Chengdu's rush hour traffic can be hellish. Plan your itinerary around not having to be on the road during these hours.
By Metro
The first line of the Chengdu Metro (http://www.cdmetro.cn/) opened in October 2010, slicing north-south through the city along Renmin Rd and connecting the North and South railway stations together. The fare for a single ride is ¥2-4 depending on distance. You can purchase tickets from machines English available with ¥1 coins or 5¥ and 10¥ notes. Ticket booths are also available if you don't have suitable notes.
When entering the metro you need to put your bags through an x-ray machine. The ticket is flashed by the gates on the reader on your right side. You need the ticket to get out as well so keep it safe. When exiting the ticket is placed into a slot that collects it. Again this slot is on the right side of the gate, so pay attention since it's very easy to accidentally open the gate next to you. When exiting, you must wait behind the yellow line until the passenger in front of you has passed and the gate shows it now accepts your ticket. If you're beyond the line the gate won't let you through and you need to back away for it to accept you as a new passenger.
Line 2 of the Chengdu Metro has partially completed construction and is operational. This line currently runs from the North West Chadianzi Bus Terminal of Chengdu to the South East of the City, interchanging with Line 1 at Tianfu Square Station. Eventually, once construction is fully completed, 6 more Stations will be operational reaching out to Xipu, in the North West. Line 2 will be most handy to travelers arriving and departing via Chengdu East Railway Station, currently only served by bus.
By bike
Most guest houses have bicycles for hire. Check for technical problems before starting out unless you want to be held responsible for it later. If you leave your bicycle, do so in one of the designated "bicycle parks", where it will be guarded over for a small fee. If you can not find such a place, be sure to lock it securely against some structure. Be careful as the bike traffic flow can be intense.
By taxi
Official taxis are either green or blue and are equipped with meters. A free taxi will display an illuminated sign with Chinese characters in its dashboard. The meter is turned on by tilting the sign, make sure the driver does that and if not, you can try to do it yourself and the driver usually gets your point. Some taxi drivers may try to offer you a fixed price but don't take it unless you know it's cheaper than with the meter on. Taxi drivers don't speak English nor do they understand the map, so have an address written in Chinese with you. Drivers don't know many street names so it's best to have the address to some well known place close to your destination. Collect taxi cards from hotels and restaurants and show them to the drivers, and when close to your destination start instructing by pointing with your hand. This method usually gets you there - some drivers however will not follow your instructions or get angry for you traveling a longer distance than what they expected.
Taxi fare is ¥8 on flagfall for the older taxis ¥9 for the new ones, and increase at ¥1.9 per km after the first 2 kilometers. For rides from 10 to 60km the km fare is increased by 50% to compensate the taxi returning empty. During night time the starting price is ¥1 more and per km price is ¥2.20. Waiting price for the taxi is one km fare per every five minutes, and the meter counts traveling with speed less than 12 km/h as waiting time. Taxis often refuse to accept ¥100 bills so try to have some change on hand.
Taxis can be difficult to find depending on the area. There are also unlicensed taxis in the city but they're quite hard to notice. If you use one, know your destination and expected price and negotiate the fare beforehand.