Get FREE email communications from Fodor's Travel, covering must-see travel destinations, expert trip planning advice, and travel inspiration to fuel your passion.
In Chengdu, hotpot is easy to find. A walk down just about any street will turn up at least one restaurant serving this local specialty: a boiling vat of chili oil, red peppers, and mouth-numbing spices into which you dip duck intestines, beef tripe, chicken livers, or (for the less adventurous) bamboo shoots and mushrooms. Hotpot restaurants tend to be open-air affairs, often spilling out onto the sidewalk.
Eat like a local at Hong Xing, where Sichuan cuisine is done consistently well. Favorites on offer include eggplant with garlic and ginger, pork with peanuts and peppers, or the house signature dish called Hong Xing Ji, which is tender bits of chicken floating in a sea of sesame oil topped with peanuts and mouth-numbing pebbles of Sichuan peppercorns. There are lots of unique vegetarian options, including shredded white bamboo.
