The classics are worth seeing once. The southwest is where people fall in love with China — slower, greener, and built for travellers who already did the highlights.
Beijing and Shanghai answer questions about China's present and its empire. Southwest China answers a different question: what does daily life feel like here, at its most unhurried?
Chengdu is the first gateway we opened because it teaches the pace. Chongqing, Kunming and Guiyang follow — each one a different version of the same mountain-and-river world.