Come along with me and share the excitement as I explore the world researching freelance articles. These blog posts offer short chunks of travel that you can digest quickly as well as plenty of photos so you get the picture. You'll have some fun, make discoveries, and pick up great ideas and information for your own vacations. Think of me as your canary in the coal mine. For even more travel inspiration, visit my BERKELEY AND BEYOND website at http://www.berkeleyandbeyond.com.
These “ancient” streets--there are actually three--are lined with restored Qing-era buildings, many of which hold shops, restaurants, and a few boutique hotels. There is Wide Alley--the wide main street--and two side streets known as the narrow and well streets. Narrow Alley is just that, with more shops and restaurants, while Well Alley, also known as Jing Alley and Ruyi Lane, aims to be more contemporary and is considered the most beautiful historical block of Chengdu. The Experiencing House of Old Chengdu Life museum located on Wide Alley is composed of a kitchen, study, living room, and bedroom, and has exhibits about the daily life of a common family during the period of the Republic of China (1912–1949).
people stroll Wide Alley in Chengdu, China
Wide Alley in Chengdu, China
public art in Wide Alley in Chengdu, China
public art in Wide Alley in Chengdu, China
panda specialty shop in Wide Alley in Chengdu, China
Starbucks in Narrow Alley in Chengdu, China
girls at entrance to restaurant in Narrow Alley in Chengdu, China
ice cream treats in Narrow Alley in Chengdu, China
No.10 North People's Road, +86)28-83183388. 4 stars. 271 rooms; 17 floors. Fitness center. 2 restaurants. No pets. Free parking.
Situated on the banks of the Jinjiang River adjacent to the downtown area, the atmospheric Tibet Hotel Chengdu features comfortable rooms with raised bathtubs and Tibetan touches. Bathroom amenities are contained in a decorative box. The gift shop consists of a museum-like Tibetan Culture Shopping Promenade that offers spectacular treasures for sale, and a full-size artificial yak resides in the spacious lobby. Though I missed the Cloud Incense Bar, where you can “making friends with incense,” it does sound intriguing and worth seeking out. Tibetan folk songs are sung and Tibetan tea is served every evening in the bar from 8:30 to 9 p.m., and a Tibetan performance and banquet is sometimes held in the Red Palace Banqueting Hall.
lobby of Tibet Hotel Chengdu in Chengdu, China
artificial yak in lobby of Tibet Hotel Chengdu in Chengdu, China
gift shop arcade at Tibet Hotel Chengdu in Chengdu, China
guest room at Tibet Hotel Chengdu in Chengdu, China
guest room bathroom at Tibet Hotel Chengdu in Chengdu, China
view from guest room at Tibet Hotel Chengdu in Chengdu, China
Tibetan breakfast with yak butter tea at Tibet Hotel Chengdu in Chengdu, China
In a city famous for hot pot, this is the most famous of the hot pot restaurants.
seating along conveyor belt at Huang Cheng Lao Ma hot pot restaurant in Chengdu, China
This traditional meal is served in untraditional style here and includes a buffet that alone could fill you up. You can choose from dim sum-style dumplings, fresh fruit, and salad, and also mix up your own dipping sauce. Diners have a choice of sitting at small tables, or at a long raised bar where a moving conveyor belt presents constantly changing selections for you to put in your personal hot pot. Hot pots come in mild, hot, and extra hot (hot is so hot that I didn’t want to find out what extra hot is like). Opting for the basic yuanyang style (half spicy, half mild) seems like the way to go. I especially liked the mushrooms, but did not even try the fish heads. Rumor has it that Michelle Obama ate here. A free “children-keeping” area is on the second floor for under age 6, and a tea house is on the fourth floor.
23 Qintai Rd., in Chengdu Culture Park, Qingyang District. 130 RMB including tea.
A favorite venue to see Sichuan Opera, this old theater presents a nightly 1½-hour show that includes as well as traditional Sichuan folk performances featuring stick puppets, fire spitting, and face changing. The audience at Shu Feng Ya Yun Teahouse sits as viewers would have long ago, in comfortable oversize bamboo lounge chairs, and are served tea and nibbles. Massage and ear wax cleaning is available before and during the performance, and before the show starts the audience has access to the dressing rooms to watch the performers getting ready. Several more attractions are adjaent: Qingyang Taoist Temple, Wuhou Memorial Temple, and Dufu Cottage.
night exterior of Shu Feng Ya Yun Teahouse in Chengdu, China
interior of Shu Feng Ya Yun Teahouse in Chengdu, China
Sichuan Opera performers get ready at Shu Feng Ya Yun Teahouse in Chengdu, China
Sichuan Opera performer poses at Shu Feng Ya Yun Teahouse in Chengdu, China
Sichuan Opera performer poses at Shu Feng Ya Yun Teahouse in Chengdu, China
Sichuan Opera performance at Shu Feng Ya Yun Teahouse in Chengdu, China
1375 Panda Rd., just outside of town, 028-83510033. Daily 7:30am-6pm. 58yuen/US$8/person; parking 10yuen.
Pandas are solitary animals and their remote habitat in bamboo forests high in the Szechwan mountains has been destroyed. Operated by panda conservation specialists, the immaculate zoo-like Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding center displays pandas in a near-perfect replication of their natural habitat, including rivers, lakes, wild bamboo forests, and plant pits. Founded in 1987 with just six pandas, it is now home to approximately 50 pandas and has earned a reputation as the best place in the world to see, interact with, and learn about these endangered animals.
entry gate to Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in Chengdu, China
bamboo-lined road at Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in Chengdu, China
It has the largest captive collection of Giant Pandas in the world. Babies are born between July and September. Today, fewer than 2,000 pandas are found in the wild and only approximately 300 are in zoos and breeding centers. Fortunately, China’s giant panda population was recently downgraded from endangered to vulnerable. Though still at risk, their numbers in the wild continue to grow.
people watch pandas at Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in Chengdu, China
Red pandas (or Lesser Pandas) have enclosures here, too, but are also allowed to freely roam the center’s forest floor. This is the largest collection of captive-born red pandas in the world.
children watch red pandas at Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in Chengdu, China
Begin a visit here by taking a shuttle to the top, then walk down, visiting the various exhibits as you go. Take time to map out your plan. There is a nursery, kitchen, and hospital, but each is not always open. People do get a little crazy to see the babies, and you might have to elbow your way into a viewing spot. Be patient.
I enjoyed visiting Swan Lake, where there is a population of black swans and hungry koi to feed, and where the outdoor Bamboo Restaurant dispenses simple inexpensive pleasures such as noodles and ice cream and provides umbrella-sheltered communal picnic tables. The Rose Garden Restaurant is more formal and surrounded by a large rose garden.
Swan Lake at Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in Chengdu, China
A museum near the entrance includes an exhibit of China’s butterflies that is in dire need of refreshing.
butterfly exhibit at Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in Chengdu, China
My favorite souvenir was a pandemonium (the group noun for pandas) of tiny unstuffed soft pandas with magnets in their paws--perfect for hanging together or separately--perhaps from a refrigerator or on the top of a computer (that’s where mine reclines). Note that in the U.S., pandas are housed at zoos in Atlanta, Memphis, San Diego, and Washington, D.C.
panda souvenir from Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in Chengdu, China
One of the oldest shopping streets in Sichuan Province, this street was also one of the busiest commercial areas during the Shu Kingdom (221-263). Recently restored and re-opened to the public in 2004, it is now visited by throngs of people who come to stroll its lively streets, relax amid the traditional-style buildings, and sample local cuisine. Shops, local crafts, and street performers add to the fun.
entrance gate to Jinli Old Street in Chengdu, China
Starbucks on Jinli Old Street in Chengdu, China
art brush seller on Jinli Old Street in Chengdu, China
bored barker on Jinli Old Street in Chengdu, China
street performers on Jinli Old Street in Chengdu, China
rickshaw ride on Jinli Old Street in Chengdu, China
passion fruit snack on Jinli Old Street in Chengdu, China
octopus and fish snack on Jinli Old Street in Chengdu, China
fruit popcicles on Jinli Old Street in Chengdu, China
Wuhou Temple (Memorial Temple of Marquis Wu)
Located adjacent, the Wuhou Temple is dedicated to Zhuge Liang, the Marquis Wu (Wuhou) of the Kingdom of Shu in the Three Kingdoms Period (220-280). Surrounded by old cypresses and classical red walls, it displays clay sculptures of Emperor Shu and his ministers standing together. The most valuable cultural relic is a huge 144-inch high by 37-inch wide stone slab monument (a stele) set up in 809.
Located just a 2 ½-hour flight inland from Shanghai, Chengdu--the 2,000-plus-year-old capital of Sichuan--is the province’s second-largest city and the country’s fourth-largest. With a population of 14 million, it is larger than--and perhaps glitzier than--NYC, yet it is considered only a second-tier city. It is clean and prosperous, with leafy wide boulevards and a Kimpenski Hotel, Ferrari dealership, and huge Louis Vuitton boutique. It is concrete and steel and high-rises as far as the eye can see.
highrise in downtown Chengdu, China
Louis Vuitton in downtown Chengdu, China
New Century Global Centre
Opened here in 2013, the New Century Global Centre is the largest free-standing building in the world (in terms of floor area), and the claim is that 20 Sydney Opera Houses would fit inside. Designed to be a self-contained city, under the dome inside it holds a Mediterranean “village,” a beach and water park, a pirate ship, an ice skating rink, a 14-screen IMAX cinema, and many hotels, not to mention plenty of shops. An artificial sun provides light and heat.
New Century Global Centre at night in Chengdu, China
Yet it remains best known for being the home of the rare giant panda. Manufacturing is big in the surrounding area--70% of the world’s iPads are manufactured here. But the pace is slower than in Beijing and Shanghai. It is also a center for the silk brocade industry and known for hibiscus.
panda bear at research base in Chengdu, China
Located in a basin surrounded by mountains keeps the weather generally mild and comfortable, but in summer stifling humidity and rain storms can make it uncomfortable. There is not much sunshine and rainfall can be heavy but that is how everything stays so very green. September and October are the perfect months to visit the "Land of Heaven."
Asia’s first UNESCO-designated City of Gastronomy, Chengdu serves up refined Sichuan cuisine. Be aware that if you come across some odd little things that look like they might be an exotic vegetable, they are most probably actually duck tongues--a local delicacy. And you’ll know you’re getting real Sichuan peppercorns when your tongue feels the distinctive numbness.
