Several postings ago I wrote a short article about travel to JiuZhaiGou (in Sichuan province). Today I will continue with a posting on another significantly more well known place in Sichuan province — the city of Chengdu. Chengdu is the capital of Sichuan province. While 900 km away JiuZhaiGou offers stunning views of nature, high, snow-covered peaks, rugged terrain, waterfalls and lakes, Chengdu offers interesting sites like:
- The Panda Research Base
- Wen Shu Temple
- People’s Park
- Shunxing Old Teahouse – a place where you could enjoy a few cups of tea while watching Sichuan Opera (here is an interesting CD with music from Sichuan opera An Introduction to the Chinese Opera, Vol. 1: Kun Opera; Sichuan Opera
)
Getting to Chengdu is probably best by airplane. The airport is approximately 40 minute ride from downtown. In terms of cost – it should be about RMB70.
In terms of staying, I recommend the excellent Chengdu Lidu Sheraton hotel — located very centrally in the city. If you are looking for ways to see as much as possible of day-to-day life in the city, right behind the hotel you would find a booming vegetable, fruit, and meat market. While I would not venture to buy meat here, the fruit and vegetables are excellent.
Here are some interesting photos from our recent visit to Chengdu:
traditional baby basket 
Sunday in Renmin (People’s) Park 
The images above should give you some idea about the beautiful architecture of Chengdu. In my next postings in the next few days I will provide more details and images from the Wen Shu Temple, and the Panda Research Base. Here is a book that provides a historic backdrop to today’s Chengdu Street Culture in Chengdu: Public Space, Urban Commoners, and Local Politics, 1870-1930
Happy Travels!
