Hong Kong and Shanghai aside, Chengdu has become a major player in China’s tourism industry, from arts and culture to food and hotels. Yes, this is the place to see pandas. But it’s also where you’ll find Chinese heritage vying for a place among the city’s rapid modernization. Right now, its hotel boom has stepped into the spotlight, and there’s no shortage of options on where to bed down: there’s a Ritz-Carlton, St. Regis, Temple House (complete with a thousand-year-old Chinese Buddhist temple), and Grand Hyatt, as well as the new Six Senses Qing Cheng Mountain retreat, in a bamboo forest a half hour outside town. In April, the weather warms up, making time spent outdoors at the botanic garden or panda base all the more pleasurable. Thanks to a new 72-hour no-visa policy, dropping in for a quick visit has never been easier.

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