Who could resist the opportunity to see—and even hug—a panda bear? Not me. And so my husband and I agreed, (he didn’t really have a choice), to include Chengdu on our recent trip to China. We soon discovered, however, that there is more to this smaller Chinese city than those black and white cuties.
Small is relative, of course. At 14 million people, Chengdu is smaller than Beijing's 22 million and Shanghai's 23 million, and only half the size of Chongqing's 32 million, but it is still larger than Los Angeles. Located in the center of Sichuan Province in southwestern China, Chengdu is a 3-hour flight from Beijing and a 2-hour and 40 minute flight from Hong Kong. It's not only the capital of Sichuan Province, but one of China's growing high-tech cities, attracting companies like Dell, Cisco and IBM.
Like the city of Xian, famous for it's Terra Cotta Warriors, Chengdu is the gateway to a main attraction that draws tourists from all over the world: The Giant Panda Breeding Research Base which is located about 45 minutes from the center of Chengdu. Here you can see giant pandas of all ages, from newborns in incubators to full grown adults, as well as red pandas (which look more like raccoons with rounder faces.) The breeding center has mimicked the natural environment of the panda, growing and cultivating all parts of the bamboo that is the giant pandas' only food.
The best time to view and pandas is around 8:00am in the morning when they are friskier, and before the throngs of tourists make it more difficult to get the best view or photograph. For an addtional donation of about $120 per person, you have the opportunity, if their mood is right, to get up close and even hug a baby panda. Although this one-on-one encounter is not guaranteed, according to our our Imperial Tours guide, there's about a 98% chance it will happen, and if it doesn't, your donation will be refunded. You do have to don hospital blues, booties and plastic gloves before you greet the panda. Although the meeting is brief, it's dfinitely a photographic golden moment and the donation helps sustain the center's programs. And if you're traveling with kids, it can be one of the best family vacation destinations when booking China vacation packages for the pandas alone.
Another attraction, just 25 miles outside of Chengdu, is the Sanxingdui Museum. You don’t need to be a history or archeology aficionado to appreciate the significance of the more than 1,000 jade, gold and bronze objects unearthed from the site of the 3,000-year-old center of the ancient Shu kingdom. The museum’s four halls, a total of about 32,000 square feet, display knives, tools, jewelry, ceramics and some very large and remarkable bronzes, masks, and other decorative objects.
While Chengdu offers its share of Buddhas, temples and tea rooms, it is one of those cities that is better at night. For one thing, the constant gray haze that hangs over the city is less visible at night. Due to Chengdu’s topography, blue sky is a rare sighting here. But at night, the city comes alive with the lights of numerous restaurants and nights clubs.
If you like your food hot and spicy, Chengdu is for you. It’s the center of Sechuan cuisine and known for its hotpot restaurants. Hotpot is a boiling pot that sits in the middle of the table and is divided in two, with a spicy chili oil and red pepper sauce on one side and a not-quite-as-spicy sauce on the other. You then dip different items such as mushrooms or vegetables into the side of the pot you prefer. The more adventuresome will find typical Chinese favorites to dip like chicken livers and tripe. If the hotpot is not your cup of tea, you can head to a restaurant with more western fare or to the local KFC which seems to exist on every other corner in China. But be careful crossing the. street. One thing you won’t find in Chengdu is respect for pedestrians, even if you are in a
cross walk.
Every neighborhood also has its share of music clubs. After dinner, just a block or two from the beautiful Shangri-la Hotel, for example, a pedestrian street comes alive with numerous night spots featuring everything from jazz to rock and pop. Young people fill the outside tables while a singer or saxophone player take turns on outdoor stages.
While clearly dominated by the under-35 set, the city offers music for every taste, from concerts at the Jincheng Art Palace to crooners in hotel lounges. To enjoy every thing that Chengdu has to offer, it’s best to stay at least two or even three nights.
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