I feel like I say this about every place that I visit, but Chengdu is one of my favourite places in China. Sichuan Province man, it’s up there with the best. It’s such an authentically Chinese city, and maybe the best place that you can go if you want to fully immerse yourself into life in China. Why? It’s surrounding scenery is stunning, the city itself is a mixing pot of Han Chinese and Tibetan cultures, the art is wow, the history is fascinating, and, most importantly, the men are the prettiest in the whole of China.
Chengdu is in Western China, and acts as the capital of the Sichuan Province. It houses a mediocre 10 million residents, which luckily isn’t obvious, as it is nicely spread out. It’s pretty much surrounded by mountains. It’s famous for super spicy hotpot and tea house culture, but, let’s face it, most people visit it as it is the home of the giant panda, China’s national treasure, and is world-famous for breeding them and saving them from extinction.
It is a must-visit on any itinerary of China, and acts as a good stop off for exploring the rest of Sichuan. You simply can’t China until you’ve been here.
If you’ve decided to explore, head into Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport if you’re flying- it is very well connected to many places all over the world. The trains are also well-connected to other spots in China, and sleeper trains make it possible to get there directly all the way from Shanghai.You can choose between Chengdu, Chengdu East and Chengdu South. There’s also three bus stations, which act as a good springboard for exploring the countryside. Chadianzi is the best, as it sets you off to Songpan and Jiuzhaigou, must-sees in the Sichuan countryside.
My accommodation
I stayed at Hello Chengdu International Youth Hostel, which was sufficiently comfortable and well-located, especially as 5 nights in a 8-bed mixed dorm was only 170 RMB. It has a pretty garden and some super cute and friendly cats and dogs. They also have organised tours that are pretty affordable which takes the stress out of planning. That said, the staff are kind of sucky and unhelpful. They can provide some local based knowledge, but were particularly rude to us when we were asking for their help in getting to Songpan. Also the rooms are kind of shabby, and need a lick of paint. If you can get better quality and staff for your money, maybe go elsewhere. Regardless, we were happy, and if you’re looking for a cheap sociable place to stay in Chengdu, this hostel is fine.
Day One
Okay I totally lied, this itinerary is more four days + a long ass travel day from Shanghai, but I still think it’s worth mentioning. To save moneys, I took the longest train of my life from Shanghai, which took 15 hours in total. Sounds nasty right? Honestly it wasn’t that bad. I was in a high-class slow train, in a fancy ass sleeper carriage. Granted, it was a day train so instead of getting bed space, the sleeper rooms sit 6 passengers on the beds. It sounds hefty, but the beds are long, and I even had space to curly up and nap.
The trains themselves are well-fitted out, with a food carriage, toilets, showers and power sockets. If you can entertain yourself for that long and keep moving around, the 15 hours fly by. If this doesn’t appeal, you can take an overnight train from Shanghai instead, where you literally sleep the time away in your own bed, or get a high-speed one which takes half of the time.
Day Two
For me, museums are always the best introduction to a place, so the obvious choice for my first stop was Sichuan Museum. A good decision-it houses a huge collection of objects that reflect the province’s deep history and culture. Objects are catagorized into ceramics, stone sculpture, stone wares, pottery, coins, calligraphy, folk art, stone inscription and modern art. It really is the perfect overview in understanding the region. My favourite was the section on the works of Zhang Daqian, who produced some beautiful ink paintings of Buddhist and Taoist figures, as well as some beautifully carved seals for powerful men.
The collection is huge and diverse, and you can while away hours in there, totally absorbing yourself in Sichuan’s past. Don’t forget your passport to land free entry. Man, there’s so many pros of this place.
Next stop, Wuhou Temple, a super old temple dedicated to Zhuge Liang, the Marquis Wu of the Shu Kingdom during the Three Kingdoms Period. No one actually knows when it was first built, but the current building that stands originated in 1672.
It’s a beautiful place to visit- not only because of the old and intricate temple architecture but its surrounding gardens. They almost have a wild feel, full of rivers, bonzais and other plants. You can get lost wandering around or, if the humidity holds up, relax with a book. Another highlight is the Hui Mausoleum, which features various stone lions, and the rows of bamboo that surround the garden. So worth a visit, go, get zen.
From the temple I wandered through streets of shops selling a tonne of Buddhist statues and other religious object. Confused about why Chengdu loves Buddhas so much, I had a cheeky google and found that I was in the Tibetan district of town, full of shops that sell Tibetan art! What a place to wander into. Makes sense really, when I was heading to a vegetarian restaurant.
Veganheart Vegan Restaurant is just on the edge of the Tibetan Quarter and offers vegan hotpot and buffet for dirt cheap. The selection is good and the desserts are especially yummy. Go with a friend if you really want to get on the hotpot hype- finally vegans can get involved too (the mainstream usually uses meat/meat broth).
Day Three
Day three was a big day for me- I finally had a travelling companion. One of my good friends from the UK flew in the night before and I was beyond happy to have her company! Our first adventure together- Qingcheng Mountain.
I won’t lie, it started off stressful. The train over was booked out and we had to taxi to a couple of bus stations to find one with buses running. If you’re planning a trip here, I recommend that you book your train in advance!
Regardless, the stress was worth it. The mountain site was beautiful. It is one of the most famous Taoist mountains in China, and the scenery certainly didn’t disappoint. The mountain is covered in sacred halls and temples with beautiful old-school art and architecture, some of which are dedicated to Zhang Tianshi, the founder of Taoism who cultivated his faith on this very mountain. The temples surrounded by trees and views makes this place truly magical, and you can get lost in nature with the sweet smell of burning incense guiding you around.
You have a couple of options when visiting- hike up to the top or take the cable car. We were short on time so opted for the cable car- where you get to take in some great mountain-side views alongside little Taoist sculptures that line the cliffs. Once you get off the cable car, there is maybe a 20-30 minute hike to the peak through various famous temple spots. It’s very sweaty but worth it, the surrounding views of rolling hills literally make you feel like you’re in the middle of nowhere.
Even the walk back to the bus is pretty, with fields of flowers, rivers and trees lining the sidewalk.
Day Four
It was time to do what we really came here for- see some cute ass animals. We rose early for our hostel organised tour there, prime panda feeding time (and therefore their most active time- they’re lazy animals) is nice and early. The Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding aims to repopulate the earth with the lovable and endangered giant panda- there are heartbreakingly less than 2,000 left in the wild.
There are tonnes of things that you can explore in the breeding base, and look at pandas of a range of ages living out their (rather lazy routines). You can even look at the newborns in their incubators, which they switch out with mothers to improve their chances of survival. You can also check out red pandas, which are a smaller, more energetic species.
The pandas are so fucking cute and undoubtably hilarious. Rolling around, playing, fighting over food and squeezing into funny spots to nap, they entertain visitors for hours. Generally, I’m against zoos, but this is so much more, and the revenue from visitors can further go into helping these lovable animals. There is always problems with capitivity- we saw one older bear pacing an indoor enclosure, and I think that it is important to be aware of the problems of enclosing animals. Regardless, the animals seemed happy and comfortable, living out their lives in a nice environment.
There is also a museum which educates visitors on the breeding process and the state of the animals in the wild. Informative and worth a visit- it goes beyond just looking at the cute animals for fun.
After a hefty nap, we biked over to Vegetarian Lifestyle and ate our body weight in vegan food. Man it was so good. The baozis are particularly delicious, as well as the BBQ shiitake mushrooms. nomnomnom.
Full to the brim with food, we decided to stroll it off in Renmin Park, the first public park to exist in Chengdu. It’s a pretty park, with a lake, bonzai garden and tea houses. Most importantly, its full of locals going about their leisure time, which is particularly interesting to foreigners. First we encountered a classic old people dance hangout, with locals moving and grooving together to some Chinese tunes. They’ll even let you join in if you want to. Sadly, in classic awkward Brit style, we resolved that we needed some baijiu first.
Next came the marriage market, where a tonne of parents hang out and advertise their sons/daughters to other parents in the hope of finding them a partner. Its an interesting place, with adverts in mandarin advertising the desirable offspring, including age, occupation hobbies etc. Its like real life tinder where your parents control the outcome.
After getting a couple of marriage proposals, we decided to hide in a teahouse, where you get unlimited tea on the cheap, surrounded by locals playing mah-jong. A very cultural experience for sure. Renmin park is a must-do if you really want to experience authentic Chinese culture.
After having a lil’ rest, we then headed out in the evening to Jinli Old Street, to roam around traditional style buildings, eat some local snacks and get bevved. There are lots of street food stalls, as well as boba tea shops, tea houses, Chinese style restaurants and even places to watch Sichuan opera. Its a pretty place to explore, and the buildings make you feel like you’re back in ancient China (except for Starbucks, of course).
Finally, we went to the Lan Kwai Fong of Chengdu- the city’s party district, supposedly comparable to the one in Hong Kong. FYI, it’s not- HK definitely wins on this one, but it’s still a good nightlife spot to stop by. There are lots of bars and nightclubs to enjoy, especially if you’re a white dude, they seemed crazy popular with the locals.
Day Five
Nursing our hangovers, it was time to get spiritual again at Wenshu Temple, the best-preserved Buddhist temple in Chengdu. My friend, being the savvy traveller that she is, landed us an English tour with a member of the temple staff, for free. If you visit here, definitely get on this- its so worth it and definitely gives depth to your temple visit when you’re looking at everything.
The temple is known for its cultural relics, and has a lot of sculptures and works of calligraphy on display. There is also a garden to explore, a teahouse and vegetarian restaurant.
The final stop on our Chengdu tour was Kuanzhai Alley, or Wide and Narrow Alley. It dates back to the Qing Dynasty, and in 2003 it was restored as a shopping street full of stores and restaurants- a pretty place to stroll for the afternoon. We had a roam and some ice cream, and then headed back for dinner and an early night- we would be getting up disgustingly early to get a nice 7 hour bus to Songpan the next day.
[…] 1 month Guilin- 4 days Yangshuo- 2 days Nanjing- 3 days Shanghai- 4 days Chengdu- 5 days Songpan- 3 days Xi’an- 4 days Beijing- 5 […]