Chengdu is Southwest China's dominant city and a posting that regularly surprises expatriates who arrive expecting provincial limitations. The city has a large, well-educated local population, a genuinely thriving food and nightlife scene, and a pace of life distinctly less frantic than the east-coast megacities. Sichuan cuisine — genuinely Sichuan, not the overseas approximation — is everywhere and is outstanding.
The expatriate community is smaller than in Beijing or Shanghai and is concentrated around a handful of well-known districts, which creates a more close-knit social dynamic. International school provision and private healthcare are adequate for most family needs, though the range is narrower than in the tier-one cities.