Chengdu moves slower than any other major Chinese city, and this tour is built around that rather than against it.

You’ll start at Kuanzhai Alleys three parallel Qing-dynasty lanes, Wide, Narrow and Well, restored into a mix of courtyard restaurants, tea rooms and shops. It’s polished, but the grey brick architecture and the courtyard layouts are the real thing, and the quieter Well Alley still has residents.

Wuhou Shrine is the historical anchor: a memorial complex to Zhuge Liang, the Three Kingdoms strategist, set among red walls, bamboo groves and cypress. Even if the period means nothing to you, the red-wall corridor is the most photographed spot in Chengdu for good reason. Adjoining it, Jinli Ancient Street runs as a restored Qing-style pedestrian lane teahouses, snack stalls, occasional Sichuan opera and face-changing performances in the evening.

The tour finishes with the thing Chengdu actually does best: sitting still. At a traditional teahouse — Heming in People’s Park if the timing works you’ll have a cup of jasmine tea in a bamboo chair, with the option of the ear-cleaning service that’s a local institution, and watch the afternoon go past.