Atlas of China
Xi'an to Chengdu 西安 – 成都
Door to door, the high-speed train comes out ahead: about 3½ hours against about 4 hours by flight, counting about 20 minutes to board a train and 2½ hours of airport time for a flight. Fares run ¥300 against about ¥400. The stations are in or near the city centres, which is what tips it.
| Way | Time | Door to door | Fare | A day |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| High-speed trainXi'an North 西安北 → Chengdu East 成都东 | 3 h 5 minG321, fastest | 3½ hours | ¥300standard class | 6705:18–19:58 |
| FlightXi'an Xianyang (XIY) → Chengdu Tianfu (TFU) | 1 h 35 minin the air | 4 hours | about ¥400varies by day | 121:20 |
By train
67 direct high-speed trains a day run from Xi'an North to Chengdu East, between 05:18 and 19:58. The fastest, G321, takes 3 h 5 min, and a standard-class seat is ¥300. Coming back, 71 trains a day, the fastest 3 h 9 min (G322, 06:09 to 22:19).
Xi'an: Trains to Shiyan and on to Wuhan via the new line use Xi'an East, opened in June 2026. Chengdu: Tianfu (TFU), about 50 km south-east, is the busier airport; Shuangliu (CTU) is closer in, and Trip.com's CTU city code covers both.
By air
One nonstop flight a day from Xi'an Xianyang (XIY) to Chengdu Tianfu (TFU), 1 h 35 min in the air, at 21:20, with Sichuan Airlines. One flies back. Door to door, with the airports at each end, count about 4 hours; fares vary by day and are typically about ¥400.
Stops on the way
Cities between the two with direct trains from Xi'an and on to Chengdu, so the trip can be broken there.
At the other end
Featured places around Chengdu.
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Chengdu Giant Panda Base 成都大熊猫繁育研究基地
Watch giant pandas munch bamboo and tumble about among the trees
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Sanxingdui Museum 三星堆博物馆
Goggle-eyed bronze masks and a towering bronze tree from a lost Bronze Age kingdom
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Dujiangyan Irrigation System 都江堰
A 2,200-year-old waterworks that tamed the Min River without a dam and still runs today
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Mount Qingcheng 青城山
A cradle of Taoism, where forest stairways climb past temples and cave shrines
Around Xi'an: Terracotta Army, Big Wild Goose Pagoda, Huaqing Palace, Xi'an City Wall, Han Yangling Mausoleum.
On the map
Open either city on the illustrated map, or put both in a trip and let the planner lay out the days and the legs between them, with the same tables these numbers come from.
Book
About Xi'an · About Chengdu · Where Xi'an reaches in a day · Where Chengdu reaches in a day · All routes
Trains are every direct train on 2026-10-28 or 2026-11-11 in the 12306 timetable, with standard-class fares; one weekday, so weekend and holiday services differ, and the fastest train may not run every day. Flights are the airlines' schedules for 2026-10-28, plus routes Wikipedia lists for small airports. Drives are routed on OpenStreetMap roads (extract of 2026-10-21) where the pair was routed, else estimated from the distance. Door-to-door times add about 20 minutes to board a train and 2½ hours of airport time to a flight. How to book is in the guide to trains and 12306; the rail times are open data on the data page.