Video game developer Quentin Cucuel moved from Ubisoft’s headquarters in Paris to its development studio in Chengdu in 2015, calling the city home ever since. “Chengdu is basically China’s Western capital of technology,” says Cucuel. He chose Chengdu for the same reasons he decided to study in Iceland and New Zealand: a love of the outdoors. Originally from Lyon, he has organised real-life games in the city.

“I’m a big gamer so I gave the local game, mahjong, a try and I loved it; it’s a lot like rummy. I even bought a table for my house. You have friends over, uncork a nice bottle of whisky and spend hours playing; it’s so much fun. On Saturday mornings I meet a few other guys for beach volleyball; they’re from Chengdu so it’s another segue into local life. The city built some courts right underneath my apartment and that was my golden opportunity to start playing again. Travelling around Sichuan is another thing I’ve added to my list. I bought myself a motorcycle and I probably escape to the mountains about once a month. I’m already outside the city in less than an hour and I can be at 5,500m within 10 hours. I’ve been asked to move to Shanghai a couple of times but I’m not giving up the ability to escape the city on a regular basis.”

Huanhuaxi is a beautiful park with a river and a pagoda; very traditional and charming. It has all of these statues of poets hidden around the place, which I used to run a scavenger hunt in the park.

This area has the funniest places, such as an entire warehouse full of trampolines and an indoor snowboarding venue. It’s a tiny heaven on earth. Last time I went, I saw a llama – I kid you not.

Taiziling is a ski resort about four hours west of Chengdu. We go for a ski trip here once a year. Usually we take a minibus shuttle that leaves from the city, or we do a roadtrip with some friends.

Join us as residents of Chengdu take us on a tour around the places that make the historic city a diverse, dynamic and international place to live and visit.