7 Days in Chengdu: Sichuan Food, Pandas & Top Attractions

stayed at Mercure Chengdu Jiuyanqiao (Taikoo Li Branch) for 8 nights. \n\nRoom was quite spacious, with a good size of 36sqm. Average cost of about S$77 (US$57) a night. \n\nWater and soft drinks were also complimentary.\n\nSink and shower area were separated. There was no closet but an area to hang clothes.\n\nRoom was on a high floor on 31st floor, with a river view. \n\nAfter resting for awhile, we headed to the shopping mall next door for lunch. \n\nThis was a restaurant in Chengdu that sold Sichuan Cuisine. \n\nGrilled shrimp with glass noodles,

needed about 5 mins to cook after serving. \n\nSichuan flavoured twice cooked pork, was stir fry pork belly with peppers. \n\nGriddled chicken with peppers were tender fried chicken cubes. \n\nGrilled shrimp with glass noodles was a non-spicy dish. \n\nThe other dishes were mildly spicy but a little numbing from the Sichuan peppercorns. \n\nFood was also slightly salty so it was better to eat with rice.\n\nThis area was called that we stayed was called Jiuyanqiao, literally translated as nine-eyed bridge in Mandarin). \n\nThere used to be a 400 year old

bridge with 9 arches in this spot. \n\nHowever, with urbanisation, it was dismantled and made way for this bridge which allowed pedestrians and motor vehicles to move safely. \n\nThere were vendors peddling food and panda soft toys on this bridge. \n\nThere was a beautiful bridge opposite, called the Anshun Bridge, which would be lit up at night. \n\nOn the opposite side, was the pub district of Chengdu, popular for its nightlife and night scenery. \n\nJust ahead was the Anshun Bridge. The Anshun Bridge was also a reconstructed bridge, and currently

housed a restaurant. \n\nOur next stop was Chengdu??s famous Chunxi Road shopping area. \n\nThere was the iconic hanging panda sculpture at IFS. From the ground level, it was only possible to take pictures of its bottom. \n\nIn order to take a photo of its face, we would need to go to the 7th floor. \n\nThere was a queue in order to take pictures with the panda face up close. So we just took a picture of it from a distance instead.\n\nIt was getting late, so we tried a popular supper dish in Chengdu: Pig Trotter soup. \n\nFound a shop selling Pig Trotter

soup near Chunxi Road. \n\nPig Trotter soup was clear soup with a mild flavour, but was a little bland for my liking. \n\nThere was not much meat on the pig trotter. Dip the meat/skin in sauce before eating. \n\nSichuan was also popular for its rabbit meat. \n\nWe can choose the head, front leg or hind leg. \n\nFlavours included non-spicy, fragrant (mild) spicy and mala spicy.\n\nI tried the non-spicy rabbit hind leg and mild spicy rabbit hind leg.\n\nTexture was quite close to chicken meat, but meat was a little tough (probably because it was already

cold). \n\nSpicy flavour was more fragrant while non-spicy flavour was a little bland.\n\nWe went to see the night scenery at the Jiuyanqiao area. \n\nThis time, the Anshun Bridge was already lighted up. \n\nThe bridge and pub area were more bustling in the evening. \n\nThe Anshun Bridge was beautifully lit up at night, which was also one of the landmarks of Chengdu. \n\nAfter that, we returned to the hotel to rest for the day.\n\nGood morning from Chengdu. We took the metro to our first stop: Chengdu People??s Park. \n\nChengdu People??s Park was

usually a busy park where many people congregated and filled with activities. \n\nAs this was a Saturday weekend, there were even more people hanging out today.\n\nThere were tea houses, eateries and street food too. \n\nTea culture was quite popular in Chengdu but we preferred to try food. \n\nOur first stop was Zhong Shui Jiao, a local restaurant to try some local food. \n\nThis place seemed well established, since 1893. \n\nShop sold a variety of Sichuan food and snacks.\n\nZhong Shui Jiao was dumplings in spicy sauce. Sauce tasted slightly spicy but

a bit oily. We ordered pork filling but there was a choice of beef filling too.\n\nTian Shui Mian literally meant sweet noodles. But don??t be fooled, sauce was slightly spicy too. Mix immediately before noodles lump together. Noodles were served cold, thick and chewy.\n\nDan Hong Gao was egg pancake with sesame filling\n\nWe continued our walk around the park to check out various local activities. \n\nPond where you could rent a paddle boat.\n\nA push cart selling traditional candy art. Candy Art was also an intangible cultural heritage of China.

\n\nEither spin a wheel to randomly choose the candy art design or just order the design you preferred. Maltose syrup was used to design the desired shape.\n\nEventually, we walked to the famous Chengdu matchmaking corner at People??s Park. Blue sheets for the gents and pink sheets for the ladies. Each sheet would have the dating profile of the person, what kind of partner the person was looking for, contact information but no photo.\n\nOther activities in the park included a small amusement park, bonsai garden, Koi pond where you could feed the fish and

spring flowers to admire around the park.\n\nAfter taking a walk around the park, we made my way to the next destination.\n\nWe took the bus from People??s Park to our next stop: Wuhou Shrine & Jinli Old Street\n\nThe Wuhou Shrine was a park and museum dedicated to the time when Chengdu was the capital of Shu. \n\nThe Chengdu Wuhou Shrine was not only dedicated to the military strategist Zhu Ge Liang but also housed the tomb of Liu Bei, the former emperor of Shu, during the period of the three kingdoms. \n\nThis was the only temple in China where both

the emperor and a government official were honoured in the same temple.\n\nThe main chamber of first section of this complex was dedicated to Liu Bei. \n\nOn either side of his chamber were Zhang Fei and Guan Yu, his two sworn brothers, based on the novel Romance of Three Kingdoms. \n\nIn the courtyard, were statues of many government officials (military & non-military) who served him during his reign.\n\nBehind this section, was the Wuhou Shrine, dedicated to Zhu Ge Liang. \n\nReconstructed temple where Liu Bei, Zhang Fei and Guan Yu became sworn

brothers. \n\nBased on the novel Romance of Three Kingdoms, the Oath of Fraternity took place in a ceremony in a peach garden.\n\nRed wall seemed popular for photos for Chinese tourists. \n\nWalking through the path with red walls would lead to the mausoleum of Liu Bei.\n\nAfter exiting the Wuhou Shrine and walking through a park, was Jinli Old Street. \n\nThere were retro buildings, street food and also Sichuan opera performances. \n\nWe wanted to try Bo Bo Ji, and this seemed to be the popular shop from Leshan.\n\nBo Bo Ji was refrigerated cooked

skewers (vegetables & meat). \n\nChoose the sticks you wanted (?3 per stick). \n\nChoose the desired marinate: Non-spicy, mild spicy and mala. \n\nThis time we chose non-spicy flavor and staff would help you marinate the skewers. \n\nAlthough well marinated, taste was quite bland because it was non-spicy flavor. \n\nSo in Chengdu or Sichuan, it was more advisable to order food that was at least mild spicy. \n\nAfter that, we took the bus to our next stop: Kuan Zhai Alley (Wide and Narrow Alley). \n\nShops selling panda soft toys seemed popular. \n\nKuan

Zhai Alley was made up of three parallel alleys: Wide Alley, Narrow Alley and Jing Alley. \n\nWe started with Wide Alley. \n\nKuan Zhai Alley was really crowded and this had to be the most popular tourist spot we had visited in Chengdu so far. \n\nNarrow Alley was also quite crowded, with shops selling food and souvenirs. \n\nWe tried the street snack loosely translated as three cannons. \n\nIt involved tossing a glutinous rice ball and then throwing it into peanuts shavings. \n\nA sauce was poured over it, which tasted a bit sweet and salty. \n\nThe

Jing Alley was much quieter with little activity.\n\nWe had intended to go back but got distracted by another retro looking street and ended up walking to Culture Park. \n\nThere was a flower festival going on. \n\nTulips and cherry blossoms were in bloom, so there were many people admiring the flowers and taking pictures.\n\nAfter that, we returned to the hotel to rest for the day. \n\nGood morning. Today, we would be visiting the Chengdu Panda Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding. \n\nBut first breakfast near the hotel. This shop sold dumplings,

porridge and noodles. \n\nBeef noodles, minimum portion but enough for a quick breakfast. \n\nOne way of getting to the Panda Base would be a direct shuttle from Chunxi Road. Fare was ??10 one way. \n\nJourney to the West Gate of the panda base was about 1 hour. \n\nWe had problems using the Wechat mini program to purchase tickets, so we had to buy tickets from the counter. \n\nOnline payment failed again when we tried to purchase tickets for the internal shuttle. \n\nAnother visitor helped us purchase while we paid him back via Alipay/Wechat Pay. Fare

for internal shuttle was ??30 for whole day. \n\nAfter wasting much time with the tickets and internal shuttle, we finally reached our first stop at 11:30am.\n\nThe panda base had an open zoo concept, with a circular path and open enclosures. \n\nMost enclosures housed only 1 panda. \n\nAs it was already getting warm and the panda had been active all morning, they were starting to get more restless. \n\nThis enclosure had 2 panda, and we were fortunate to see both of them active. \n\nIt was already around 1pm so we headed to the eateries near the South

Entrance for lunch.\n\nSpicy diced chicken contained large chicken pieces which were tender. Taste was mildly spice and the orange sauce was slightly sweet. \n\nSweet and sour pork. \n\nPortion of the food was good.\n\nAfter lunch, we visited the Red Panda. Red panda were a separate panda species that looked like a raccoon. We could see them moving, eating and sleeping.\n\nAfter that, we took the shuttle and visited some of the remaining areas. \n\nThis was the Panda Panoramic Canteen, which had some stalls selling food. The main attraction was the glass

window facing the panda enclosure. \n\nStar Nursery House, with a few panda enclosures.\n\nIt was already 5:25pm, 30 mins before park closure, so we took the shuttle back to the West Gate. \n\nWe took the next shuttle back to Chunxi Road and took the metro back to our hotel.\n\nGood morning, we started the day with breakfast at a shop near the hotel. \n\nScallion Pancake breakfast set with a tea leaf egg and soy milk. \n\nSteamed snack breakfast set with a tea leaf egg and soy milk. Sichuan style rice cake, which contained minced meat.\n\nNext, we took

the bus to Du Fu Thatched Cottage. \n\nWe entered from the North Gate, entrance fee was ??50. \n\nDu Fu Thatched Cottage was a museum and park built in honour of the poet Du Fu. \n\nThis was a reconstructed cottage, based on his poems that showed how he lived. \n\nIt seemed that the Chinese tourists loved to take pictures with the red wall. \n\nWe took a walk around the peaceful garden, before exiting from the East Gate.\n\nWithin walking distance was an outlet of the popular Chen Mapo Tofu, a Michelin rated restaurant which sold Mapo Tofu. \n\nIt was

around 2pm and we were fortunate enough to see a Sichuan face changing performance. \n\nBesides Mapo Tofu, Chen Mapo Tofu also served a variety of Sichuan dishes. \n\nSignature Mapo Tofu.. There was a lot of tofu tightly packed in the pot. Texture of the tofu was really good. It was slightly spicy but quite numbing towards the end. \n\nDan Dan Noodle. Mix well with the spicy seasoning below. It was better to mix and eat this first before the noodles lump together.\n\nKung Pao Chicken, diced chicken pieces, with peanuts, dried chili and sweet sauce.

\n\nPanda Tang Yuan, nice for photos, otherwise it was just dumpling with sesame filling. \n\nAfter the late lunch, we took the bus back to the hotel to rest.\n\nWe would be taking an afternoon trip to Dujiangyan later this afternoon.\n\nSince we had some time, we had hotpot at Hai Di Lao in the mall next door.\n\nWe chose a spicy and a non-spicy soup base. \n\nWe ordered vegetables, quail egg, pork belly, fish slices, chicken, beef and dumpling. \n\nMeat tasted better with spicy soup base. \n\nHigh speed trains to Dujiangyan departed from Xipu Station,

which was about 45 mins by metro from the city center. \n\nThe train travelled through the suburbs and countryside, before reaching the city of Dujiangyan. \n\nTotal time taken to Lidui Gongyuan station from Xipu Station was about 30 mins.\n\nAfter getting out from the exit, we realised it was already raining. \n\nThere was a popular photo spot of a giant panda sculpture lying on its back taking a selfie. \n\nDuring this week of March, it was also cherry blossom season. \n\nCherry trees were planted along this street. The cherry blossoms were in peak

colours, which made the street full of pink flowers. \n\nThe main attraction here was the Dujiangyan Irrigation System built more than 2000 years ago. The purpose of this Irrigation System was to redirect water flow from the Min river to Chengdu. It was also a UNESCO World Heritage Site.\n\nAs it was raining even more heavily, we decided not to enter since it was fully outdoors. \n\nNext to the park, was a vintage looking bridge with an ornate roof and nicely decorated ceiling. \n\nOne of the fast flowing rivers created by the irrigation system.\n\nOn

the other side of the bridge, was a well-preserved old town. We took a quick walk around the town since it was raining. \n\nThere was a popular confectionary selling traditional black sesame cake. \n\nOn the top was a sugar coating. The sesame layer was moist and texture was like cake.\n\nThere was also sesame cookie, which came in 3 flavours: salty, red sugar and white sugar. Sesame cookie was a little dry, but of all I liked the red sugar flavour the best.\n\nThere was even a city wall outside this old town.\n\nAccording to the weather forecast, the

rain would only stop more than 2 hours later. So we decided to return to Chengdu instead. \n\nWe could amend train tickets once for free. Unfortunately, there were no more seats left and we could only get a standing ticket. \n\nIt was also raining in Chengdu, so we returned to the hotel to rest.\n\nBy the time it stopped raining, it was already in the evening. \n\nWe had hot pot for dinner since it was a rainy day. \n\nThis time we tried Shoo Loong Kan, a hotpot restaurant chain that originated from Chengdu.\n\nThis triple flavoured hot pot was one of

their specialties. \n\nWe ordered quail egg, fish slices, pork, mutton and vegetable platter. \n\nSoup bases were spicy, san xian and mushroom hotpot flavours.\n\nGlutinous rice cake\n\nThis morning we took a day trip to Leshan, about 1 hour ride on the high speed train from Chengdu. \n\nLeshan was famous for the Leshan Giant Buddha, built more than 1200 years ago. \n\nOne of the best ways to admire the Giant Buddha was by the sightseeing ferry. \n\nAfter that, we tried some local food at a food street, before making our way back to Chengdu in the

evening.\n\nToday, we took a day trip to Emeishan, slightly more than an hour on high speed train from Chengdu. \n\nWe had an early lunch at a local eatery. Leshan sweet skin duck, steamed prawns with glass noodles and steamed bun with a crispy tail.\n\nEmeishan was known for the Mount Emei scenic area. \n\nMount Emei was a sacred mountain of cultural significance as it was the place where Buddhism was first established on Chinese territory. \n\nFor this trip, I only went to the lower mountain area, which did not need the mountain entrance fee. \n\nTried

the beef tofu brain, before returning to Chengdu in the evening.\n\nToday, we visited a Hakka ancient town in Chengdu. There was even a replica round communal house (Tulou).\n\nThe ancient town was popular for these cold spicy noodles and we also tried the dessert. \n\nOn the way back, we dropped by to walk at a park, which had some cherry blossoms and a nice sunset.\n\nWe extended the check out time from 12pm to 2pm this morning and went to Taikoo Li. \n\nTaikoo Li was mainly a shopping area for designer brands. \n\nWe had our last Sichuan cuisine in

Chengdu at a restaurant near the hotel. \n\nExtensive menu of Sichuan cuisine. \n\nSichuan Spicy Chicken, made up of many small pieces of fried chicken. Was a little spicy and salty but quite numbing from the peppercorns.\n\nKung Pao Chicken was tender and cooked with peanuts. It was slightly spicy but sauce was slightly sweet. \n\nSesame pastry had a crispy pastry layer with a salty but tasty filling. \n\nPortions were good and it was a satisfying meal.\n\nAfter that, we returned to the hotel to collect the luggage and checked out. \n\nWe took the metro

to Chunxi Road for the airport shuttle to the airport. \n\nWe took an afternoon flight by Sichuan Airlines. \n\nAfter more than 4 hours, the flight landed safely in Singapore.