Stopover in Chengdu - Relaxing, working, and sightseeing

 


Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan Province, is a very pleasant and surprisingly beautiful city. For me, it was just a stopover on the way to Leshan to see the Giant Buddha, but I managed to explore a bit during the two full days I had there. I only visited the main attractions — quite a few, though there’s definitely much more to see in a city as big and culturally rich as Chengdu. For many visitors, the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding is a major highlight, but I decided to skip it — let the researchers do the researching. It was also great to catch a few glimpses of everyday life just a few steps away from the main tourist paths.

My hotel room was on the 33th floor of this 47-story building. 


It was definitely one of the best hotel rooms on my Asia trip, and at a very reasonable price (around GBP 16/night). I loved the elevated seating area, the view, and that it was allowed to smoke in the room. It was also central, near Tianfu Square. 









Sichuan Grand Theatre, back. 





Sichuan Grand Theatre, front. 



Chairman Mao Statue overlooking Tianfu Square. 








Chengdu Museum New Hall. 


Sichuan Art Gallery. 









People's Park. 















Kuanzhai Alley area.  




















Gated road leading to Chengdu Culture Park. 







Chengdu Culture Park. 

















An interesting building along a main road. It reminds me of buildings in the Sahel region of Africa. 





The Wuhou Temple area and Jinli Street. 































There are many Tibetan people in Chengdu - here, hanging out in a park. 



Cityscape. 





Chengdu Huangcheng Mosque. 





Chengdu Museum New Hall. 




Tianfu Square. 










The Chunxi Road Pedestrian Street area. 


















Shudu Avenue. 







Evergrande Huazhi Plaza. 



A random church. 



Gulou South Street Mosque. 





Hotel is in this block. 



Evergrande Huazhi Plaza. 




Shudu Avenue. 


The Chunxi Road Pedestrian Street area. 



























Daci Temple. 






















The Taikoo Li area. 














Cityscape. 




A walk along the Fu River (Fuhe) to the Hejiangting pavilion, located at the confluence with the Jin River (Jinjiang). 


















Walk along the Jin River (Jinjiang) to Anshun Bridge, over the bridge, to the next bridge, then back along Jin River to confluence with the Fu River (Fuhe). 





























Walk along the Fu River (Fuhe) all the way to the West Pearl Tower. 



























ChatGPT misled me and said there is an observation desk at the West Pearl Tower that you can visit, but it turned out it has been closed for many years. Anyway, it was a nice walk along the river. 







A random house, a random panda. 



Cityscape. 




Evergrande Huazhi Plaza, near my hotel. 



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