Flights: Tokyo Narita → Chengdu Tianfu → Kuala Lumpur → Tokyo Narita
Around 4000 MYR (including insurance)
I’ve always been the type of person who only buys flight tickets directly from official airline websites, so originally I planned to book everything through the Sichuan Airlines website.
But the website just refused to let me log in. It kept saying my phone number format was incorrect no matter how many different formats I tried.
I seriously tried everything possible and it still wouldn’t work. In the end, I downloaded the Sichuan Airlines app and successfully registered using my email instead. I thought, “Okay great, now I should finally be able to log into the website, right?”
Nope. Still couldn’t log in. I was genuinely losing my mind🤣
Eventually I gave up and booked through Trip.com (Chinese Version) instead. Surprisingly… the Trip.com app was actually really good. Everything was clearly labeled, important reminders showed up automatically, and the whole booking process felt very smooth and beginner-friendly.
Meanwhile, the Sichuan Airlines app only allowed one-way or round-trip bookings. If you wanted to book a multicity flight, you had to use the desktop website — which I couldn’t even log into after trying every possible method. Sichuan Airlines, your website seriously needs improvement😭
Ever since booking the tickets, I’ve been opening the Trip.com app almost every day just to stare at my itinerary. Every time I look at it, I get even more excited for the trip!!!!
P.S. : this trip won’t be super detailed because throughout the entire trip, CQ was either suffering from motion sickness, recovering from motion sickness, or on the way to getting motion sickness again🤣
Most of the time it was basically:
arrive somewhere → smile → take photos → continue moving.
There are honestly so many things I barely remember now hahaha.
When I looked back at my photos afterward, I realized I looked completely pale in almost every single picture. Zero blood circulation. I genuinely looked like my soul had left my body🤣
The first 4 days were for the wedding, and only after that did the actual family trip begin～
DAY 1
We arrived at Tianfu Airport around 10PM, and somehow I immediately got stopped for a random airport check… because my face was too red🤣
I uploaded the full story on Facebook and honestly the whole situation was so funny hahaha.
Since our family members were flying in from different countries, my younger sister and I arrived one day earlier to rest near the airport first.
We stayed at 【Tianfu Konggang Yuexiang Hotel】.
The thing that left the biggest impression on me was the bathroom design🤣
The shower room door was completely transparent, so you could literally see the living area while showering.
On top of that, the toilet and shower were directly facing each other.
So if one person was showering while another person used the toilet… you would accidentally make eye contact the entire time🤣
It really felt like someone was “performing live” in front of you whether you wanted to watch or not.
If you’re staying with someone you’re not super close with, I genuinely recommend avoiding this hotel layout hahaha.
That night we ordered Cao’s Duck Neck through Meituan, but somehow there was basically zero spice.
It’s because the delivery rider had dropped the food during delivery, causing all the soup to spill out completely — along with all the flavor and spice.
I was especially sad because the soup looked like it would’ve been amazing with rice, but literally every drop was gone.
The most frustrating part was that the rider initially tried to leave without properly handling the mess, almost as if he expected me to solve it myself. I became really firm and insisted that he deal with the situation properly since it was caused by him.
In the end, he only called someone to clean the spilled soup on the floor, while I still had to personally ask the cleaning auntie for garbage bags to repack the food myself. Honestly… speechless.
DAY 2
Airport → Chengdu East Station → Nanchong Station → Peng’an
The nightmare of motion sickness officially began😂
From Tianfu Airport to Chengdu East Station took about 1 hour by bus.
Then Chengdu East Station to Nanchong Station was around 2 hours by high-speed rail.
And finally another 1 hour car ride from Nanchong to Peng’an, where the wedding was held.
The high-speed train was extremely hot, and combined with all the sudden braking from the buses and cars, my soul genuinely almost left my body🤣
The first thing I noticed after arriving at Chengdu East Station was the endless sea of green taxis.
And once I entered the station itself, if nobody told me it was a train station, I honestly would’ve thought it was an airport.
It was unbelievably huge and insanely crowded. I genuinely cannot imagine how terrifying it must become during Spring Festival travel season.
For lunch we had grilled fish at 【Yu Jie】 in Nanchong.
Personally, I absolutely loved the fermented black bean flavor, especially paired with the soft chewy konjac.
Eating it together with white rice was PERFECT.
After lunch, we walked around Nanchong 1227 Shopping Food Street for a bit before continuing our journey to Peng’an.
We stayed at 【Peng’an Xidao Holiday Hotel】.
There were lots of convenience stores and food stalls nearby, so overall it was pretty convenient.
This was also my first time experiencing China’s parcel pickup station system.
Originally I thought that as long as I filled in the hotel address, parcels would automatically be delivered directly to the hotel room. Apparently not🤣
Some packages go to pickup stations, some get left outside the room, and some are handed to the hotel reception instead.
Dinner was at 【You Yi Cun · Heshu Tofu】.
This was basically my first official time meeting my cousin’s husband’s relatives.
Everyone was incredibly warm and welcoming. Baijiu kept coming nonstop, cigarettes were passed around nonstop too🤣
There were around 12-13 dishes on the table, and the relatives constantly worried that we weren’t eating enough.
They kept asking us to order more drinks and dishes. Truly a “sweet burden” hahaha.
Out of all the dishes, my favorite was the bitter melon duck.
I barely touched the duck meat itself, but I almost single-handedly finished all the bitter melon🤣
After taking the first bite, I immediately thought:
“How can this possibly taste THIS good??”
And then my cousin’s husband calmly replied:
“Because there’s enough oil.”🤣
Enough oil = delicious.
This formula continued to prove itself repeatedly over the next 10 days hahaha.
DAY 3: Wedding Room Decoration Day
Since this wedding was intentionally kept extremely simple, all the wedding room decorations were done by ourselves. Besides decorating, we also had some rehearsal sessions together～
For lunch we had spicy shrimp (I think that was the name🤣).
It was SO GOOD. The shrimp were fried until crispy enough that you could eat the entire shell without peeling anything.
We also ordered braised pig intestines, which turned out surprisingly delicious, while the liangfen and liangmian were also really good.
The relatives sitting at our table kept laughing and saying:
“This is the first time we’ve ever seen people finish almost every dish on the table🤣”
Apparently in the local culture, finishing all the food can imply that the host didn’t prepare enough. The “proper” hospitality standard is actually having way too much food left over.
So they kept trying to order more dishes for us while we desperately kept rejecting them hahaha.
Decorating the wedding room together as a family honestly created such a warm and happy atmosphere～
Dinner was at what locals claimed to be the most famous hotpot restaurant in the area: 【Chun Yi】.
The meat portions were insanely generous. No fake plating tricks using vegetables or ice underneath — just a full tray of actual meat. The value for money felt really high.
We were also treated to 52% alcohol baijiu called 【Hai Zhi Lan】.
But honestly… I’m still much more suited for Wang Lao Ji🤣
After dinner, we all went for hair washing and haircuts together～
And WOW it was unbelievably cheap.
Haircut + hair wash + massage cost only 35 RMB regardless of gender.
Originally only 2-3 people out of our group of 7 planned to wash their hair, but in the end literally everyone upgraded to the full package because it was just too worth it🤣
DAY 4: Wedding Day
The local wedding banquet was held in the afternoon, and the entire pace was surprisingly fast.
In Malaysia, wedding banquets usually involve the couple walking table to table after everyone finishes eating, chatting and taking photos with guests.
But here, things were completely different.
Before the banquet officially started, all the dishes were already placed on the tables. The only thing missing was chopsticks.
Once the emcee completed the ceremony, chopsticks were distributed and everyone immediately started eating.
After finishing the meal, guests simply started leaving one by one. The entire wedding banquet basically ended within an hour.
Then came the endless rounds of alcohol and cigarettes🤣
The bride and groom hadn’t even changed out of their main wedding outfits yet, but the banquet was already over.
At first it felt a little shocking, but afterward I honestly thought:
“This style is actually kind of nice too.”
Originally I didn’t think I would cry at all.
But then I suddenly turned and saw my aunt (the bride’s mother) silently crying beside me. Combined with the emcee’s speech, my emotions instantly collapsed and I started full-on ugly crying.
There were probably around 30 tables at the wedding, and somehow our table seemed to be the only one crying like crazy🤣
The wedding ended around 2:30PM.
At night there was another smaller meal with closer relatives and family members.
It was mostly home-style dishes while everyone casually chatted together.
Eventually everyone simply waved goodbye naturally.
Honestly, I don’t even know if we’ll ever all meet again in the future, but at least the memories left behind were all beautiful ones.
They even specially bought local specialty guokui liangfen for us.
The portion size was gigantic — impossible to eat elegantly in one bite — but it was honestly so satisfying.
DAY 5: Heading to Chongqing
Early in the morning, we headed to Nanchong North Station to take the high-speed rail to Chongqing West Station.
One thing I really liked about China’s high-speed trains was that there were hot water dispensers available everywhere.
Every time I walked past convenience stores, I felt tempted to buy instant noodles🤣
First stop: Liziba Station.
There were SO many people, but honestly I felt like the street photographers and souvenir sellers outnumbered the actual tourists.
Some of them would intentionally walk directly into people’s camera shots too, making it hard to take proper photos.
Thankfully the trains arrived very frequently, so with enough patience you could still get decent shots.
Yangtze River Cableway:
Personally, if the weather is bad or the queue is too long, I honestly think it’s skippable.
Reason 1: The air quality was really poor and foggy, so visibility wasn’t great.
Reason 2: The cable car windows were covered in scratches and dust, making photos look blurry anyway.
Reason 3: It was super crowded inside. If you ended up standing in the middle, you basically couldn’t see anything at all and it just felt like normal public transport.
Jiefangbei + Chaotianmen Square:
Unfortunately, we visited during the dry season, so we didn’t get to witness the famous dramatic meeting point of the two rivers.
Hongyadong + Two Rivers Night Cruise:
Hongyadong at night after all the lights turned on was genuinely breathtaking.
Whether viewed up close or from far away, it had different kinds of beauty.
If you love city night views, I’d definitely say the river cruise is worth trying.
But once you board, you need to walk FAST if you want a table seat. Otherwise you’ll probably end up standing the whole ride
Also, the river wind gets REALLY cold, so staying warm is important.
At night we stayed at 【Chongqing Ji Hotel】.
The facilities were complete overall, but the room felt slightly small, and some bathroom equipment looked a little old.
There were also obvious water leakage marks on the walls.
Still, overall it was acceptable.
DAY 6: Chongqing → Chengdu (Rainy Day)
The Three Gorges Museum was huge and very impressive.
But personally, I feel like having a human tour guide would make the experience much better because if I have to slowly read every exhibit by myself… I honestly lose patience very quickly🤣
Inside the museum there was also a VR experience center.
If you play as a group, it becomes cheaper. We chose the Jurassic-themed experience, which cost around 65 RMB per person.
The entire experience lasted around 30-40 minutes.
Even if you don’t enjoy museums, I think visiting just for the VR experience is still worth it. The visuals, sound effects, and character designs were all really well done.
The People’s Great Hall was directly opposite the museum.
But because the rain was extremely heavy that day, we only viewed it from afar and took a few photos before leaving.
Our final Chongqing stop was Guanyinqiao Food Street.
Of course, we also had to take the mandatory photo with the giant “I’m in Chongqing” screen🤣
A lot of food stalls there sold very similar things, and almost every vendor used loudspeakers to attract customers.
The entire atmosphere felt super lively and noisy, but somehow not overwhelmingly chaotic. Overall experience: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
After that, we took the high-speed rail to Chengdu～
We stayed at CYBO Hotel Chengdu.
Although it was called the Chunxi Road branch, it honestly wasn’t THAT close to the actual Chunxi Road🤣
But the hotel environment was really nice, and the breakfast was SO GOOD.
(I searched through my album forever trying to find breakfast photos and eventually gave up. You’ll just have to experience it yourself hahaha.)
DAY 7: Jiuzhaigou One-Day Trip
We took the 6:45AM train from Chengdu East to Huanglong Jiuzhai, arriving around 8:24AM.
After that, there was still another 1-2 hour drive before actually entering Jiuzhaigou Scenic Area.
Because the mountain roads were icy, many large trucks were forced to stop by the roadside and couldn’t continue moving.
Luckily smaller cars were still allowed through, although everyone drove extremely slowly.
If you’re hiring a private car into the scenic area, I highly recommend eating outside the park before entering.
Inside the park there’s basically only one main dining area, prices are higher, and crowds are huge.
Jiuzhaigou itself was honestly unbelievably beautiful.
The transportation system inside the scenic area was also incredibly well organized. Shuttle buses arrived one after another constantly without major traffic jams.
Maybe because of the high altitude and slight lack of oxygen, every time we boarded the shuttle bus we would instantly start falling asleep… and apparently farting at the same time🤣
The entire scenic area is enormous. Trying to fully cover every attraction in one day is basically impossible.
So we only selected a few popular spots to visit slowly, and honestly that was already more than satisfying enough.
For the return trip, we took:
Songpan 20:40 → Chengdu East 22:20.
DAY 8: Chengdu
We slept in naturally that morning～
In the afternoon, we had lunch with my brother-in-law’s relatives.
Originally I thought it would just be a normal casual meal… but somehow 10 adults ended up with 24 dishes on the table🤣
Absolutely insane.
He even handwrote several Chun Lian (Spring Couplets) for us.
Everyone was literally competing over who got to write the phrase “Family Harmony Brings Prosperity” hahaha.
After lunch, we visited Kuanzhai Alley.
Besides shopping and food, the entire street was filled with traditional face-changing opera theaters.
We watched a performance at 【Xi Lai Shu Yun Yuan】.
The full show lasted around 1.5 hours and included face-changing performances, comedy acts, kung fu tea performances, and more.
At first, many serious-looking businessmen were seated directly in front of us.
But not long after the show started, their secretaries came one by one to call them away🤣
Which accidentally gave us super close-range viewing seats afterward.
The interaction experience instantly became amazing⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Dinner was at 【He Shi BBQ】.
I always thought the reason BBQ felt expensive was because I usually ate it in Japan.
Turns out… even eating it in Chengdu wasn’t exactly cheap🤣
But the difference was that in China, you can try SO many unique cuts and ingredients.
And finally… I got to try rabbit head for the first time!!
The reality?
Almost no meat… and one accidental suck later, my mouth was suddenly full of rabbit brain🤣
Yeah… once in a lifetime experience was enough.
DAY 9: Panda Base + Sanxingdui
Honestly, I don’t remember too much from this day🤣
Panda Base:
The crowds were INSANE.
It was almost impossible to squeeze to the front, and many pandas stayed hidden deep inside the enclosures anyway.
So most of the time we were basically just looking at panda butts hahaha.
The park itself was huge and very well organized though, and shuttle buses arrived constantly.
But personally, since I’m not THAT obsessed with pandas, I eventually realized:
watching pandas on TV might actually suit me better🤣
We also encountered a huge tour group of extremely passionate Japanese panda fans.
The moment a panda woke up from its nap and came outside, every single person carrying giant telephoto cameras instantly charged forward.
The whole area became chaotic immediately🤣
At one point, we also witnessed an auntie casually throwing trash into the panda enclosure.
She got stopped immediately by staff, but then started pretending to be innocent, insisting it wasn’t intentional, while arguing loudly the entire time. Truly speechless.
Sanxingdui:
There weren’t too many visitors that day, so the overall experience felt much more comfortable.
I also finally got to see all those funny internet moments where people imitate the bronze statues’ poses🤣
Unfortunately we didn’t have much time there, so most of the visit involved quickly glancing around before rushing to the next area.
At night I experienced my first ever massage + ear cleaning session.
We booked it through Meituan group deals, so it was slightly cheaper than normal prices.
But honestly… I’m pretty sure my massage therapist was a beginner🤣
A lot of the pressure points didn’t feel correct at all.
The main thing I remember is him constantly smacking my shoulders and back while repeatedly trying to crush my body with pressure hahaha.
DAY 10: Final Day～ Time to return to Malaysia.
This entire trip honestly had a huge impact on both my physical and mental condition.
Every time we finally arrived somewhere, I would feel genuinely happy.
But the process of GETTING there was exhausting and painful.
Constantly rushing between transportation, nonstop walking, repeated motion sickness, and endless traveling left me feeling permanently drained.
It was probably also because I had already worked continuously for two weeks without proper rest before the trip even started.
Then immediately jumping into high-intensity traveling mode made everything even worse.
On top of that, the air quality, weather, and drastic food changes also affected my body a lot.
Another huge reason was probably because food in Japan is generally much lighter and simpler.
So suddenly eating rich, oily, spicy food nonstop during this trip became a massive shock to my system🤣
My daily condition basically became:
eating happily → getting constipated → wanting to vomit → repeat.
When I looked back at my photos afterward, I could genuinely see how exhausted I looked.
My face was pale, lifeless, and completely drained.
Photos with sunglasses still looked somewhat okay.
Photos without sunglasses clearly exposed the exhaustion in my eyes.
You could literally tell: “This person is barely surviving.”🤣
But despite everything, this trip still left behind so many precious memories.
Besides the incredibly emotional wedding, the place that left the deepest impression on me was definitely Jiuzhaigou.
Even though I said during the trip:“This is probably a once-in-a-lifetime visit for me.”
Whenever I think back on this Chengdu + Chongqing trip now, the first thing that always comes to mind is still the unreal beauty of Jiuzhaigou.
It was peaceful, breathtaking, and honestly unforgettable.
2026/03/12-2026/03/21