Gauss-Telegraph: World trip from home in 30 days – Chengdu

Gauss-Telegraph: World trip from home in 30 days – Chengdu

by Lena Heinecke

Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding

Panda sculpture at the IFC Mall

My impression of Chengdu

Chengdu (成都, pinyin: chéng dū) is a large city with around 14 million inhabitants in the Chinese province of Sichuan. It is mainly known for its panda breeding stations and spicy food. But its many temples, parks and museums are also very worth visiting. So don’t leave out Chengdu on your next trip to China.

Must-see attractions

The main attraction of Chengdu are the pandas, as already mentioned. You can visit these cute animals at the Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, a zoo/park combined with a research centre. It is recommended to be there before 10 a.m. since the pandas sleep most of the time afterwards. The baby pandas are very cute and clumsy whereas the big ones are quite lazy and don’t move much. In addition to the panda enclosures there is also a lake, a panda hospital and interactive stations where you can learn more about pandas.

Wenshu Yuan Monastery

Another mandatory point to visit is the Du Fu Thatched Cottage (Du Fu is the so-called Chinese Goethe). He fled to Sichuan with his family in the 8th century, lived there for four years and wrote over 200 poems. The excavation site of the former Cottage is in a park with pagodas, exhibition buildings, museums and much more. The Cang Tang Lake is right next to it.

The Chunxi Road pedestrian zone is a popular sight among Chinese people, as a giant panda sculpture is attached to the wall of the IFC Mall there. If you go to the roof of the mall, you can take pictures with the face of the panda. The Da Ci temple is also nearby. However, the best preserved and most beautiful Buddhist temple in Chengdu is the Wenshu Yuan Monastery.

 

Jinli Ancient Street

If you like quaint old town streets and street food, a visit to Jinli Ancient Street is strongly recommended. Strolling there should be combined with a visit to the Wuhou Temple located next door with an incredibly beautiful park and the Huiling Mausoleum.

The Chengdu TV Tower is also called Tianfu Panda Tower or 339 Tower (because it is 339 meters high). You take a glass elevator to the viewing platform, from where you can see the city by day and by night.

Best museum in the city

It’s highly recommended to check out the Jinsha Site Museum. Since excavations began there in 2001, a lot of finds have been dug out, the oldest of which are around 3000 years old (like ivory, jade and gold, but also graves and bones of people, clay bowls, etc.). The site consists of the excavation hall, the museum for the finds and a huge park around it. In addition, free tours of the archaeological site and the museum (in Chinese) start every few minutes.

Hot Pot

Favourite local dish

Hot Pot is a Chinese dish where a spicy broth is cooked in a pot directly on the table and various ingredients (like meat, fish, vegetables, noodles, mushrooms etc.) are cooked in the broth for a short time by the guests themselves. It is very tasty, but also very spicy.

 

 

 

 

Note: Due to the spread of the coronavirus, we don’t recommend to travel until the all restrictions have been lifted.