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Hello. I've been living in Chengdu for about 7 months now. Previously, I lived in Singapore and Thailand (as well as the UK and several EU countries). Chengdu is by far the most challenging place I've lived, but it's certainly manageable. If you can speak Chinese, it will be much easier. (I don't, but I've been learning since I arrived). AliPay has a translation function, so I use that to order food/groceries, and for DiDi (taxis), etc, which helps a lot.  BaoPals is incredibly helpful, as it's an English interface for TaoBao, etc. (similar to Amazon). There are also endless malls and shopping centers with some Western brands. I have several translation apps on my phone and use them frequently to read labels, understand signs, etc.

Thousands of expats left during the pandemic, so the community is small, but foreigners are slowing coming back. Where you live in the city will also make a big difference. 

It's a beautiful city, with many lively neighborhoods and beautiful historical temples. Between the immaculately clean subway and DiDi, getting around is very easy. I'd be happy to meet up once you get here!

Thank you very much for your reply. It's very helpful. I've basically signed the contract now, so no going back. I've already started to familiarise myself with Chinese on Duolingo. It would be great to meet up once I'm there. I think my job will give me an apartment on campus ; ( but it might suit me for the beginning. Thet are also offering me 200 yuan for utilities a month I think. That sounds like nothing to me. How much do utilities come to roughly each month on average do you know?

Yes, 200 yuan probably won't cover it all, but of course it depends on your usage and size of apartment. Chengduexpat has a page about it:   They are a good resource and have a mini-program in WeChat with a guide to the city.

Cheers, I will check it out! I'm flying around 24th August, it would be so nice to meet one day! I like art, coffee, cats and all the normal things ; )

Normally, Internet friends are not that real in life, I met a British guy on August, but he moved to other cities, seems he was doing a city tour. But he is a sophisticate guy.

I am too.

In Chengdu, if you would like to stay long, you have to learn some Chinese, or else you would feel a little bit lonely. Also Chengdu, compared to other cities, offers the closest location to really mountains, if you like hiking and sight seeing, there are some must-go places.

What makes you think you deserve or would benefit from an "easy place"? Chengdu is damnably INTERESTING, which trumps easy nine falls out of ten. Go there with that in mind and you'll thrive like a brood of baby buzzards hatched onto fresh roadkill. Cheers.