Talking about foods in Chengdu, as a local girl, I feel extremely proud. Chengdu has a got a fame for all kinds of delicious foods. For me, I’d like to divide them into three parts----local dishes, local snacks and hotpot.
There is no doubt about the popularity of Sichuan foods around this world, and to many people, when they think about Sichuan foods, they will also think about the endless spicy flavor and their burning tongue. Spicy, this should be the most typical impression left to many visitors, as a local girl, I have to say, yeah, because of the humid and wet climate, people of Chengdu like to eat spicy foods, but it is not always the same case. In Chengdu, we have countless delicious foods, even though some of them are quite spicy but still, there are a lot of foods, dishes, snacks, hotpots that are totally not spicy, so don’t be afraid of trying them.
Talking about local dishes, I think it is the best way to see how careful but also how picky our Chengdu people are when we make our dishes. Foods in Sichuan are famous for its various sources, I have met a lot of lovely foreign people, sometimes when we go to a local dish restaurant, they will feel so confused when the waiter brings the dishes, because almost half of the dish is all kinds of sources and they don’t know which part they should eat. To tell a cook is qualified or not, it is very easy to tell from the taste of the dishes he makes. As long as he is careful enough to make all the sources in a balanced way, then he is a good cook for our Sichuan dishes. Now that you come to Sichuan, why not just be picky and try our exquisitely cooked local dishes?
One thing you must try when you are in Sichuan is our local snacks. Most of them have a long long history, perhaps even as long as hundreds of years. Chengdu has a history of more than 2700 years, together with the long history is our various local snacks. Almost each snack has its own story, they can be spicy, sour, sweet, salty; they can be also cute, round, slippery, colorful even surprising. Once you are in Chengdu, go to the time-honored snacks’ restaurant, order a collection of the local snacks, just give your stomach a great enjoyment!
Hotpot is a must-try when you are in Chengdu. Many eaters know that the original place for hotpots was Chongqing, another city next to Chengdu, however, the flavors of the hotpots in Chengdu are never worse than Chongqing. Not all the hotpots are spicy, we have two most common hotpots, one is the traditional flavor, can be spicy, but not too bad, the other one is not spicy at all, you can even drink the soup from it, which can be quite tasty and nutritious. But remember, never try the soup from another pot, unless, you have an iron tongue and stomach! 
Sichuan foods are so famous for its reasons----almost all kinds of people can find something they like among our foods. When you are in Chengdu, just be a local people, forget how busy you are, how much you need to earn, just follow our local belief, live and be happy for the moment in your hand! Enjoy the most of your present life!

In Chengdu tea houses,or the famous Jinli street or Kuanzhai Lane , you will see someone sitting on a bamboo chair, tilted his head, eyes closed, mouth revealing a trace from time to time issued by the inner pleasure expression, beside him stood a man staring at his ears, holding a heap tool salvage the dig, digging, as if looking for some treasure, this is for ear massage / or ear cleaning

When you sit in Chengdu teahouse chatting with friends, or leisurely walking in the street, you may hear the ringing "clatter" burst of trembling voice, heard this unique, trademark, exclusive trembling voice , those who are familiar with Chengdu, would know that the ear master signal at you

Chengdu is very relaxing, there are many tea houses.

pedicures, massage and acupuncture are national, I mean you can find these in other parts of China,but Ear Cleaning( or Ear massage) is  unique to Chengdu, "a cup of tea, ear massage( ear cleaning) " has become a habit, a culture, a phenomenon in Chengdu.

how ear massage( ear cleaning) comes from?

According to legend, during the Tang Dynasty, Sichuan drought, the emperor visited the drought in Sichuan. Once the emperor wanted to inspect the situation along the river, the emperor sitting in the boat, the boat trackers were pulling on the bank. wind blows the sand to the emperor's mouth, nose, ears  and nose.so they have to invite a master from barber shop to help pull out the sand from the ears.  the master used a bamboo stick to dig the emperor's ears, and goose feather to sweep the ears. the emperor felt so comfortable and enjoyable, he rewarded the master.

are you still watching? just have a try of the fantastic ear massage

San Sheng Xiang (三圣乡), one of our favorite ten place in chengdu , is a flower growing village just outside of the Third Ring Road about 30 minutes from the center of Chengdu. The development, dubbed Flower Town by locals and foreigners, is intended to link the urban and rural areas of Chengdu and provide jobs and income for local farmers. For us, it’s a great place to spend an afternoon outside of the city, basking in the sunlight and lush surroundings away from crowded streets and honking car horns.

The project envisioned a flower manufacturing base with foreign cooperation that could sell to residents of the city of Chengdu and also export to other Chinese cities and abroad. Local farmers were encouraged to invest money in the project as well as switch traditional crops for flowers. The idea has worked inasmuch as local farmers have gained a new source of income and have managed, for the most part, to upgrade their standard of living.

The flower base also developed into a bed and breakfast phenomenon on the weekends, as local farmers opened up their doors to throngs of city-slickers wanting to get away from the urban chaos, buy some flowers for their homes and eat home-style meals.

Many of the locals also rent their homes out long term to artists, musicians and foreigners who are eager to live in a cleaner, greener environment. There have been some hiccups, as real estate developers and local government officials buy and develop land owned by local farmers, but the overall goal of enriching the countryside, bringing development to the suburban areas and giving city residents a place to enjoy themselves has been reached.

We recently visited San Sheng Xiang and took some pictures on a busy weekend. If you are in need of some flowers, some homestyle cooking or just a day of walking around in a less urban setting, then hop on the number 56 (or 343) bus heading east and get off at the main gate of San Sheng Xiang. The gate on your left is a large brown structure with four A’s proudly written across the top to signify that Flower Town has been designated a Class 4-A tourist destination by the local government.

Once you reach the main gate, the best thing to do is pick a direction and walk. There are bed and breakfast’s (known as Nong Jia Le’s) off of the main street and the main flower warehouse is right across from the main gate. There are also people selling flowers up and down the main highway leading to Flower Town and in the development itself.