Christmas in Panda City - Chengdu

Things to do in Chengdu

Chengdu is a major city in Western China in Sichuan Province.  It has a large expat community.  There are several universities and technical schools there, including the Sichuan University which was near where we stayed.  There are major shopping centers there with everything you could ever want or need.  A famous walking street is located downtown which is noted for it's great shopping at reasonable prices.  (Did I get there?  No!)  Peter's Restaurant is there too, which serves excellent Western food and is where we got our roasted turkey with all the trimmings, supplied to the home of our host, carved and all. 

I'm sure if I was in the right company I would have discovered all the best shopping places in Chengdu, but my hosts were not of the same mind.  However, they had other tricks up their sleeves!  Since I came from the shopping metropolis of the world, it didn't really disappoint me too much that I didn't get to go shopping in Chengdu.  

This is how I felt, despite the fact I didn't get to go shopping in Chengdu!

Here's what we did instead.

Jin Li Lu

The Entry Gate of Jin Li Street

One of the streets off Jin Li Street.  All the streets are lined with shops.

See?  It's Christmas time. 

If you go to Chengdu, whether you like history or not, you will enjoy this beautiful, old looking  area of Chengdu.  The buildings are close together and look just like Chengdu looked years ago. It's popular for it's touristy shops that sell everything from traditional Chinese flutes to straw owls.  There were a couple of pottery shops which they had to drag me out of.  I'll show you what one of those shops was like.  (That's the one where I couldn't resist a very Chinese looking tea container and a wee flower vase. Heh!) 

I know you will want one of these!  They were actually quite cute.  Made from straw.

See the hole on the shelf?  That's where my tea container lived.

This man made the flutes he was selling. 

You can also buy:

• crocheted purses with big flowers on them (which I know you'll love!)
• straw hats
• African drums
• woven scarves
• tea sets
• xylophones
• shoulder bags
• jewellery
• and the list goes on

Probably the thing Jin Li Lu is most popular for is their food street, full of Sichuan delicacies, sweet, savoury and hot.  You really should try the chicken rice in a bamboo shoot and the very popular pineapple rice.  

These pancakes are oily, but yummy. 

I wasn't brave enough to try Sichuan Noodles, but they sure looked pretty!

Beautiful Sichuan eats!  Aren't the outfits fabulous?

Pineapple Rice...sweet and served warm!

As soon as you arrive at Jin Li Lu you should reserve a seat to see the Face Change show.  This is an amazing show and the magic is a state secret.  If you can see how it's done, let me know!  There are only two shows a day, one at 2:30 and the other in the evening.  

The Face Change is a MUST see!

Shu Brocade and Embroidery Museum

The day before leaving Chengdu, our hosts took us to see the Shu Brocade and Embroidery Museum.  There is no entry fee, but there is a beautiful gift shop that will leave you with your mouth hanging open.  You won't be able to leave without something to take home.  We thought we were going to go somewhere warm, but the main doors were wide open and not a bit of heat on inside, (these people are hardy!)  It was around 6 C. We weren't allowed to take pictures of the finished works so I can't show you, I can only tell you how beautiful they were.  At the gift shop, they sell handbags, silk scarves, table runners and cushion covers as well as embroidered pictures. 

There are two kinds of work done in this museum.  One is silk brocade which is done on a loom and silk embroidery which is done by hand.  Both are fascinating.  It takes two people to operate a loom and they need to memorize the pattern for about a month or two before even setting up the loom.  If things are going well, they can produce about 6cm of brocade a day.  Wow, not much.  That's why it's so expensive.  They often run into problems because the silk threads are so delicate and can break easily.  

The loom in front is over a hundred years old, from the Qing Dynasty and the only one from that Dynasty still operating in China.

Silk embroidery is also amazing.  One type is done on a transparent piece of cloth and there is a different picture on each side of the cloth!  Other pieces are totally embroidered, even the background is stitched.  These pieces are worth thousands of US dollars.  Yes, the Shu Brocade and Embroidery Museum is well worth a visit.  If you want to learn more about it,  this is a very interesting article to read.  Shu Brocade and Embroidery was almost a lost art, but young people have been recruited to learn the ancient craft.  You will also find out more about Chengdu Pandas on this site.

Hope this sign helps you get to the right one!

Street Scenes

As always, I love to watch the street scenes when I go to China.  I love those three wheel bikes they have that you can hire instead of a taxi.  Men and women still carry burdens on their shoulders.  Chinese people don't let anything go to waste.   Every part of the animal is eaten.  And you can buy it on the street corner.  

Roadside market.

I do hope you don't miss the fact that that is a rooster in the middle!  It's on the roadside too.

Early Childhood Development at Grandma's knee...cleaning the vegetables.

Hire a taxi?

Chengdu is wonderful.  The people are friendly and inquisitive.  It's not uncommon to be asked to pose with someone for a picture.  It's perfectly acceptable.  And they don't mind you asking them either, especially if you pose with them.  I highly recommend going there. I was surprised how much English was spoken there.

One of the side benefits of living in Asia is that we are so close to so many places and it's easy to travel anywhere.  You need a valid China Visa to travel to China.  Always carry a photocopy of your passport AND your Visa page on you.  I hope you enjoy your travels!

(Since it was the middle of winter and freezing cold, we didn't feel inspired to go see the Pandas which are living at a preservation center outside the city.  We can see Pandas in Hong Kong at Ocean Park and they looked to me like they were doing the same thing...eating and sleeping.  I would be keen to go when it's warmer though!  They say it's very pretty.)

Cheers and Happy New Year!!