Where To Go and What To Do in Chengdu!
My
final part on the amazing trip to Chengdu, China, is also the most interesting
part. China is full of various culture, heritage and history. From the many
dynasties it has through time, China today has an amazing historical background
and places to visit. One needs to plan your visit wisely as there are many
places to visit in Chengdu as well as the surrounding area outside the city of
Chengdu. From panda visitation to historical sites, cultural villages, shopping
and night life, we could barely cover much in a few days. However, we did
pretty well in some ways and covered a little of everything within our trip. As
some of these places are huge, expect lots of walking and one will need
comfortable shoes as well.
1. CHENGDU RESEARCH BASE OF GIANT PANDA BREEDING
Simply
a Must-visit in Chengdu, the Chengdu
Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding is dedicated to giant panda
conservation. The park is huge and is amazingly beautiful and green. With
numerous accolades under its belt, the conservation park is a favorite spot for
tourist and many locals as well. Go early to catch the pandas in action. The
whole park is pretty shaded with lots of greens everywhere, especially bamboo.
The
park is sectioned into several enclosures for the pandas as they are quite the
solitary animals. I managed to catch the adult giant panda and some young
pandas. It is such an amazing sight and I even catch one quite close. They
looked so gentle despite their size. There is also the baby panda and nursery
but I missed that.
It’s
also my first time seeing a red panda! Technically, it’s not related to the
giant panda as the red panda resembles more towards raccoon or cat. Also known
as the red bear-cat, the red panda is also on the verge of extinction so it is
crucial to protect them. Red panda loves to sleep on trees. I am also glad I
caught one pretty up close too…
Surprisingly,
there were quite a few peacocks there too. As soon as I try to take a photo,
this peacock immediately showed off the proud gorgeous feathers. Besides that,
there were also swans, flamingos and other birds.
There
is also a lake as well as Giant Panda museum, Panda Story Cinema, souvenir shop
and restaurants as well as a veterinary hospital. It’s a truly beautiful place
to visit!
Amazing Bamboo landscape
Giant Panda in full glory!
Red Panda has a habit of sleeping on
the branches of trees…
Magnificent Peacock showing off!
Chengdu
Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding
1375, Panda Road,
Northern Suburb, Chengdu.
Tel: +86 28 8351 0033
Ticket Price: 58 Yuan
per person
Business Hours: 7.30am
to 6.00pm
2. JINSHA SITE MUSEUM
Founded
in 2001 in Chengdu, the Jinsha Site
dates back to 12th to 7thcentry B.C. Listed under one of
the Ten Major Archaelogical Discoveries
of China in 2001, the Jinsha site was the capital of the ancient Shu
Kingdom. The museum consists of the center of conservation and restoration, the
center of cultural communication, the exhibition hall, the theme park, Jinsha
deer park and the relic hall which has many artifacts excavated from the ruins.
I
was really impressed are how much effort they pride themselves in recovering
the history of the Shu civilization. This kingdom was believed to be one of the
richest kingdom as more than 6000 relics of gold, bronze, jade, ivory, stone,
elephant tusk and more was found. Some of the famous relic includes Sun and
Immortal Bird Gold Ornament, The Gold Mask and Bronze Standing Figure.
Jinsha Site Sun and Immortal Bird Gold
Jinsha Site Conservation and
Restoration Hall
Jinsha Site Relics: Sun and Immortal
Bird Gold Ornament, The Gold Mask and etc
One of the largest Giant Ebony was
also unearthed in Qingbaijiang district of Chengdu. This giant ebony on
displayed was believed to be more than 1000 year-old tree old and carbonized
for 6500 years.
Jinsha
Site Museum
No.2 Jinsha Site Road,
Chengxi, Chengdu.
Tel: +86 28 8730 3555
Ticket Price: 80 Yuan
per person
Business Hours: 8am to
6pm
3. LESHAN GIANT BUDDHA
Leshan Giant Buddha or Leshan Dafo is a
magnificent tall stone statue carved out of a cliff. The 233 feet Buddha is the
largest stone Buddha in the world. Built during the Tang Dynasty, Leshan Giant
Buddha scenic area has been listed as a UNESCO
World Heritage Site since 1996.
The
project to build this Buddha took 90 years to complete. The Buddha statue project was started in 713
A.D. and was led by a Chinese monk named Haitong with hopes of the Buddha
blessing the turbulent waters that plagues the ships on the river. Today, one
can either catch sight of the Buddha by boat along the river or if you are up
to it, you can visit the site and climb the long flight of stairs carved into
the cliff. The Buddha is also guarded by two guardians built on each side of
the cliff.
The majestic Leshan Buddha view by
river cruise
Ardent fans might want to take the
flight of stairs by the cliff for a closer look…
Else just do what we did! (photo
courtesy of Ching YS)
We also caught sight of the morning market after we completed our boat ride and it was a bustling sight of the freshest produce of Chengdu. There were also plenty of fishes to be sold alive. The sight of spices, legumes, vegetables, fruits, meat and more is my kind of sight. I also caught a lady using an old pounding gadget to pound her chilies.
We had packs of Soy Bean milk in long thin plastic bags and also warm savory Tau Foo Far with peanuts and crackers for lunch. I find it a bit funky in taste as I am used to our sweetened Tau Foo Far…
Leshan
Giant Buddha
No.2435 Lingyun Street,
Shizhong District, Leshan, Sichuan
Tel: 0833-2302296
Ticket Price: 90 Yuan
per person on site / 70 Yuan per person by boat
4. MOUNT EMEI
"Massive golden buddha on the sumit of Eimei Shan" by Staceynyx – credit to Wikipedia
Photo credit to Ching YS
One
of the Four Sacred Buddhist Mountains of
China, Mount Emei or Emei
Shan sits on the western rim of Sichuan. Mount Emei is 150km from
Chengdu. One can catch the train or bus to the main gate of Baoguo Temple and
then switch to the buses going up Mount Emei which is about a 2-hour winding
ride. Then one has to endure a strenuous 30km hike on steep paths to the cable
car station which is another few minutes ride before reaching the Golden
Summit.
I
highly recommend wearing proper comfortable shoes along with taking some motion
sickness pills for the winding road as well as investing in a bamboo hiking
pole for the hike. There are jackets available for rent as well as it has a
yearly average temperature of 3 degree celsius. Along the hike up, one will see
many stalls selling local snacks and mushrooms. There are also wild monkey
along the trail up so be careful as these monkey can be very aggressive.
The
Golden Summit has a towering
multi-face statue of Samantabhadra,
as well as two temples and a splendid view of the cloud sea surrounding the
mountain. Unfortunately the day when I was there, it was really cloudy and
foggy. There are four miracles at the summit – The Sunrise, The Sea of Clouds, Buddha’s Halo and the Holy Lamps.
One
can even stay at the many monasteries or hotels up at Mount Emei or dine there.
The best time to visit are to go early and head down in the evening if you
don’t plan to stay over.
The hike up to Golden Summit takes at
least an hour if you are not trained for hiking
Cable Car station ride aprrox. 5
minutes.
Eating at the top of Golden Summit can
be quite fun!
A cloudy day at Golden Summit
If you think life is difficult for
you, then catch these ladies with the hefty load on their shoulders!
Direct translation of Chinese language
to English… lol…
Mount
Emei
Emeishan, Leshan City,
Sichuan
Tel: 0833-5533355
Ticket Price: 185 Yuan
per person
Business Hours: 6.00am
to 6.30pm
5. TAOPING QIANG VILLAGE
Taoping Qiang Village is about 2 hours by road
transportation from Chengdu. This village is definitely a must-visit in my
books. Known as The Mysterious ‘Ancient Oriental Castle’, this spot represents
the unique Qiang’s architectural traditions in the Qiang village. With a
history of over 2000 years, Taoping Quang Village was founded in 111 B.C. The
village architecture has withstand many wars as well as natural disasters and
has survived through time till current. There are still Qiang people living in
the village till today. We met some of the Qiang ladies and is in awe of how
well they look despite being over 90 years old!
Constructed
with stones, wood and yellow mud, the structure of the buildings are complex,
solid and built with intelligence. The buildings are quite small and has many
small and narrow alleys which feels like a labyrinth. The underground water
system is also very unique with spring water channeled to all the households.
There are symbolic watchtower built on the building is used to keep an eye for
enemies.
Taoping
Qiang Village is not to be missed when one is in Chengdu as there are plenty to
see and experience!
On the way to the village, we head
through lots of valleys and hills of Li Country
Taoping Qiang Village
Yang Family is the largest family in
Qiang Village and their house is the largest in the village. There are Yang
family members still living in the house and there are also meat still being
cured the same way as before.
We visited one of their famous Chen
watchtower which is prettily decorated with dried corn. The view is simply
breath-taking!
Ancient lock system where one inserts
this long wooden key to open the door from inside.
Notice this protruding edge on the
building structures and was told that this clever architecture element allows
the building to expand and reduce from nature’s elements.
Women of Qiang Village
She’s the sweetest and healthiest
92-years old women I have ever met. This is her house and she has gladly allowed
everyone to check out her home which has many photos of yesteryears.
The Qiang people is also reknown for
their Qiang-style embroidery, songs and dances, as well as their dried meats.
There are plenty of souvenirs for sale as well as Qiang cuisine to be savored.
Taoping
Qiang Village
Taoping District, Li
County, Aba Prefecture Sichuan
Ticket Price: 60 Yuan
per person
Business Hours: 8am to
6pm
6. WU HOU TEMPLE
If
you are into history of the famous Three
Kingdoms, you would certainly want to visit Wu Hou Temple. The memorial site is dedicated to the Shu Kingdom’s
prime minister and military strategist Zhuge Liang and is built next to the
temple of Emperor Liu Bei, the first emperor of Shu Kingdom. Thee 37,000 square
meter site is a site filled with various temples, beautiful green landscapes
with thousand year old trees and stones.
The
site is sectioned into five different sections and houses many clay sculptures
of the famous officials from Shu Kingdom as well as relics and calligraphy.
There are small radio devices for rent as well as tour guides to relay the
history of the Shu Kingdom with additional charges as the history is complex
and long.
The dark wall symbolizes an emperor is
behind its walls.
Shu Kingdom’s Prime Minister and Military
strategist Zhuge Liang and Emperor Liu Bei
There’s quite a few temples inside the
Wuhou Temple itself. This site is also has Emperor Liu Bei’s tomb. The whole
place is also filled with lots of old tall trees which provided a nice cool
shade for walking around.
Wu
Hou Temple
No.231, Wuhou Temple
Street, 610041 Chengdu
Tel: 028-85552397
Ticket Price: 60 Yuan
per person
Business Hours: 8.00am
to 6.00pm
7. JIN LI STREET
While
one is visiting Wuhou Temple, one
should also head on over to Jin Li
Street, one of the oldest street in Chengdu. Today, it is visited by many
and is always crowded as the street is now filled with many vendors selling
their wares. The street was renovated in 2004 and many of the buildings are
restored and updated.
Today
it houses street food vendors, teahouses, residences, bars and even a stage for
opera performances. Walking through the street is marvelous as there are plenty
for the camera lens. Check out the many talented Chinese art such as Blown
Candy Figurine, Candy Art, Clay Art, Calligraphy and more.
One can buy lots of art trinkets here!
We watched in amazement as this
artistic person was making blown candy art!
There’s plenty of street food as
mentioned in my previous post in Jin Li Street too so make sure to taste some
of Chengdu’s street food. Jin Li Street is perfect for shopping as well as food
and art.
Jinli
Street
231, Wuhouci Street,
Wuhou District, Chengdu
Ticket Price: FREE
8. KUANZHAI ALLEY
Another
similar street filled with street food and culture of Chengdu is KuanZhai Alley. Also known as Wide and
Narrow Alley, there are three parallel alleys in this area. The ancient
historical alley is said to be dated back to the Qing Dynasty. After going
through a series of renovation work, KuanZhai Alley opened to public in 2008.
It
is now a popular site for tourist and locals as there are many restaurants,
bars and teahouses together with street vendors selling street food and
souvenirs. Many locals visit this alley as it has become a big entertainment
and night spot as well as a place for plenty of artworks.
The Wide and Narrow Alley is a popular
choice with tourists and locals.
The night comes alive with lots of
food and entertatinment at Kuanzhai Alley!
Kuanzhai
Alley
Changshun Shang Lu
(Changshun Upper Road), Chengdu
Ticket Price: FREE
9. CHUN XI ROAD
If
shopping is one of your focus, then you would certainly want to visit Chun Xi Road. It is the first shopping
area in Chengdu and houses plenty of large department stores with many famous
brands. The many large billboards on this road reminded me of New York Times Square.
The whole area is connected with a long bridge walkway.
Along the wide road, there is the Yat-sen Square where a bronze statue of
Dr. Sun Yat-Sen is located.
Chun
Xi Road, area between
Zongfu Road and Dongda Jie
Business Hours: 10am to
10pm Daily
10. LOTUS POOL (HEHUACHI) MARKET
For
more shopping escapades, one should also visit Lotus Pool Market or HeHuaChi
Distribution Center. The huge mall is a wholesale distribution center and
there are plenty of shopping items for sale even if you are not a wholesaler.
One
can try your luck and ask for some discounts though many only allows discounts for
wholesalers. Fashion wear, jewelry, fashion accessories, and more are available
at this market. We also bought quite a bit of souvenirs from here as they are
cheaper than other places.
Saw this pineapple vendor painstakingly
cutting fresh pineapples so prettily.
There’s plenty of shops outside the
Lotus Pool Market so there’s plenty to shop till you drop!
Lotus
Pool Market
Third Section of Erhuan
(2nd Ring) Road, Jinniu District, Chengdu
11. CHENGDU IFS MALL
Located
in the prime business district of Chengdu, the IFS (International Finance
Square) Mall is renowned for high end fashion labels. Offering premium and
luxury goods, the mall also houses entertainment and high end restaurants.
Opened in January 2014, the 206,000 sqm Chengdu IFS Mall is a popular spot
because it has a giant panda structure on the building to represent the panda
climbing into the building. Make sure to go to the rooftop of the mall to take
photos with the panda face!
IFS
is easily reachable by Chengdu Metro Line 2, at the Chunxi Lu (春熙路) stop.
Chengdu
IFS Mall
No. 1 Block 3, Hongxing
Road,
Jin Jiang District,
Chengdu,
China 610021
Business Hours: 10am to
10pm
Chengdu has been an
amazing trip! With plenty to see, eat, buy, learn and experience, Chengdu has
so much more to offer than what I have covered. There are certainly many more
places to visit in Chengdu and it is now made possible with direct flights from
Air Asia at affordable prices. One
should also check out Dorsett Grand
Chengdu as the five-star hotel is located in a prime area with plenty of
attractions nearby. I hope to return one day with my family to Chengdu to visit
the enchanting JiuZhai Gou as well
as other gorgeous places in the Heavenly
State.
Read up on my other
Chengdu posts:
