Chengdu weekend layover: 24–48 hours

Check which airport your flight uses before planning anything. Tianfu (TFU) is roughly 50–70 minutes from central Chengdu by metro Line 18 plus a transfer, or 45–70 minutes by car depending on traffic. Shuangliu (CTU) is closer: about 30–40 minutes by metro Line 10 or taxi. Add at least 2.5–3 hours before an international departure and 2 hours before a domestic flight.

A 24-hour layover sounds generous but is really 18–20 usable hours after immigration, baggage, and airport transfers. Do not try to see Leshan or Qingcheng. Keep the plan central and flexible.

Budget the real hours before you commit to a plan. A 24-hour layover usually gives you 18–20 usable hours; a 48-hour layover gives you roughly 36–40. Immigration at Tianfu can take 30–60 minutes on a busy morning, and bags add another 20–40. Airport left-luggage runs roughly CNY 20–50 per bag per day depending on size, and a hotel will usually hold bags free if you are staying there. Check the last metro train on Line 18 before you plan a late return; after that, a taxi or DiDi is your only option.

• Tianfu: far southeast; allow more transfer time
• Shuangliu: closer to the city center
• International departure: arrive 3 hours early

If you land in the afternoon, go straight to your hotel, drop your bags, and eat a simple Sichuan dinner near your hotel. Save the pandas for the next morning. If you land in the morning and are not too tired, drop bags and visit People's Park for tea, then have an early hotpot dinner.

If you land after 6 p.m., skip the city sights entirely and eat near your hotel. A simple bowl of noodles or a plate of dumplings costs CNY 20–40 and beats a rushed trip across town. If you land before noon and feel human, drop your bags, walk to People's Park for an hour of tea, and book hotpot for 6 p.m. Order the mild half of a yuanyang pot and keep the meal to 90 minutes so you sleep.

For a morning departure, visit the Panda Base at opening, return to the city for lunch, collect your bags, and leave for the airport. This works only if your flight is late afternoon or evening. Do not attempt the Panda Base on a tight morning if you have a midday flight.

The morning-departure version only works with a flight after 3 p.m. Leave the Panda Base by 11:30 a.m., eat lunch near your hotel, collect your bags, and start for the airport by 1 p.m. for Tianfu or 1:45 p.m. for Shuangliu. If your flight is earlier, do not go to the pandas at all; a rushed visit in a taxi is worse than a relaxed breakfast.

Day one: arrive, check in, walk Kuanzhai Alley or Jinli in the late afternoon, and have hotpot for dinner. Day two: Panda Base at opening, lunch, Wuhou Shrine and Jinli in the afternoon, then a teahouse or early dinner before the airport. This is a full but manageable schedule.

Day one works best if you land by early afternoon. Kuanzhai and Jinli are both free and close to the center, so pick one for a 60–90 minute walk, then eat hotpot at 6:30 p.m. Day two starts at the Panda Base at 8 a.m., returns to the city for lunch around 12:30, and puts Wuhou Shrine and Jinli in the 2–5 p.m. window. A teahouse break fits between Wuhou and dinner; an opera show does not. Leave for the airport by 6 p.m. for a late-evening flight.

If you have an early flight on day three, move the panda visit to day one afternoon only if you are arriving early and the weather is cool; otherwise, keep it for the morning and accept that you may not have time for both Wuhou and Jinli.

• Day 1 — arrival, old street, hotpot
• Day 2 — pandas, Wuhou Shrine, teahouse, departure

Do the math before you leave the airport. If your layover is under 10 usable hours, stay at the airport or take a hotel nearby; a dash into Chengdu will cost you three hours in transfers and leave you stressed. Between 10 and 14 hours, pick one anchor: pandas in the morning or one central meal and an old street in the evening. Do not attempt both.

If you are running late, drop in this order: the old street, the teahouse, then Wuhou Shrine. Never drop the airport buffer. For Tianfu, be back at the terminal three hours before an international flight and two hours before a domestic one; the metro ride alone is 50–70 minutes plus a transfer.

With kids, keep the plan to one stop per half-day and use the metro rather than a taxi, since car seats are not standard. Jet lag is brutal on a short layover: sleep first if you arrive at night, and do not book a morning panda slot if you landed after midnight. Rain rarely closes anything on this plan; a teahouse and a hotpot meal work in any weather, which is why they are the default.

• Under 10 usable hours: stay near the airport.
• Running late: cut the old street first, never the flight buffer.
• Kids and jet lag: one stop per half-day, sleep before sights.