Chengdu
Overview
The main reason to visit Chengdu, is, without doubt, to see the pandas at the really worth Chendgu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding. Besides that, the capital of Sichuan is a modern city with high skyscrapers and shopping malls, a beautiful and big Buddhist monastery, a Taoist temple and some interesting traditional streets which, although they have been restored and converted into quite touristry places, they are really worth a walk.
Also, if you plan to visit Tibet, Chengdu is the best place to arrange a tour to the Autonomous Region.
So, if you visit Chengdu, spend at least 3 days there, it is more than just the pandas!
Also, if you plan to visit Tibet, Chengdu is the best place to arrange a tour to the Autonomous Region.
So, if you visit Chengdu, spend at least 3 days there, it is more than just the pandas!
Sightseeing
-Chendgu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding: The number one reason to visit Chengdu and the number one place in the world to see these animals. It is a huge open area where you can see more than 50 giant pandas and some red pandas, too.
It is like a zoo but much better. In fact, it is a breeding center to preserve the pandas as they are endangered animals. They live in really good conditions and they have plenty of space to walk (actually more than enough as they are really lazy and spend most of the day sleeping).
You have different buildings inside the center, such as a museum, a panda hospital, souvenir shops… but of course, the most interesting place is where the pandas are. They are mostly separated by ages, so you will find an area where the adults are, another one for the sub-adults, for the young ones and finally the nursery. The nursery is where the youngest ones are. Depending on the time of the year you visit, they will be smaller or bigger (the pandas normally give birth around August).
Try to go there around 9 in the morning, as it is when the pandas start being active. You can spend 4 hours visiting all the complex and come back to Chengdu using the public bus.
58 yuan per person.
-Wenshu Monastery: A really big Buddhist complex featuring a lot of small temples and a pagoda inside it. It is free and you can spend an hour or so wandering around, entering all the temples, seeing the monks having their daily life and even having lunch in the dining-room they have for the monks. Really worth a visit.
-Green Ram Temple: It is a Taoist temple located close to the People’s Park. It has nice courtyards and a central temple. 10 yuan per person. Worth the money.
-People’s Park: The main park of Chengdu. It is close to Tianfu Square, to the Green Ram Temple and to the Wide and Narrow Street. It is a big park with a pagoda in the middle of it and here you can see a lot of Chinese doing different kinds of activities: calligraphy on the ground, fitness, tai chi, singing, playing mahjong… It is actually like a big fun fair with plenty of different events goinf on one next to another. It is free to visit and really worth to see how Chinese people spend their free time.
-Tibetan Neighbourhood: A small neighbourhood comprising two streets. You will see plenty of Tibetan monks walking on the street, Tibetan restaurants and a lot of Tibetan shops where to get yourself some Tibetan souvenirs or clothes if you are not visiting the Tibet. Close to Wuhou Temple and Jinli Street.
-Tianfu Square and Mao Statue: It’s the main square of Chengdu. A really modern one surrounded by high skyscrapers, a shopping mall and a big (although the surroundings make it look small) Mao statue.
-Jinli Street: A “traditional” street. It is the most famous pedestrian street of Chengdu. It is touristry, too much, but still you can spend some time wandering around as the architecture is really nice. However, the food stalls, souvenir shops and tourists kind of spoil the place.
-Wide and Narrow Street: Two “traditional” pedestrian streets. Similar to Jinli street, these two parallel streets close to the People’s Park are filled up with souvenir shops, restaurants and cafés. They are totally renovated streets but you can kind of imagine how it was traditional China some centuries ago, and to be honest, even if touristry, they are really nice. If you are short on time and you have to decide between these two streets and Jinli, go for these ones, nicer than Jinli.
Besides these main sights, you have the Wuhou Temple, really overpriced and being rebuilt, so we didn’t go there.
It is like a zoo but much better. In fact, it is a breeding center to preserve the pandas as they are endangered animals. They live in really good conditions and they have plenty of space to walk (actually more than enough as they are really lazy and spend most of the day sleeping).
You have different buildings inside the center, such as a museum, a panda hospital, souvenir shops… but of course, the most interesting place is where the pandas are. They are mostly separated by ages, so you will find an area where the adults are, another one for the sub-adults, for the young ones and finally the nursery. The nursery is where the youngest ones are. Depending on the time of the year you visit, they will be smaller or bigger (the pandas normally give birth around August).
Try to go there around 9 in the morning, as it is when the pandas start being active. You can spend 4 hours visiting all the complex and come back to Chengdu using the public bus.
58 yuan per person.
-Wenshu Monastery: A really big Buddhist complex featuring a lot of small temples and a pagoda inside it. It is free and you can spend an hour or so wandering around, entering all the temples, seeing the monks having their daily life and even having lunch in the dining-room they have for the monks. Really worth a visit.
-Green Ram Temple: It is a Taoist temple located close to the People’s Park. It has nice courtyards and a central temple. 10 yuan per person. Worth the money.
-People’s Park: The main park of Chengdu. It is close to Tianfu Square, to the Green Ram Temple and to the Wide and Narrow Street. It is a big park with a pagoda in the middle of it and here you can see a lot of Chinese doing different kinds of activities: calligraphy on the ground, fitness, tai chi, singing, playing mahjong… It is actually like a big fun fair with plenty of different events goinf on one next to another. It is free to visit and really worth to see how Chinese people spend their free time.
-Tibetan Neighbourhood: A small neighbourhood comprising two streets. You will see plenty of Tibetan monks walking on the street, Tibetan restaurants and a lot of Tibetan shops where to get yourself some Tibetan souvenirs or clothes if you are not visiting the Tibet. Close to Wuhou Temple and Jinli Street.
-Tianfu Square and Mao Statue: It’s the main square of Chengdu. A really modern one surrounded by high skyscrapers, a shopping mall and a big (although the surroundings make it look small) Mao statue.
-Jinli Street: A “traditional” street. It is the most famous pedestrian street of Chengdu. It is touristry, too much, but still you can spend some time wandering around as the architecture is really nice. However, the food stalls, souvenir shops and tourists kind of spoil the place.
-Wide and Narrow Street: Two “traditional” pedestrian streets. Similar to Jinli street, these two parallel streets close to the People’s Park are filled up with souvenir shops, restaurants and cafés. They are totally renovated streets but you can kind of imagine how it was traditional China some centuries ago, and to be honest, even if touristry, they are really nice. If you are short on time and you have to decide between these two streets and Jinli, go for these ones, nicer than Jinli.
Besides these main sights, you have the Wuhou Temple, really overpriced and being rebuilt, so we didn’t go there.
Accomodation
We stayed at Mix Hostel, a typical Chinese hostel, this is, a really nice one. At 98 RMB per room including breakfast is a good deal. The place has a really nice atmosphere, the staff speak English, they have a nice courtyard with a bar and restaurant (good prices) and they can arrange all kind of tours, including to Tibet.
The only downside is that in Winter is quite cold in the courtyard and that the Internet is almost unexistant, but this is common in all China.
Really a recommendable place to stay!
The only downside is that in Winter is quite cold in the courtyard and that the Internet is almost unexistant, but this is common in all China.
Really a recommendable place to stay!
Food & Drink
Chengdu is famous for its hotpot, and it is a must to try it if you are in town. Hotpot consists on a big pot placed in the middle of the table and containing normally a spicy boiling soup (the tables have a fire in the middle so the pot keeps boiling). Then you order different small dishes (meat, potatoes, fish, etc) which are raw and you cook them yourself inside the pot. You have hundreds of ingredients to choose and the price is some 35 RMB for the pot and between 1 and 20 RMB for the ingredients. You will find hotpot restaurants everywhere, just look inside a restaurant and if you see a metal round thingy in the middle of the tables, that’s a hotpot place!
Besides hotpot, there are a lot of restaurants scattered aroud town offering all kind of Chinese food, one recommendation is to try all kind of noodles, really tasty.
If you want to save some money (and even if you don’t want to) you have to try street food. Especially at night there are a lot of food stalls on the street whch serve all kind of skewers. You are given a plastic basket, you put there the skewers you like, and they cook them for you. Normally each skewer is 2 RMB.
As to drinks, you can find a lot of Chinese juices and teas in shops plus beers, being the most popular Tsingtao, Harbin and Snow.
Besides hotpot, there are a lot of restaurants scattered aroud town offering all kind of Chinese food, one recommendation is to try all kind of noodles, really tasty.
If you want to save some money (and even if you don’t want to) you have to try street food. Especially at night there are a lot of food stalls on the street whch serve all kind of skewers. You are given a plastic basket, you put there the skewers you like, and they cook them for you. Normally each skewer is 2 RMB.
As to drinks, you can find a lot of Chinese juices and teas in shops plus beers, being the most popular Tsingtao, Harbin and Snow.
Transportation
We got to Chengdu by train from Urumqi. It departed at 17:50, it took 49 hours and the price was a bit less than 700 RMB for a hard sleeper ticket.
To get out, we headed to Kunming at 15:03, it took 22 hours and the price was a bit less than 260 RMB for a hard sleeper.
In Chinese trains you normally have 3 options: hard seat (cheap but not recommendable if it is an overnight train as Chinese people won’t let you sleep), hard sleeper (the best one, with open compartments of 6 bunk beds with clean sheets and really comfortable) and soft sleeper (4 bed bunks in a closed compartment. Expensive and it can get really hot).
To get to the Panda Base don’t take any of the tours advertised in the hostels, please. Take bus numer 1 or 64 for 2 RMB and get off at Zhaouju Temple Bus Station. From there jump on bus 87 or 198A again for 2 RMB and it will drop you at the main gate of the Center. Then you can enjoy the pandas as much as you want, otherwise if you join a tour you’ll be “guided” all the time and running from one place to another with almost no time to enjoy your visit. Trust me.
To move around in the city, there’s a really convenient metro (2 lines at the moment of writing) costing 2 RMB per trip that goes to almost all the main sights. Otherwise, plenty of bus lines.
To get out, we headed to Kunming at 15:03, it took 22 hours and the price was a bit less than 260 RMB for a hard sleeper.
In Chinese trains you normally have 3 options: hard seat (cheap but not recommendable if it is an overnight train as Chinese people won’t let you sleep), hard sleeper (the best one, with open compartments of 6 bunk beds with clean sheets and really comfortable) and soft sleeper (4 bed bunks in a closed compartment. Expensive and it can get really hot).
To get to the Panda Base don’t take any of the tours advertised in the hostels, please. Take bus numer 1 or 64 for 2 RMB and get off at Zhaouju Temple Bus Station. From there jump on bus 87 or 198A again for 2 RMB and it will drop you at the main gate of the Center. Then you can enjoy the pandas as much as you want, otherwise if you join a tour you’ll be “guided” all the time and running from one place to another with almost no time to enjoy your visit. Trust me.
To move around in the city, there’s a really convenient metro (2 lines at the moment of writing) costing 2 RMB per trip that goes to almost all the main sights. Otherwise, plenty of bus lines.
Safety
Chengdu, as the majority of China, is a really safe city. Just be careful when crossing the street. Walking at night is perfectly ok, as everything is lit.
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