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Province of Chengdu

Chengdu is depicted in a poem as "Chengdu Landscape, as if endowed by the Ninth Heaven, is shared in the creations of many a master artist." A magnificent and modern provincial capital, Southeast of the Sichuan basin, Chengdu enjoys temperate climate and plentiful products.

The city located between latitude 10255 and 10453 east and longitude 3006 and 3126 north. With an annual rainfall of 997.6 mm, it occupies an area of 12,389.6 square kilometres, and now has over 3 million inhabitants in the city proper, and over 10 million in greater Chengdu. The average annual temperature of 16.2 , an annual sunshine time is 1,239 hours and the frost-free period is 300 days.

Chengdu is more than 2,000 years old. In contrast to some other Chinese urban centres, and despite raging redevelopment, Chengdu has managed to preserve the atmosphere how one might imagine China to have once been sometime in the past.

Chengdu was already the political, economic, and cultural centre of western Sichuan by 400 B.C. During the Five Dynasties Period (907-960), Meng Chang, a ruler of later Shu, had numerous hibiscus trees planted on the city wall, so the town eventually became known as the City of Hibiscus.

Skirted by famed tourist cities: Chongqing, Lhasa, Xi'an, Kunming, Guilin etc., Chengdu serves as the hub of communication and a tourist transit centre. Major tourist attractions include: Temple of Marquis Wu, Du Fu's Thatched Cottage, Wang Jian Tomb, River-viewing Pavilion, River Funan -- a city mote, Baoguang Temple, Giant Panda Breeding Base, Dujiangyan Ancient Water Project, Mount Qingchengshan and Xiling Snow Mountain and so on.

Chengdu, also known as the hibiscus city or the brocade city, has been a famous cultural centre with age-old colourful traditions of both religious and civil significance for the past 2,500 years in Chinese history. With the coming of the spring, peach blossoms abound on the plain and rape-seed flowers tinge the landscape golden while the wafting cooking smoke curls up from the farm huts amidst bamboo groves. All this makes the city and its suburbs truly poetic. The annual happy occasions of the traditional lantern festival, flower show, the yearly opening of the sluices at the Dujiangyan, the dragon boat races at Xinjing, and the folk-lore sing song contests at Wang-cong Memorial Temple are also charming and captivating scenes. The old street scene at Huanglongxi township, the gorgeous mansions of the Liu family at Dayi county and a number of picturesque civilian villages are well preserved for people and future generations to appreciate. In Tiexiangsi, there is the College for Buddhist nuns in China, and the Guanyin Temple in Xinjing has preserved the most lively colour sculpture and wall-painting of Ming Dynasty, Zhaojue Temple, Wenshu Monastery, Baoguang Temple and Daci Temple in the city are known as "the four famous Buddhist monasteries in western Sichuan". Hemingshan at Diyi county is the sacred seat of origin for Taoism, and Qingyang Palace is the best preserved memorial temple for Laotzu, the founder and master of the Taoist faith. Sichuan opera with the Chengdu brand as representative, is one of the principal genres of regional drama. It is particularly famous for its sense of humour and its unique skills in "Changing one's countenance".

Built on flat ground, Chengdu can easily be explored on foot or by bicycle. It has almost a southern aspect, with colorful old streets lined by scores of small restaurants and walkways that remain crowded until late with traders, buyers, and people out for a stroll.

One could eat one's way through the region's countless specialties by visiting the snack bars or teahouses, which often have free performances of Sichuan opera or other instrumental pieces to entertain guests as they sip their jasmine tea. These teahouses are popular gaming hangouts, particularly for older men playing Chinese chess, which resembles the Western game of chess. Not surprisingly, many teahouses have recently transformed into small cinemas, with recent releases shown from video discs.

Wuhou Memorial Temple

Wuhou Temple (Temple of Marquis Wu) in the southern suburbs of Chengdu is dedicated to the memory of both Liu Bei (161-223), Emperor of the Kingdom of Shu in the Three Kingdoms period (220-280), and Zhuge Liang (181-234), Prime Minister of the Kingdom. The board hung above the gate reads "Han Zhaolie Temple" (Zhaolie was a title given to Liu Bei posthumously). But the temple is commonly called Wuhou Memorial Temple (Zhuge Liang was conferred on the title of Wu Xianghou after his death). The memorial temple, dignified and simple in style, houses 47 statues of Liu Bei, Zhuge Liang and other civil officials and senior generals of the Kingdom. The temple is furnished with many inscribed stone tablets, the most famous being the Tablet of Triple Success of the Tang Dynasty (618 -907) with its text by Prime Minister Pei Du, calligraphy by Liu Gongchuo and carvings by Lu Jian. The couplets written on scrolls and hung on the pillars in the temple are well-known for numerous aphorism.

Thatched Cottage of Du Fu

It is an erstwhile home of the celebrated Tang Dynasty poet. Something of a rover,Du Fu (712-70AD) was born in Henan and left his home province to see China at the tender age of 20. He was an official in Chang'an( the ancient capital on the site of modern-day Xi'an) for 10 years, and was later captured by rebels after an uprisinf and fled to Chengdu, where he stayed for four years. He built himself a humble cottage and penned more than 200 poems on simple themes around the lives of the people who lived and worked nearby.

The present grounds-20 hectares of leafy bamboo and luxuriant vegetation- are a much enlarged version of Du Fu's original poetic retreat. It is also the cannier of the Chengdu Du Fu Study Society, and several display halls house examples of the poet's work.

Du Fu's statue is accompanied by statues of two lesser poets: Li You and Huang Tingjian. From the time of his death in exile, Du Fu acquired a cult status, and hid poems have been a major source of inspiration for many Chinese artists.

Tomb of Wang Jian

Wang Jian was the head of Shu before the Five Dynasties (907-960). His tomb at Dongqiao in the western suburbs of Chengdu was called Mausoleum of Eternity (Yongling) in history. Formed by a series of 14 double stone vaults, the coffin chamber, 23.4 metres long consists of front, middle and back rooms. The coffin platform is flanked by open carvings of 12 men of unusual strength and carved with reliefs of 24 musicians and dancers on the east, west and south sides. The stone sculpture of Wang Jian, sitting in a relaxed manner but still with a dignified look of an emperor, is kept in the back room.

Wangjiang Tower Park

Wangjiang Tower (Tower Overlooking the River) on the bank of Jinjiang River in the eastern suburbs of Chengdu stands 30 meters high. Uniquely designed, the upper two stories of the tower are octagonal in shape while the lower two, square. With red pillars, green tiles and a gilded steeple ball on its pointed octagonal roof, the tower looks extremely splendid. In its surrounding areas are other ancient buildings and stretches of bamboo.

The park is famous for its lush forests of bamboo, and boasts over 150 varieties of bamboo from China, Japan and South-East Asia. They range from bonsai-sized potted plants to towering giants, creating a shady retreat in the heat of summer (and a cold, damp retreat in winter).The pavilion was built to the memory of Xue Tao , a female Tang Dynasty poet with a great love for bamboo. Nearby is a well, said to be the place where she drew water to dye her writing paper.

Qingyang Palace

Qingyang Palace (Grey Goat Palace) in the city proper is a Taoist temple first built in the Tang Dynasty. Its major structures include Lingzu Hall, Hunyuan Building, Wuji Hall and Bagua Pavilion. In the compound stand two eye-catching bronze goats. Although called a goat, one of them is actually a strange creature with a mouse's ears, an ox's nose, a tiger's pawns, a rabbit's back, a snake's tail, a dragon's horns, a horse's mouth, a goat's beard, a monkey's neck, a chicken's eyes, a dog's belly and a pig's thighs.

Wenshu Monastery

Wenshu Monastery in the city proper was built in the Southern Dynasties (420-589). Covering an area of about 5.5 hectares, it has 190 buildings in their simple styles and with exquisite window carvings. In the scripture-keeping hall rare cultural relics are preserved. They range from a kasaya embroidered with 1,000 Buddhas by imperial concubine Tian of Emperor Chongzhen (1628-1644) in the Ming Dynasty, an embroidered portrait of Avalokitesvara, scriptures written on Pattra Leaves from ancient India, a 1,200-year-old gilded Buddhist wheel from Japan, to a jade Buddha from Burma. The most precious is the skull of Xuanzang, a Buddhist master of the Tang Dynasty.

Baoguang Temple

Baoguang (Divine Light) Temple north of Chengdu is said to have been built in the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220). Its major structures are built with some 400 stone pillars and decorated with figurines of birds and animals on their eaves and carvings of flowers and plumes on their doors and windows. Kept in the temple are such treasures as Sarira (monks' ashes) and Buddhist scriptures written on Pattra Leaves.

The Arhat Hall, built in the 19th century, contains 500 2m-high clay figurines representing Buddhist saints and disciples.Well, not all of them: among this spaced-out lot are two earthlings- emperors Kangxi and Qianlong. They're destinguishable by their royal costumes, beards, boots and capes. One of the impostors, Kangxi, is shown with a pockmarked face.

Mt Qingchengshan

Qingchengshan Mountain is 75 kilometers from Chengdu City. The mountain here is covered with green trees; therefore it is called Qingchengshan (Green City Mountain). There are 36 peaks, the highest peak Laoxiaoding being 1,600 meters above sea level, and 108 scenic spots. It is famous because the Taoist master Zhang Daoling once held Taoist activities on the mountain. Many buildings that have been used for Taoist activities are well preserved.There are numerous Taoist temples on route to the summit. The Jianfu Temple, at the entrance to the mountain area, is probably the best preserved. Of the 500 or so Taoist monks in residence on the mountain prior to be around 100 left.

It might be more relaxing to set off around midday, stay overnight at Sanqing Temple and hike up to the summit for the sunrise.This also leaves time to walk down and head over to Dujiang yan for the afternoon.

Chengdu also has some other historical sites including Daci Temple, Zhaojue Temple, tombs of emperors of late Shu in the Five Dynasties (907-960) and the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).

Set on the western side of the Red Basin, CHENGDU is a city with two faces: a modern provincial capital whose smoggy streets sport glassy skyscrapers, Japanese four-wheel-drives and fluorescent-coloured bicycles, coupled with narrow back lanes where old men play cards in noisy tea houses and pot plants crowd the wooden porches of traditional, half-timbered homes. Whether you're an old hand or arriving through the air link with Tibet for your first taste of Han China, you'll find Chengdu a far-from-typical metropolis - it's one of the country's most mellow cities, intrinsically interesting and built on a very human scale.

Settled for more than 2400 years and once ringed by almost 20km of battlements and gates, Chengdu was styled Brocade City in Han times, when the urban elite were buried in elegantly decorated tombs, and its silk travelled west along the caravan routes as far as imperial Rome. A refuge for the eighth-century Tang emperor Xuan Zong after his army mutinied over his infatuation with the beautiful concubine Yang Guifei, the city later became a printing centre, producing the world's first paper money. Sacked by the invading Mongols in 1271, Chengdu recovered soon enough to impress Marco Polo with its busy artisans and handsome bridges, and has since survived similar cycles of war and restoration to become, once again, a major industrial and business centre.

Plenty of sites illustrate this chequered history, with a sprinkling of monuments and temples in and around the city well worth a few days' browsing. There's a university founded in the 1920s, an important School of Chinese Medicine , a bustling economy and a strong cultural tradition enjoyed by a million and a half people. Backed by an embryonic nightlife, and with one of China's most outstanding cuisines to spike your taste buds on, at the very least Chengdu offers a comfortable base to organize travel into the rest of Sichuan, or to recuperate afterwards.

The City
Despite sometimes overpowering pollution, Chengdu is a cheerful city, its streets and parks full of flowers - especially during the Spring Flower Festival - while market stalls groan under the weight of seasonal fruit. And everywhere, Despite sometimes overpowering pollution, Chengdu is a cheerful city, its streets and parks full of flowers - especially during the Spring Flower Festival - while market stalls groan under the weight of seasonal fruit. And everywhere, buildings are going up and coming down, demolitions carefully carried out brick by brick using muscle and sledgehammer. City expansions may be commonplace given China's snowballing economic boom, but, given its relative isolation, Chengdu seems to have attracted a disproportionate amount of investment. Locals put this down to their good, aggressive business sense, cynics to Chengdu being Deng Xiaoping's home city. Whatever the reason, the shops are well stocked with imported goods, while more traditional enterprises still flourish in the backstreets, which can make reaching the city's scattered sights more interesting than the sights themselves.