Chengdu: A City That Knows How to Live

Chengdu has a reputation: relaxed, spicy, a little lazy. That reputation is half true. In teahouses, people sit for an afternoon with a bowl of {{盖碗茶|gaiwan tea|gàiwǎn chá}}, playing mahjong, getting their ears cleaned, watching the light change. No one hurries them away.

But Chengdu is not just a place to relax. It is a metropolis of over 20 million people, with a huge tech industry, a fast-growing economy, and a skyline that has completely changed in twenty years. The most interesting thing about Chengdu is that it accommodates two speeds at once.

Chengdu skyline. Photo: George N / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Teahouses

Teahouses are Chengdu's living room. The most famous one is in {{人民公园|People's Park|Rénmín Gōngyuán}}: {{鹤鸣茶社|Heming Teahouse|Hèmíng Cháshè}}, with bamboo chairs under the trees, gaiwan tea, and thermoses. For a few yuan, you can sit all afternoon. Tea is refilled endlessly; the point is conversation.

Teahouses are not just for tourists. Retired people play mahjong, families chat, businesspeople talk things over, and people who come alone read or doze. Ear cleaners walk between the tables with long tools; the service is half massage, half performance.

Food

Chengdu is a UNESCO City of Gastronomy, and {{川菜|Sichuan cuisine|Chuāncài}} is one of China's most important cuisines. Its signature is not just heat, but {{麻|ma|má}}—the numbing tingle of {{花椒|Sichuan peppercorn|huājiāo}}—combined with {{辣|la|là}}. The best dishes stack the two: {{麻婆豆腐|mapo tofu|mápó dòufu}}, {{担担面|dandan noodles|dàndàn miàn}}, {{水煮鱼|shuizhu yu|shuǐzhǔ yú}}, {{回锅肉|twice-cooked pork|huíguōròu}}, and hotpot.

Sichuan hotpot is a social ritual: a {{鸳鸯锅|yuanyang pot|yuānyāng guō}} with red oil and clear broth, {{毛肚|tripe|máodǔ}}, beef, tofu skin, potato, vegetables, dipped in sesame oil and garlic. It is loud, messy, and must be eaten in a group.

Giant Pandas

The {{成都大熊猫繁育研究基地|Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding|Chéngdū Dàxióngmāo Fányù Yánjiū Jīdì}} is the city's most popular attraction. Go in the morning, when the pandas are active and the crowds are thinner. The base is a conservation and research center, not an ordinary zoo; the pandas are the stars, but the work is breeding and habitat.

Giant panda at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding. Photo: Colegota / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.5 es.

Modern City

Chengdu's tech industry is concentrated in {{天府新区|Tianfu New Area|Tiānfǔ Xīnqū}} and {{高新区|High-tech Zone|Gāoxīn Qū}}. Gaming, software, biotech, and aerospace companies have all come. Chengdu is also a transport hub for the west, with a new airport and a rapidly expanding subway.

The result is a city where you can go from tradition to the future in a few subway stops. That is Chengdu's charm: it does not choose between teahouses and skyscrapers.

**How to get around:** For a first visit, three days is about right. Day one: People's Park, teahouses, old streets. Day two: panda base in the morning, hotpot in the evening. Day three: {{都江堰|Dujiangyan|Dūjiāngyàn}} or {{青城山|Qingcheng Mountain|Qīngchéng Shān}}. Stay downtown; the subway is convenient. Chengdu rewards those who slow down. Order a bowl of tea, sit down, and let the afternoon happen.