dumplings (Chengdu boiled pork dumplings in chilli oil), Long Chao Shou (the Chengdu wonton tradition), Yibin burning noodles, twice-cooked pork, kung pao chicken (gongbao jiding — a Sichuan original, not the Cantonese-style version) all appear at the chuan-cai restaurants. Chengdu street-snack tradition runs deep at Jinli Old Street.

🌶️ Sichuan Pepper & Pixian Doubanjiang

Sichuan pepper (huājiāo) in vacuum-packed sachets — CNY 20-80 per pack. Pixian doubanjiang (the fermented chilli-bean paste from Pixian county outside Chengdu, the foundation of every Sichuan kitchen) in 500 g jars — CNY 30-60. The most useful and most distinctive Chengdu food souvenir.

🍵 Sichuan Tea (Mengding, Zhuyeqing)

Mengding (蒙顶) green tea from the Mount Mengding mountains and Zhuyeqing (竹叶青) are the two famous Sichuan teas; CNY 50-300 per 250 g pack depending on grade. The tea shops at T2 stock these alongside the lower-priced touristic blends — read labels carefully.

🎭 Sichuan Opera Face Masks

Painted Sichuan-opera face masks (used for the famous “bian lian” face-changing performance) at CNY 40-150 per piece. The Wuhou Shrine and Jinli Old Street shops have a better and cheaper selection than the airport.

🐼 Panda-Themed Crafts

Plush pandas, panda-themed silk scarves, panda-tea-tins, panda chocolates — the airport stocks a high-volume mass-market range. Better quality at the official Chengdu Research Base gift shop or at the Sichuan Museum store.

The Chengdu Panda Base, in the northern suburbs of the city, is the world’s principal giant-panda conservation centre and Chengdu’s signature visit — typically 80-100 pandas in the breeding programme, plus red pandas. Best timing: 08:00-10:00 when the pandas are most active (they sleep through the heat of the day); the 14:00-15:00 afternoon feeding period is the next-best window. Entry CNY 55. Round-trip from CTU: ~3 hours by Didi each way (the Panda Base is on the opposite side of the city from the airport); allow 10-12 hour layover minimum to do this comfortably.

The Wuhou Shrine (武侯祠) commemorates Zhuge Liang — the 3rd-century strategist of the state of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms period (220-280 CE), one of the most-read-about figures in Chinese history. Set in classical-Chinese landscaped grounds; combined ticket with Jinli Old Street next door. Entry CNY 60. The single most accessible cultural visit from a Chengdu layover: 2 hours covers the shrine.

Jinli is the reconstructed Qing-dynasty-style pedestrian street adjacent to Wuhou Shrine — about 350 m of restored architecture filled with Sichuan street-food stalls, craft shops, tea houses, the open-air Sichuan-opera face-changing performances. Free to walk; CNY 30-80 covers a meaningful tasting tour. Loved by tourists, fully aware of itself as a tourist street; the food is honest and the atmosphere is the best concentrated Chengdu sample available in two hours.

The Wenshu Monastery (文殊院), founded in the Tang dynasty (618-907) and rebuilt under the Qing, is Chengdu’s principal Buddhist temple — five halls of architectural significance plus a working monastery community. The associated tea garden outside the temple gates is the historical Chengdu teahouse experience: bamboo-and-rattan chairs, glass of jasmine tea served in a covered porcelain cup (“gaiwan”), ear-cleaning vendors and shoe-shiners working the courtyard. Entry CNY 5; tea CNY 15-50.

Near the airport: business hotels in the Shuangliu district at CNY 200-500 per night — functional for early flights. Central Chengdu: Niccolo Chengdu, Ritz-Carlton Chengdu, Temple House (the Swire boutique on Daci Temple Plaza), Shangri-La Chengdu, plus a deep range of mid-market 4-star Chinese chains (Atour, Yitel) at CNY 400-700. For any stay over 4 hours, the Metro Line 10 makes central Chengdu trivially reachable; the airport-area hotels are only worth it for very early morning flights.

China Mobile, China Unicom, China Telecom are the three operators; SIMs available at the airport landside for CNY 100-300 depending on plan, with passport registration. 5G is widespread in Chengdu, 4G universal. The Great Firewall applies: Google services, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter/X, WhatsApp, Telegram, YouTube, the major Western news sites and many VPN services are blocked. Install a working VPN before arriving if you need access — at the airport landside is too late; recommended providers include Astrill and ExpressVPN. WeChat (微信) and Alipay (支付宝) are essential for daily life — install before arrival and verify with a foreign-card linkage.

4-hour layover: stay airside or use the Comfort Zone / Legang Massage lounge — the round-trip airport-Wuhou Shrine alone is 2h on the metro, leaving little city time.
8-hour layover: Metro Line 10 → Tianfu Square → taxi/walk to Wuhou Shrine + Jinli Old Street. 2h for the shrine, 1-2h for Jinli food, 1.5h return-buffer. Workable.
12+ hour layover: add the Chengdu Panda Base — Didi to the base, 1.5h on-site (8-10 AM ideally), Didi back. Total 5-6h panda time + 4h other Chengdu time + return-buffer. The defining Chengdu day. Allow 90 min return-buffer for security and immigration.