Chengdu is a brilliant city in the Sichuan province, China that has loads of things to do. While loads of tourists use this as a place to recover before they travel into the mountains to get more a Tibetan feel. The city itself has more than enough to offer as well to keep you covered. So here are 6 things you have to do when you are in Chengdu.
1. Visit wide and narrow alley / Kuangzhai alley
Be aware that when you come here it maybe looks like a tourist trap. Loads of shops that you will find at other tourist spots in China. A lot of food and souvenirs to buy and all overpriced. However, this spot has also a historical influence.
The government renovated 40% of the houses here and 60% of the houses are rebuilt. This area housed the administrative and military people during the last Chinese dynasty (Qing dynasty). Han people were not allowed in this area. When the communists took over, they moved their people in.
In the end this neighborhood, named Shaocheng, was given back to Chengdu. However, this became for the next 50 years a very poor neighborhood. The giant mansions were divided in small abodes that housed several families.
In 2003 the government decided that the alleys should be fixed up. In that time 800 people have been bought out of their houses. From the 900 people living there in that time, only a 100 remain. And now it houses panda shops, Starbucks and restaurants that the previous dwellers were unable to eat.
If you haven’t been to a Chinese tourist trap before you can make it a long visit. Otherwise feel free to quickly explore the area and move to something more authentic.
2. Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding
Or simply Chengdu Panda Base is a breeding facility for pandas and other almost extinct animals. The base started with 6 pandas that were saved from the wild. By 2008 it had 124 panda births and the captive panda population has grown to 83. A remarkable achievement, especially if you realize that female pandas only have a pregnancy period of 3 days during a whole year.
The Base is especially interesting if you want to learn about this history and the whole science behind it. Of course, you can skip this and only watch the pandas in their lodging. However, if that is the reason you will visit this please, you rather go to a ZOO that has besides pandas also loads of other animals.
I definitely recommend you to go into the different museums and learn about panda breeding and the history of pandas. Did you for example know that in the old Chinese time, a commander used the pandas as part of their army. Or that a giant panda can be pregnant anywhere between 95 and 160 days.
3. Jianshe alley
Where Kuangzhai alley is focused on tourists. Jianshe alley is completely the opposite. Don’t expect signs in English or any guidelines. Explore loads of different food shops on this night market.
As always be prepared to queue for the best food. Chinese people know where to get the best food and are willing to queue for it. We queued for 3 hours to get 3 pieces of different food. Also, for the food adventurous people out there, don’t forget to try out the pig brain. A little teaser it tastes a bit as flavored tofu.
4. Chungxi Street
You could compare Chungxi street with for example Oxford Street in London. Nothing more than a big shopping street. While I don’t like shopping even I liked this place, it has some interesting places. For example on top of the IFS shopping mail you can find the front face of the giant panda that you can see hanging from the outside. And if you are lucky there is another exhibition going on, on the rooftop.
Also, the Taiko Li shopping area is very nicely decorated and build. Not only above the ground where old architecture is used in a modern way to blend with the temple in the middle. But also under the ground.
5. Eat hotpot
You can’t leave Chengdu, or the Sichuan province without eating hotpot. And while you are at Chunxi Street, there is a place called Xiaolongkan old hotpot. This is one of the best places in Chengdu to experience some great old authentic hotpot. If you can’t handle spicy food that much don’t go for a spicy pot flavor. However, otherwise I definitely recommend you to try the most spicy one. It is an experience on its own. And to be fair, I had spicier hotpot in Beijing than this one. They recommend to have between 3-4 dishes per person, so you could use that guideline when you start to cross the things on the menu that you want to have.
6. Jinli street
This street is 550 meters long and the buildings are in the Qing Dynasty style. In ancient China the area around the coast such as Singapore was the poor area and Chengdu was the rich and well developed area. Of course, time has changed, but this area will give you a good impression how this time could have been.
Besides the standard tourist shops you will see everywhere, there is also a lot of food to eat. And again, for the food adventurous, don’t forget to try the famous Chengdu rabbit head. Of course as always you are able to get it cheaper outside this market, but at least everything here is in one place and you can try it all out at once.
Wrap Up
I hope those 6 things to do in Chengdu is helpful. And don’t forget to watch the video version of this if you want to have a better impression in what we did.
