Best Things To Do In Chengdu, China

If you are planning a trip to China and wondering about things to do in Chengdu, read on and I’ll tell you. Deep in the heart of China, at the eastern part of the Great Tibetan Plateau is Sichuan, a classical Chinese region full of rich culture, long history, fantastic natural landscapes and a lot of attractions to see, taste, try, feel and touch. Chengdu is full of symbols like the cute Giant Panda and its famous spicy cuisine, one of the best in the world. Chengdu is the capital of Sichuan. All this gives more than enough reasons to make a trip there and to dive into its atmosphere. Let’s explore this city and discover Chengdu attractions and start making unforgettable memories!

Some Basic Facts About Chengdu

Chengdu is the 5th largest city in China, located in the so-called Sichuan plain, only about 30-40 km east of the Great Tibetan Plateau. Being such a big and important urban center, it can be reached in many different ways – by plane, by regular and high-speed trains, by bus and every other kind of transport. Once arrived, you will see there are many things to do in Chengdu.

This unique city has a long history. And its history has left a lot of traces, from ancient times to the modern era. One of its significant historical periods is Sanguo, the Three Kingdoms in the 3rd century AD, when the city was a capital of Shu-Han Empire. Today you can touch this ancient time in Wuhou Temple and the neighboring Jinli Street.

The Tang Dynasty from the 7-8th centuries is presented in Qingyang Palace and Dufu Thatched Cottage, home of one of the greatest poets in China. In the Kuanzhai Alleys, you can feel as if you were in the Qing Dynasty era from the 17-18th centuries.

More modern Chengdu attractions include Tianfu Square, Chunxi Road, and especially the pompous New Global Century Center, something like a whole resort in the largest building in the world.

This city also has a lot of parks, of which the most symbolic is the Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding. Sichuan is the homeland of this cute bear-like animal, and Chengdu is proud to present it to the world. There are also many other green areas, ancient towns and other sites in the city and in its suburbs. And again, it is the best starting point for everybody who wants to explore Eastern Tibet.

Best Things To Do In Chengdu

Chengdu has attractions for every type of traveler, no matter whether you are into luxury, family or business travel or an intrepid explorer.  To be able to say “I explored most places to visit in Chengdu”, you need at least 3 days in town. So now, let’s see the best things to do in Chengdu during your visit.

Meet The Giant Panda

You may think that watching pandas is something for kids, and if you travel in Chengdu without kids, you don’t need to waste your time? But meet them is a different experience from visiting a Zoo. In fact, you are going to see a symbol- the symbol of Chengdu and Sichuan. A living symbol and one of the cutest animals on Earth. And best of all, you are going to see it in its natural environment.

The place which is made a home for the pandas is the Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding (成都大熊猫繁育研究基地). It is a park, where you walk on alleys, surrounded by fences on both sides. Behind the fences, you can see the pandas sleeping, eating bamboos, walking, or even playing. Normally, they would not come to you and you can’t touch them (and even if you have this opportunity, don’t do it, they are wild animals and their reaction can be unpredictable), but you can watch their routine daily life.

There are two kinds of pandas in the park: the Giant Panda and the Small Red Panda. The Giant Panda is the real panda, a bear with its white face and big black spots around its eyes. The Small Red Panda is not a bear. It is a relative of the panda and the raccoon, but it’s considered to be a member of its unique family, the Ailuridae.

You can also visit the park’s educational center and watch a documentary film about the pandas. And you can just walk and relax there, enjoying the pandas from time to time. 

Working time: from 7:30 to 17:00

Entrance fee: 58 CNY 

Enjoy The Nightlife In The Kuanzhai Alleys and Jinli Street

An evening in a historic-type of neighborhood, with a colorful mix of local food restaurants, street food, bars, cafes, street performances, souvenir shops and other attractions always brings a special holiday mood, at least for me. Among the main Chengdu attractions, there are two such places: Kuanzhai Alleys and Jinli Street.

Kuanzhai Alleys is a small area, consisting of two pedestrian streets and buildings in Qing Dynasty era style. Kuanzhai means “wide and narrow”, and indeed, the two remained streets are like this – one is much wider than the other.

Jinli Street, considered one of the most beautiful streets in the world, along with places in St Petersburg and San Francisco, is similar, but it is only one street with old traditional buildings, with a few other side streets and a nice park nearby. It is built in a different style, coming from the Three Kingdoms era in the 3rd century AD (of course, the existing buildings now are new, just built in that ancient style).

Both Kuanzhai and Jinli are very attractive during the day and packed with tourists. At night, the whole atmosphere turns into a colorful party. For that reason, I recommend visiting them in the late afternoon. Then you can explore the areas until sunset and, when night comes, you can have dinner there and enjoy whatever attraction you like .

Go Shopping In The Modern Center of Chengdu

The city center is usually a city’s most representative place, and the central area of Chengdu is not an exception. Chengdu is built like a circle (with ring roads) around a central point. This central point is Tianfu Square and a big statue of Mao Zedong, two famous Chengdu attractions. The square is an iconic site with a Yin-Yang symbol in the middle, which can be seen only from above – try seeing it on Google Earth or from one of the skyscrapers nearby, or even on Google Earth before your trip.

Tianfu Square is the perfect place to start your walk to the luxury pedestrian shopping streets of Chengdu. The focal point here is Chunxi Road and some nearby streets. From ancient times, Chunxi Road has been a market place. You can only imagine what it looked like hundreds of years ago, with plenty of street stalls, vendor sellers, street food, clothes, fruits, vegetables, various things for daily use, with a lot of crowds and noise.

Now all this is turned into skyscrapers, luxury malls, large squares with glamorous neon ads and a lot of events, especially in the evening. So it is another great place for shopping, walking, having dinner or just enjoying the city life there.

Try The Famous Sichuan Spicy Food

When you travel to Sichuan province, trying their spicy food is a must. Even if you can’t take spicy food, you should give it a go, since the flavor is aromatic-spicy. In Chinese “hot” is “la” (辣), but the Sichuan taste is “ma la” (麻辣), which means exactly this: aromatic-spicy.

The unique aroma comes from a spice called Sichuan pepper (or Flower pepper). It causes a slight numbness in the mouth and when it is mixed with hot chilli, the result is really special. If yоu actually don’t eat too hot, don’t worry, the Sichuan cuisine is more aromatic than hot. Yes, there are some meals with higher levels of hotness, but most of the other meals are moderate or lower on the “hot” scale.

Some of the most typical meals are hot pot, “ants climbing a tree”, Gong Bao chicken, Mapo doufu, spicy deep-fried chicken, beef noodles and fragrant-spicy fish slices. You can find these and many more Sichuan meals everywhere, from small fast food stalls to high-end restaurants. To try the best of the Sichuan cuisine in Chengdu, here are some of the most notorious restaurants (you can find them in Google Maps):

• Chenmapo Sichuan Restaurant 
• Chenmapo Toufu
• Chengdu Sichuan Noodles 
• Helishi Sichuan Restaurant

Chengdu As A Starting Point For Tibet: Visit The Main Tibetan Quarter

Chengdu is located in the western part of the Sichuan Plain. Some 30-40km west of the city, you will find the start of the highest mountain area on earth, the Great Tibetan Plateau, a.k.a “The Roof of the World”. One of the things to do in Chengdu is to visit the Tibetan Quarter, located southeast of Wuhou Temple.

The best place to start your Tibetan exploration is Ximianqiao Street and the Southwest University of Nationalities. There are many Tibetan shops and restaurants, so I recommend you eat at A’Re, the best of them.  You will also spot local Tibetans wearing their traditional clothes. If your intention is to start trekking the Great Tibetan Plateau from Chengdu, there are a lot of shops selling trekking and mountaineering gear in town.

Dive Into The Cultural and Historical Past of Chengdu

Chengdu has a long history with rich culture and traditions. It is one of the most important and culturally significant parts of China. And there are several important sites which present this culture and history in the best way. It is like travel in time, where you can see various scenes from different points of the historical timeline.

Wuhou Temple (武侯祠), One of The Top Chengdu Attractions

One of the most important tourist sites of Chengdu. It takes you to the 3rd century AD, the Three Kingdoms Era. At that time Chengdu has been the capital of one of these kingdoms- Shu Han Empire. This empire (as well as the other two empires) had a short life, only about a half of a century, but it is significant for one of the most famous and successful politicians of all time in the world- Zhu Ge Liang, who not only built and protected this empire, but with his reforms gained great popularity and respect.

And Wuhou is a Taoist temple in honor of him and the other rulers of that era. It is located right beside Jinli Street, so you can combine the visit of these two places at once. 

Working time: 8:00 to 20:00 in summer, and to 18:30 in winter

Entrance fee: 60 CNY

Qingyang Temple (Palace) (青羊宫) and Cultural Park (文化公园)

You cannot forget to add a visit to the Qingyang Temple to your list of things to do in Chengdu. This place will take you to another point in time, more specifically to the 7th century and Tang Dynasty era. It is one of the most significant Taoist temples in China.

The temple complex presents not only buildings with a religious purpose, but also a lot of architectural and artistic masterpieces. Although many of the buildings you’ll see are replicas from the Qing Dynasty period, they still represent the ancient style of Tang.

Opening hours: 8:00 to 18:00

Entrance fee: 10 CNY

Besides the Qingyang Temple, you can extend your visit by walking in the Cultural Park. It is a beautiful traditional Chinese garden type of park, presenting a lake with lotuses, pavilions and other old architecture styled constructions. 

Dufu Thatched Cottage (杜甫草堂)

Another masterpiece of Tang Dynasty era is the Dufu Thatched Cottage Park and Museum. It reveals the story of Du Fu, a famous poet who escaped from the devastating An Lushan rebellion and built a simple hut with a thatched roof in this place. Here he wrote more than two hundred poems.

The thatched hut has been restored, and the whole area around it was turned into a beautiful park with other Chinese traditional buildings, ponds, gardens, a pagoda and a “Hall of the Poets”. 

Opening hours: 7:30 to 19:00

Entrance fee: 60 CNY

If you come to explore Dufu Thatched Cottage, it is worth to visit the Sichuan Musem (四川博物馆), which is located nearby. It has a rich collection of historical and cultural artefacts, well representing Sichuan province.

Wenshuyuan Temple (文殊院)

Tang Dynasty has left more traces in Chengdu. Another one is Wenshuyuan Temple, the best-preserved Buddhist temple in the city. Initially, it was called Xinxiang Temple, but during the Qing Dynasty its name was changed into Wenshu, following the story of a Buddhist monk who lived there, and some visions happened around him. The temple complex consists of several buildings, a thin pagoda tower and a garden around the buildings.

Opening hours: 8:30 to 17:30

Entrance fee: free

Try A Unique Resort Experience in The New Century Global Center

This is the largest building in the world in terms of floor space. I can compare it with another city of resort-type within the larger city of Chengdu.

This unique Chengdu attraction is part of a large mall with many kinds of shops, restaurants, bars and a cinema. But there is more to it. There are offices, conference halls, hotels, even a university complex and a Modern Art Center with music and theater halls. There are also a lot of attractions like “Pirate Ship and “Mediterranean Village”. The largest of them is the giant “Paradise Island Water Park”, where you can feel like on a beach (just without real sand), even sometimes with artificial waves. You can spend a whole day there, especially if you are with children.

Opening hours: 24/7

Finally, once you’ve experienced the best things to do in Chengdu, eaten local food and enjoyed the main Chengdu attractions, it will surely be time to return home or continue travelling elsewhere. No matter what your next destination, I am positive that Chengdu will be a landmark destination in your travel life.

The Author: Krasen Jelyazkov is the main voice behind Journey Beyond the Horizon – a travel blog, focused on exploring the world from a geographical and historical point of view. He has traveled to several countries, mainly off-the-beaten-path destinations in Asia, and shares his experience and valuable information from there in his blog.