A weekend in Chengdu, Sichuan

Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province.

On the last weekend of October (2019) we went to Chengdu for a weekend getaway. We arrived on Friday evening and had to leave already Sunday evening.

A panda greets you already at the airport exit.

No question that there is more to do in Chengdu than you can cover in 2 day, so we focused on only a few things.

Friday: Qingyang District
Saturday: Leshan Giant Buddha Statue
Sunday: Panda Park

Qingyang District

We went there from our hotel (Mercure Chengdu Chunxi, around 900 RMB/night incl. breakfast) by taxi. There is a „tourist pedestrian zone“ with a lot of nice shops and restaurants. The Chinese name is „KuanXiangZi“

You can find a giant panda statue with a big bottle of Baijiu, which made a perfect photo spot.

Be sure to stop also in one of the many soup restaurants and try a delicious (yet very spicy) noodle soup. It should not cost more than 25 Yuan, normally, the price should be 10-15 Yuan.

Crowded pedestrian zone with beautiful traditional buildings and small shops.

Make up for the traditional dress photo shoothing

Professional photos in traditional dresses are available at many locations.

Leshan Giant Buddha Statue and Oriental Buddha Park

The Leshan Giant Buddha statue is one of the most impressive statues found in South China.

It takes about 3-4 hours from Chengdu downtown by car, depending on the traffic. We would recommend to book a car with driver, which can be organized by any hotel.

There are organized river tours there which go up and down the river near the statue. The trip we chose took about 30 minutes round trip for ca. 100 RMB/person.

Not far from the statue, there is another park, called „Oriental Buddha Park“

This park features some really nice outdoor areas as well as several caves with different sized Buddha statues and other relgious figures and several temples.

The main area with steps leading up to some caves

Panda Park

The park is really named “Chengdu Research Base for Giant Panda Breeding” and houses not only giant pandas, but also red pandas (we could not get any good shots of them, unfortunately). It’s located in the north east of Chengdu. Here is a link to the official website.

The park is huge, so it is better to plan the whole day. You can take “shortcuts” by taking electric cars/busses, which stop basically at every location, but if you like to walk, be prepared.