This was my 5th visit to Chengdu, so just one of many times where I’ve been exploring in the city! Chengdu is definitely one of my favourite places, I find it so easy to wander and there’s always something to see. On this trip I was there for 3 nights and really only 2 full days which I used to go and see the pandas, but as the base closes at 6PM, that left at least a couple of daylight hours and the whole evening for other sightseeing, plus a few extra hours on the afternoon that I arrived (from Beijing, more on that another time!). I spent a lot of time around the Chunxilu area as that was most convenient to me but I also did a long walk and took a metro ride out across the city, let’s dive into some updated photos of Chengdu!
Walking Chunxilu-Tianfu Square-People’s Park-Kuanzhai Alleys
On my first late afternoon/evening, a priority for me was to go to the Panda Post shop and back to the Kuanzhai Alleys – these alleys are quite touristy but have great shops with panda souvenirs so I wanted to see what I could get! So I started by walking pretty much a straight road from Chunxilu to Tianfu Square – this was interesting as I’ve done this walk before (albeit back in 2016 I think!) and there were definitely new buildings up and some buildings demolished for new ones to be built. It was a pleasant walk and not too busy at all, I was happy to see Tianfu Square looking exactly as I remember it – when I first visited Chengdu back in 2016 this was the first place I went after arriving at the hotel. From Tianfu square I kept on going to People’s Park, one of my favourite places in Chengdu. Despite being in the middle of a bustling city, it’s peaceful here. There are plenty of winding paths and things to see here, so it’s definitely worth a few hours of time. I also saw my favourite thing here – on the entrance gate (the first picture in this post) it said ‘Chengdu A Happy City Where Dreams Come True‘ and I just thought that was perfect and really described how I felt! On the corner of People’s Park is possibly my favourite shop in the whole world – Panda Post! Now back in the day (2016) it was across the road from the park and quite a small place, but I had seen online that this was now demolished and a new one was nearby. I couldn’t find any information about this online so was a little concerned that I wouldn’t find it, but luckily it was easy – it’s on the same side of the road as the park, and pretty much opposite the previous site (on Google Maps, there is the old site currently marked as I write this in April 2024). I’ll post about Panda Post a little further down this post, but just know I spent around an hour browsing here! After that I then headed to the Kuanzhai Alleys which are another 15-minute walk from the People’s Park – I remember on my first visit walking this same route and really wondering if I was going to the right place, now it’s more build up and lively. From here I took the metro back to Chunxilu (only a couple of stops, but I was getting tired) and headed for my last activity of the day, seeing the Anshun Bridge lit up – I’ve tried to see this before but never quite gotten there. It was a bit of a trek in the evening, it’s not particularly close to a metro stop, so it took around 30-minutes to walk there from Chunxilu. But I’m glad I’ve seen it now, it just wasn’t quite as lit up as I’d imagined from seeing it on Instagram!
Chunxilu
On my second afternoon in Chengdu I was pretty tired from being at the panda base all day so I just wanted a quiet evening. It’s not a trip to Chengdu without seeing the iconic panda climbing up the IFS mall! So I just hung out in the Chunxilu and Taikoo Li shopping areas. I’ve been here many times and neither the area nor the panda climbing the mall have changed but this time I also made my way up to the roof terrace to see the other side of the panda. It was busy but not too bad, however there was quite a queue to get in for a picture – I didn’t need one but I’m glad I ticked this off the list. There are other pandas now to see in this area too, there’s the panda KFC although I found this super disappointing when I went in and there really weren’t that many pandas, and also a panda on a coca-cola stand, this was cute^ And I made my way to the Lego store in Taikoo Li as I had spotted this on the drive in from the airport to the hotel – they have a super cute Lego panda display that I had to go and see!
Wuhou Shrine and Jinli Street
On my third and last evening I decided to head to the Wuhou Shrine and Jinli Street area – it took quite a while on the metro as the closest stop was closed for renovation and I had to walk a little bit further but actually it was a really nice walk through a Chengdu neighbourhood and the route from the metro to the site was also signposted the whole way. I ended up being a bit too late to go into the Shrine itself, but the park was open and very beautiful for an evening stroll. It really was quite quiet here so I’d definitely recommend it. The park is also connected to the Jinli Street which is full of shops and food outlets in an ancient design – in contrast to the park this was very busy and popular. I ate a great selection of snacks here, headed to Starbucks to pick up the latest mug in the collection (I love the new drawn designs!) and then back to the metro to go back to the hotel for an early night as I was leaving pretty early the next morning.
Panda Post shops
Without a doubt, one of my favourite shops in the whole world – and this new built store at the corner of People’s Park is a huge upgrade from the original one across the street. I’d say it’s at least twice the size and there is also a cafe space although this wasn’t open when I was there. The shop is a panda-lovers dream, so many lovely postcards and stationery items to buy, along with fluffy pandas of course! I spent a long time deciding on what I wanted to get, and then at the cash desk also spotted the panda postage stamps so picked up a set of those too which I think will look very nice framed. On the first morning that I headed out to the panda base, the taxi turned the corner from the hotel and I spotted another Panda Post shop right around the corner from the hotel, I was so surprised! This shop is beautiful, it’s a lot more spacious that the People’s Park location and I think it has more books and related items than the first shop, but with all the post cards and stationery items. Upstairs is also a cafe, I didn’t visit but think I will go on my next visit. The front of the shop is also beautifully decorated with a giant painted design of He Hua/Hua Hua (of course I bought the notebook with this cover^). It was a lot quieter in this shop, I don’t know when it opened, but I certainly hadn’t seen anything about this shop online before my trip (and I did a pretty thorough search before travelling), so I do wonder if it’s a bit less well-known.
Where did I stay?
Even though I was specifically here for the pandas, I decided to stay in the city centre rather than near the panda base to give me options of things to do in the evenings. I stayed at the Crowne Plaza Chengdu City Centre and really it was a great hotel. It’s in the middle of everything, just a 5-minute walk from Chunxilu which is a main shopping area, and a 20-minute walk to Tianfu Square. The price was pretty good and had breakfast included (really great selection, I’d say it was about 50:50 Western and Chinese options). My room was spacious and very comfortable and my view was over the back of the building, I really liked seeing the rest of that side of the city spanning in front of me. The staff were great and everyone I encountered spoke English, I had no problems at all – it was a great stay and I’d definitely recommend this hotel!
