Chengdu

No reviews yetCity Sichuan, China

Anshun Bridge 8, Chengdu, Sichuan, China

Gateway Wuhou Shrine Chengdu, China DSC05423, Chengdu, Sichuan, China

Chunxi Road 20260514 2, Chengdu, Sichuan, China

About Chengdu

Chengdu is famous across China for taking life slowly: long afternoons in bamboo-shaded teahouses, mahjong in the parks and some of the country's most celebrated food. The capital of Sichuan province sits on the fertile Chengdu Plain, and its wider municipality is home to around 21 million people.

Its history runs back about three thousand years, from the Bronze Age Jinsha culture to the Shu Han kingdom of the Three Kingdoms period, remembered at the Wuhou Shrine. The poet Du Fu lived here in the 8th century, and Wenshu Monastery and Qingyang Palace remain busy places of worship. Sichuan cooking, with its numbing peppercorns and chili oil, helped the city become a UNESCO City of Gastronomy.

The giant panda breeding base on the northern edge of the city is the top draw for most visitors. Tianfu and Shuangliu airports and a busy high-speed rail network make Chengdu the gateway to western Sichuan, the Leshan Giant Buddha, Mount Emei and the Tibetan plateau.

Best seasonMarch-June and September-November

Ideal stay3 days

ArrivingTianfu or Shuangliu airport; high-speed rail to Chengdu East

What to See in Chengdu: 12 Favorites

Wildlife 1

Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding

Set among bamboo groves on the northern outskirts, this breeding and research center cares for dozens of giant pandas and red pand...

History 2

Wuhou Shrine

Dedicated to Zhuge Liang, the celebrated strategist of the Shu Han kingdom, and to its ruler Liu Bei, whose tomb mound lies inside...

Du Fu Thatched Cottage

The Tang poet Du Fu lived beside the Huanhua stream for several years in the 8th century and wrote more than two hundred poems her...

Neighborhoods 2

Jinli Ancient Street

Beside the Wuhou Shrine, this short reconstructed lane recalls the commercial streets of old Chengdu with wooden shopfronts, red l...

Kuanzhai Alley

Three parallel lanes, Wide Alley, Narrow Alley and Well Alley, preserve a quarter of Qing-dynasty courtyard houses first built for...

Temples and Shrines 2

Wenshu Monastery

The best preserved Buddhist temple in Chengdu, Wenshu Monastery dates in its present form mostly from the Qing dynasty and remains...

Qingyang Palace

One of the oldest and largest Taoist temples in southwest China, Qingyang Palace is linked by legend to the sage Laozi. Its halls,...

Museums 2

Jinsha Site Museum

Built over the remains of an ancient Shu capital found by construction workers in 2001, this museum shows the excavation pit along...

Sichuan Museum

Near Du Fu Thatched Cottage, one of the largest provincial museums in western China holds bronzes from ancient Ba and Shu, Han-dyn...

Parks 1

People's Park Chengdu

This central park is the best place to watch Chengdu's tea culture in action. At the Heming Teahouse, locals linger for hours over...

Shopping 1

Sino-Ocean Taikoo Li Chengdu

Built around the historic Daci Temple, this open-air shopping district of low-rise buildings and lanes mixes international brands...

Entertainment 1

Shu Feng Ya Yun Sichuan Opera

In the Cultural Park beside Qingyang Palace, this teahouse theatre stages evening variety shows of Sichuan opera, including the fa...

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