Chéngdū nestles in the heart of a
legendary land of abundance, but few
outsiders know much about it. The
capital of China’s Sìchuān region seems
happy to keep a low profile. Indeed,
up until a few years ago even the locals
didn’t realise that they were living right
beside a long-lost kingdom. Chéngdū
is an intriguing blend of laidback
teahouses, spicy restaurants, noodles
and gorgeous giant pandas.
TALES OF THE RIVERBANK
Wangjiang Park hugs
Jǐn River as it passes
through the city.
Kids love to get out
in little boats here and
explore the pretty
banks and glades.
Over 100 varieties
of bamboo grow
in this great green
park full of pagodas
and pavilions.
SUPER
POOL
On weekends, fun lovers from Chéngdū travel to Dàyīng
Dead Sea resort, 130km (80mi) away. The new leisure
palace is centred around a gigantic swimming pool.
The splash zone is so vast, up to 10,000 people can float
around at the same time! The pool has 400m (1,312ft) of
‘coastline’, a huge fake beach and its own seaside village.
TEA TIME
Chéngdū has a long tradition of growing tea and a reputation
for having the best teahouses in all of China. These venues are
usually full of locals playing a tile game like mahjong or Chinese
chess (xiàngqí)
. The aim is to relax as you sip. Many customers in
the 6,000 Chéngdū teahouses enjoy chair massages or a more
traditional Chinese treatment such as an ear cleaning!
RED HOT CHILLI PEPPERS
As the capital of Sìchuān, an area world-famous for its hot chillies
and numbing peppercorns, Chéngdū likes to keep its menus spicy!
Hotpots and sweet water noodles are local favourites, but you can
also try something a bit more adventurous, such as shu
ǐzhˇu yú
(carp
or catfish served in chilli oil), or fūqī fèipiàn
, which translates as
‘married couple’s offal/lung slices’.
Fūqī fèipiàn
combines
shavings of chilled
beef tongue or
heart, with thin
slices of tendon
and tripe. Yum!
PANDA PUPS
The mountains around Sìchuān are home to China’s
most famous animal resident – the giant panda.
Everyone loves these big black-eyed animals, but
unfortunately habitat destruction has put the bears on
the endangered species list. Chéngdū’s Giant Panda
Breeding Research Base tries to put this right, offering
shelter to 120 giant and 76 red pandas. People are
welcome to come and visit, but the base’s real
mission is to encourage the shy creatures
to produce baby bears to release back
into the wild. A recent success saw
two pandas, Jing Jing and Si Yuan,
give birth to two sets of male twins.
TURTLE
CITY
Chéngdū is almost
2,000 years old and once
boasted two city walls.
According to legend, when
the city was built in 310
AD, the architect followed
the route of a turtle, letting
the animal decide where
the city’s borders
should be.
LOST KINGDOM
In 2001, during building work just outside
the city centre, an astonishing set of
3,000-year-old ruins were unearthed.
They turned out to be the remains of
the old capital of the Shu Kingdom, an
ancient civilization that lived along the
Yangtze River. The Jinsha site has yielded
all sorts of treasures. The Golden Sun Bird
is one of the most spectacular – an almost
pure gold disc featuring a 12-pointed sun and
four flying birds.
