Photo: xiquinhosilva, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
The site is about 7 km from the city center. Allow about 2 hours to see both the excavation hall and the exhibition hall.Site featuring various tools and art pieces from around 3,000 years ago. The amount of unearthed items is just massive. They include pottery, blades, jade items, building foundations and various golden art pieces. There are two main buildings: the hall constructed over the centre of the excavation site and the modern exhibition hall with various artifacts on display.
Jinsha is a Chinese archaeological site located in Qingyang, Chengdu, the capital of the Chinese province of Sichuan. The site is one of the major archaeological discoveries in China during the 21st century. It is listed on the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Tentative List and Major Sites Protected at the National Level. The Chinese Internet Information Centre ranked Jinsha 5th on the Top 10 Archaeological Discoveries in 2001.
© OpenStreetMap contributors
杜甫草堂; dù fǔ cǎo táng
Du Fu was a renowned poet during the Tang Dynasty. The thatched cottage was where he lived from 760 to 765 and wrote many of his best works. The cottage eventually fell into ruin and had to be rebuilt. The current buildings date mostly from the Ming and Qing dynasties.The site includes a museum, gardens, and a reconstruction of Du Fu's cottage. Allow about 2 hours.
四川博物院 (sì chuān bó wù yuàn)
3 floors museum containing artifacts (bronze, pottery, carving, etc.), including coverage of different tribes in Sichuan. Visit can be completed in about 2 hours.
永陵, 王建墓; yǒng líng, wáng jiàn mù / Wang Jian's Tomb
Yongling is the tomb of Wang Jian, the founding emperor of the Shu Kingdom, also known as Great Shu or Former Shu, which ruled over much of Sichuan during the early 10th century during a period known as the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms. The burial chamber has been excavated and is open to the public. An on-site museum displays artefacts that have been excavated from the tomb.
青羊宫; Qingyanggong; lit. Palace of the Black, Green or Blue Ram
This Taoist temple is the oldest and biggest of its kind in the area, located in the west of downtown. A large and still-active temple that takes into consideration Taoist philosophy in its construction, and with both a park next door and a number of relaxed courtyards inside. While it has a long history, the buildings are modern, cheaply-made concrete constructions, and it quite frequently shows. The statues inside are also cheap modern constructions of no real interest. A teahouse and a vegetarian restaurant can be found within the temple complex.
四川歌剧院
Most guest houses and travel agencies offer to arrange visits to these traditional shows. It is more like a burlesque cabaret than an actual opera, sometimes including magicians, traditional musicians, shadow plays, comedy (spoken in Chinese though), and dancers besides the traditional pieces. Of course the most famous is never omitted: quick face-changing and fire spitting performed by dancers clad in colourful traditional costumes. You will follow the story sitting at your table, sipping on your constantly refilled tea cup and nibbling some salted snacks. Note that there are many teahouses in the city that offer the show every night. Try the local favorite at Shu Feng Ya Yun (蜀风雅韵) teahouse located in Chengdu Culture Park (文化公园) on Qintai Road (it is beside Qingyang Temple). You will be seated on a covered open ground (cooled by fan; no A/C), which is actually the center of the traditional teahouse building. You might have to book in advance or just ask the concierge of your hotel to book it for you.Shows usually last about 1.5 hours and include face-changing, fire-spitting, and acrobatics. Tickets range from ¥100-300 depending on seating.
宽窄巷子
Very nice place with lots of (expensive) tea houses, restaurants and local snacks. Great for relaxing. Streets date from late Qing-dynasty style but have been rebuilt. Free government Wi-Fi in this place.