Key Facts about Chengdu
Chengdu, located in southwest People''''''''s Republic of China, is the capital of Sichuan province and a sub-provincial city..... Chengdu is also one of the most important economic centers, transportation and communication hubs in Southwestern China. According to the 2007 Public Appraisal for Best Chinese Cities for Investment, Chengdu was chosen as one of the top ten cities to invest in out of a total of 280 urban centers in China. More than four thousand years ago, the prehistoric Bronze Age culture of Jinsha established itself in this region. The fertile Chengdu Plain, on which Chengdu is located, is called TianfuzhiGuo in Chinese, which literally means "the country of heaven", or more often seen translated as "the Land of Abundance". It was recently named China''''''''s 4th-most livable city by China Daily.
Chengdu, a city where once you come, you would be reluctant to leave.....Chengdu, the capital city of Sichuan province is the home of the Giant Panda, the center of science and technology, culture, trade, tourism and transportation in the southwest area of China. Situated in the southwest of China, the Sichuan province has a large population with coverage of 485 thousand square kilometers. It boasts a long history, splendid culture and over 4500 years’ civilization. Having ancient temples, ancient towns and scenic spots, Sichuan also houses the world cultural heritages including Jiuzhai Valley, Mt. Qingcheng, Dujiangyan Irrigation Project, Mt.Emei, the Leshan Giant Buddha and Sanxingdui Ruins with its thousand-year long mystery. The national minority ethnic community is known for its abundant wealth, honest people, mild climate, and the wealth of cultural tourism resources. If you want to learn the rich culture of China, taste the unique ethnic customs in the country, Sichuan would be the first choice.
Chengdu, the center of science and technology and culture..... many world top 500 enterprises such as Motorola, Siemens, Intel, and Microsoft take root here，establishing their factories and research bases.Chengdu is also a city of harmony and tolerance.Walking along the street in Chengdu, you can feel the intoxicating sense of time.
Chengdu, home of the giant panda..... Among more than 200 countries and regions in the whole world, pandas can be found only in some remote mountains and thickly forested district of Sichuan, Shanxi, Gansu provinces in China now. The panda is also known as a “living fossil”.
Chengdu, the unique Food Culture.... The Sichuan dishes, hot pot and boiled hot kebabs and lengdanbei.
Chengdu, the birthplace of tea culture.... When you come to Chengdu, you must have a rest in one of the teahouses, because it is the place that manifests the leisure lifestyle of Chengdu residents. The number of teahouses in Chengdu is the greatest in China; and most are the open air type for general civilians to rest and chat away.Mahjong and Sichuan cards game are indispensable element in Chengdu’s tea culture.
Leisure Culture
Chengdu was the center of Shu Han Cultures; of all the past dynasties, it was the political, economic and cultural center in the Southwest China as well as an important city on the Yangtze River Valley. The long history left Chengdu a unique cultural environment, including leisure cultures, historical cultures, food cultures, drink cultures, tea cultures, folkways, and so on.
A、Sichuan Dishes 川菜
Sichuan cuisine is one of the 4 famous local cuisines in China which has a long history and a strong local color; it has such advantages as widely available materials, many varied flavors, and lots of different varieties.
Every Sichuan dish has its own style and its own characters; their flavors are refreshing, mellow and strong, and are famous for their hot flavor.
B、Chengdu Snack Food 成都小吃
As famous as Sichuan dishes, Chengdu snacks are the endsville ones and enjoy the fame of ''''''''Chengdu snacks are the best in the world''''''''.
Chen Ma Po Tofu 陈麻婆豆腐
It is a famous brand listed in ''''''''China Food Guide''''''''. It was started in the early years of Tongzhi in Qing Dynasty (1862) in Wanfuqiao in the north of Chengdu City. The tofu cooked by her has unique Sichuan characteristics of bright tofu luster, delicious diced beef, and tastes numbing, spicy, tender and crisp.
Lai''''''''s Rice Dumpling 赖汤圆
Lai Yuanxi, the boss of Lai''''''''s Rice Dumpling, started to sell rice dumplings in Chengdu streets as early as 1894. His rice dumpling was known for the smooth and tender taste, no greasiness, and the quality of not sticking on chopsticks and teeth.
Long Chaoshou 龙抄手
Long Chaoshou was originated in the 1940s; at that time Zhang Guangwu and several other waiters of ''''''''Nonghua Teahouse'''''''' in Chunxi Road decided to open a Chaoshou restaurant. The major characteristics of Long Chaoshou include: thin skin, tender dumpling, and fresh broth. The skin of Chaoshou is made of special grade flour and other ingredients through a long period of rubbing until it is as thin as paper.
C、Chengdu Hot Pot 火锅
Hot Pot can be analogized as a brilliant flower in a garden of Chinese cuisines, like a twin lotus flower on one stalk with Sichuan cuisine. You shall never forget about mentioning the well-known Hot Pot of Chengdu whenever you talk about Sichuan cuisine. It is relatively fresher and is comprised of a red pot, a white pot and a dual pot to cater for the needs of all customers.
Folk Activity民间活动
Chengdu Lantern Festival成都灯会
It is popular in the Chengdu area and held during the Spring Festival. As early as in the Tang Dynasty, the convention of lantern-seeing had become popular on the night of the 15th of the 1st lunar month. Now the Chengdu Lantern Exhibition is mainly held in Qingyang (Green Ram) Temple once a year.
Chendu Flower Exhibition成都花会
It is popular in Chengdu and held in spring. It comes from the Chengdu Flower Fair. The Chengdu Flower Fair was quite popular in Tang Dynasty. The day of the Flower Fair was the 16th of February in the lunar year, because people thought this day was the birthday of flowers when various flowers blossomed and attracted people. On this day, all florists bring their well-planted flowers to Chengdu for exhibition and sale. During the flower fair, many famous and delicious foods are also placed in the fair.
Longquan Peach Blossom Exhibition龙泉桃花会
In the middle ten days of March in each year, the Peach Blossom Exhibition is held in the Fruit Hills in Longquan, Chengdu. The Peach Blossom Exhibition aims at appreciating the graceful peach blossoms. When the peach blossoms are prosperous, the hills look pink with flowers. The flowers and the young foliage shape the picturesque sight. As the breeze is blowing, the petals fall down slowly, and among the flowers people may feel like they are living in a fairyland. After people view the flowers, they can taste the local products in the farmers'''''''' houses, like the savory preserved pork, etc.
Sichuan Opera川剧
Generally, the Sichuan Opera talked about nowadays refers to narrow-sensed Sichuan Opera, an ethnic folk art that people living in Southwestern provinces of Sichuan, Yunnan and Guizhou love to see and hear. It has a long history, many excellent traditional repertoires, rich music and exquisite performing art.
Repertoires of Sichuan Opera are abundant. Since long time ago, there has been a saying that Sichuan Opera has "three thousand stories of Tang Dynasty, eight hundred of Song and numerous of Eastern Zhou and Three Kindoms", Sichuan Opera performances take deep root in life, full of wit, humor, lively dialogues and pronounced local flavors, authentic and exquisite, loved by common people. Sichuan Opera plays have fairly high literary value. Some performers even created a series of stunts to portray characters, such as lifting, opening the third eye, face-changing, jumping flaming hoops, hiding knives, etc., acclaimed as the peak of perfection.
Sceneries Around
Panda Breeding Base
The Chengdu Panda Breeding Research Base was built to imitate the wild ecological environment of pandas. It covers a space of 560 mu, with a green coverage of 96 percent. The base created a perfect ecological environment for the living and breeding of pandas and other precious and rare wild animals. It breeds over 20 pandas and lesser pandas, black-necked cranes, white cranes and others. It is a panda breeding scientific research institute built in accordance with international standards for the purpose of rescuing the endangered wild animal, i.e. the panda. It includes a scientific research building, an open research laboratory, an animal hospital, an animal house, a panda playground, a swan lake, a panda museum, and a comprehensive service department. Here, green bamboo and trees, birds, and flowers combined with man-made sights constitute the living and breeding place for pandas and other rare animals. Till 1998, the base had bred 32 pandas, giving birth to 48 baby pandas, of which 28 lived, and accomplished scientific research in over 50 related subjects, winning more than 30 awards.
Jiuzhai Valley and Huanglong Valley
Jiuzhai valley is dominated by three drainages, the Rize and Zechawa streams which flow from south to north, meet at the centre of the site to form the Shuzheng which drops 1,000m to the north end of the reserve. There it meets the Zharu stream flowing north-west from the eastern boundary to form the Jiuzhaigou river, one of the sources of the Jialing river, part of the Yangtze River system. There are 114 lakes, 47 springs, 17 groups of waterfalls, 11 rapids and 5 tufa shoals within the reserve. Huanglong Valley: Designated a national park in 1983, Huanglong (Yellow Dragon) Valley is studded with waterfalls and terraced, coloured limestone ponds of blue, yellow, white and green.
Dujiangyan Irrigation System
The Dujiangyan Irrigation Project is a long-established water conservation works. It is 56 kilometers (34.8miles) west of Chengdu at Dujiangyan city lying in the middle reach of Minjiang River, which is the longest tributary of Yangtze River. Since ancient times the Minjiang River has surged downward from Mt. Minshan thrusting itself into the Chengdu Plain. When reaching the flatlands the river''''''''s speed slowed down abruptly. Thus the watercourse filled up with silt making this area extremely vulnerable to flooding. The people living on the Chengdu Plain consequently suffered a great deal from frequent floods. The project effectively put the flooding waters under control. For over two thousand years the whole system has functioned perfectly, serving not only as flood prevention but also as an immense source for irrigation as well as a means to facilitate shipping and wood drifting. It has contributed greatly to the richness of the Chengdu Plain and helps it earn its reputation as "The Land of Abundance".
Mount Qingcheng
Mt. Qingcheng, located in the southwest of the Dujiangyan Irrigation Project of China in Sichuan Province, is one of the most famous Taoist mountains in China. It is also a very attractive and intriguing scenic spot that is covered by luxuriant and verdant trees. The mountain, which is surrounded by numerous peaks and is shaped like a city, is dubbed ''''''''the most peaceful and secluded mountain under heaven'''''''' and combines perfectly with its evergreen scenery. The Mt. Qingcheng can be divided into two parts - the anterior Mt. Qingcheng and the posterior Mt. Qingcheng. The anterior Mt. Qingcheng is the main part of the scenic spot, covering an area approximately 15 square kilometers (about 3706 acres) that possesses alluring natural beauty and an abundance of cultural relics and historic sites.
Leshan Giant Buddha
Leshan Giant Buddha, the largest stone sculpture of Buddha in the world, sits at the confluence of the Minjiang, Dadu and Qingyi rivers. According to records, the carving of this giant Buddha was begun in the first year of the reign of the Tang Emperor Tang Xuanzong (713 AD), and completed in the 19th year of Emperor Dezong (803 AD), all together 90 years. Looking dignified and solemn, the Buddha measures 71 meters in height. His shoulders are 28 meters across. The head is 14.7 meters long and 10 meters broad with a total of 1021 buns of hair on it. The instep, which is 8.5 meters wide, can accommodate 100 people. The toe is large enough to accommodate a dinner table. Taller by 17 meters than the standing Buddha in Afghanistan, Leshan Giant Buddha is therefore the tallest Buddha in the world and in1996; it was added to the World Natural and Cultural Heritage List.
Mount Emei
Mt. Emei is located in Leshan City, Sichuan Province. It is like a huge green screen standing in the southwest of the Chengdu Plain. It is the highest one among all the famous sight-seeing mountains in China. There are four scenic regions: Baoguo Temple, Wannian Temple, Qingyin Pavilion and Golden Summit. Its main peak, the Golden Summit, is 3099 meters (about 3389 yards) above the sea level, seemingly reaching the sky. In addition, there are four spectacles in Golden Summit: Clouds Sea, Sunrise, Buddha Halos and Saint Lamps. Emei Mountain, locked in a medieval time warp, is dotted with monasteries and temples, many of which have their histories posted for visitors. Emei Mountain is one of the Middle Kingdom''''''''s four famous Buddhist Mountains. The original temple structures dated from as long ago as the advent of Buddhism itself in China; by the 14th century, the estimated 100 or so holy structures housed several thousand monks.
Shangri-La Yading
Yading, the "Shangri-La" discovered by Joseph Rock in 1928, is renowned for the 3 holy peaks, which were blessed in the 8th century by Buddha of projecting his divine light onto the range and naming the 3 elevations after 3 bodhisattvas. The south peak Jambeyang (or Jampelyang, Yangmaiyong) of 5,958m is the avatar of Manjushri, the Bodhisattva of Wisdom. The east peak Chanadorje (or Xianuoduoji) of the same height represents Vajrapani, the Bodhisattva of Wrath. The north peak, Chenresig (or Chenrezig, Xiannairi) of 6,032m, the highest of the trio, symbolizes Avalokiteshvara, the Bodhisattva of Mercy. The 3 peaks are the patron saint of the Tibetans. Yading is one of China''''''''s most awe-inspiring nature reserves, Tibetan''''''''s holy land.
Kangding
It is located about 250 km west of Chengdu and is both an ethnically Tibetan and Han Chinese Township located in the historical Tibetan region of Kham. A raging river splits the city, thus the constant sound of water emanates throughout much of the city. Traditional Tibetan and Sichuan restaurants are easily found throughout the city. A monastery sits on the mountains overlooking the city, and is accessible by cable car. As of October 2006, a stone amphitheatre is under construction at the upper monastery.
Bamboo Forest
Located in the border of Changning and Jiang''''''''an, around 70km southeast of Yibin via Changning, the extraordinary South Sichuan Bamboo Sea ("Shunan Zhuhai" in Chinese Pinyin) covers an area of 120sqkm of mountain slopes at an elevation from 600 to 1000m. In its central region, more than 5000 hectares of bamboo shelters 28 ridges and peaks, with many cultural relics and historic sites screened by the feathery green tufts. There is a Bamboo Sea Museum, old folk residences on Mount Xijia and fish fossils. It is a comparatively big primeval ecological bamboo forest combining mountains, rivers, karts caves, lakes and falls with artificial scenes of long history.
