Chengdu is
depicted in a poem as "Chengdu Landscape, as if
endowed by the Ninth Heaven, is shared in the
creations of many a master artist." A magnificent
and modern provincial capital, Southeast of the
Sichuan basin, Chengdu enjoys temperate climate and
plentiful products.
The city located between latitude 102?5’ and 104?3’
east and longitude 30?6’ and 31?6’ north. With an
annual rainfall of 997.6 mm, it occupies an area of
12,389.6 square kilometres, and now has over 3
million inhabitants in the city proper, and over 10
million in greater Chengdu. The average annual
temperature of 16.2 篊, an annual sunshine time is
1,239 hours and the frost-free period is 300 days.
Chengdu is more than 2,000 years old. In contrast to
some other Chinese urban centres, and despite raging
redevelopment, Chengdu has managed to preserve the
atmosphere how one might imagine China to have once
been sometime in the past.
Chengdu was already the political, economic, and
cultural centre of western Sichuan by 400 B.C.
During the Five Dynasties Period (907-960), Meng
Chang, a ruler of later Shu, had numerous hibiscus
trees planted on the city wall, so the town
eventually became known as the City of Hibiscus.
Skirted by famed tourist cities: Chongqing, Lhasa,
Xi’an, Kunming, Guilin etc., Chengdu serves as the
hub of communication and a tourist transit centre.
Major tourist attractions include: Temple of Marquis
Wu, Du Fu’s Thatched Cottage, Wang Jian Tomb,
River-viewing Pavilion, River Funan -- a city mote,
Baoguang Temple, Giant Panda Breeding Base,
Dujiangyan Ancient Water Project, Mount
Qingchengshan and Xiling Snow Mountain and so on.
Chengdu, also known as the hibiscus city or the
brocade city, has been a famous cultural centre with
age-old colourful traditions of both religious and
civil significance for the past 2,500 years in
Chinese history. With the coming of the spring,
peach blossoms abound on the plain and rape-seed
flowers tinge the landscape golden while the wafting
cooking smoke curls up from the farm huts amidst
bamboo groves. All this makes the city and its
suburbs truly poetic. The annual happy occasions of
the traditional lantern festival, flower show, the
yearly opening of the sluices at the Dujiangyan, the
dragon boat races at Xinjing, and the folk-lore sing
song contests at Wang-cong Memorial Temple are also
charming and captivating scenes. The old street
scene at Huanglongxi township, the gorgeous mansions
of the Liu family at Dayi county and a number of
picturesque civilian villages are well preserved for
people and future generations to appreciate. In
Tiexiangsi, there is the College for Buddhist nuns
in China, and the Guanyin Temple in Xinjing has
preserved the most lively colour sculpture and
wall-painting of Ming Dynasty, Zhaojue Temple,
Wenshu Monastery, Baoguang Temple and Daci Temple in
the city are known as "the four famous Buddhist
monasteries in western Sichuan". Hemingshan at Diyi
county is the sacred seat of origin for Taoism, and
Qingyang Palace is the best preserved memorial
temple for Laotzu, the founder and master of the
Taoist faith. Sichuan opera with the Chengdu brand
as representative, is one of the principal genres of
regional drama. It is particularly famous for its
sense of humour and its unique skills in "Changing
one’s countenance".
Built on flat ground, Chengdu can easily be explored
on foot or by bicycle. It has almost a southern
aspect, with colorful old streets lined by scores of
small restaurants and walkways that remain crowded
until late with traders, buyers, and people out for
a stroll.
One could eat one’s way through the region’s
countless specialties by visiting the snack bars or
teahouses, which often have free performances of
Sichuan opera or other instrumental pieces to
entertain guests as they sip their jasmine tea.
These teahouses are popular gaming hangouts,
particularly for older men playing Chinese chess,
which resembles the Western game of chess. Not
surprisingly, many teahouses have recently
transformed into small cinemas, with recent releases
shown from video discs. |