Things to Do While on Transit - Chengdu, China

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• Overland Trip From China To Nepal (Chengdu - Tibet - Kathmandu)
• Chengdu - Tibet - Nepal: Budgeting Recap, Documents, Tips & Trick

Chunxi Road, Chengdu, China

Before departing for Tibet, I first arrived at Chengdu to catch the train departing for Lhasa. I purposely came a little bit early so that I can enjoy Chengdu first for I long for visiting its Giant Panda Breeding. Fortunately, not only I can visited its Giant Panda Breeding, I can also walked along the buzzling street around my apartment. Here are some interesting places I visited during my one and a half day spent in Chengdu:

Chunxi Road

This road is located in Jinjiang District. From my apartment, Chengdu Memory Space Apartment Taiguli Branch, this road is only five minutes away by walk.  This street was initially built to connect two commercial centers. And now you can find almost everything here, from the famous bubble tea, traditional snacks, fruits, until department store such as Isetan. 

To spend one evening there after a tiring long flight is such a memorable first day in my travel journey. This place would be perfect to be visited whether in days or nights, for when the night come you could only stare at the city lights and already feel happy (at least, it was, for me) :)

Tianfu Square, Chengdu, China

Tianfu Square

About 15 minutes slow walk (and a little stop here and there to take some picture) from Chunxi Road,  I found Tianfu Square. This place is located in The Commercial and Business District and a stop for 2 lines of the metro so this place is quite crowded. But I still can enjoy the super clean open space and stop for a moment to enjoy the hustle and bustle of the city. The famous Mao Zedong Statue is located in front of this square so I must say this is a must visit place for your first visit to Chengdu.

Walking passed by The Mao Zedong Statue, Chengdu, China

Me wearing: Top (Unbranded), Wool Jacket (Marks & Spencer), 

Pants (Unbranded), Bag (Fossil), Shoes (Payless)

Mao Zedong Statue

This famous statue is located in front of Tianfu Square. Actually, nothing to do here other than taking picture with the statue, but for a Chengdu first timer I guess it is nice to see this memory of the founding father of China, no? 

Eating halal noodle at one store in moslem area near Chengdu Museum

Moslem Area Near Chengdu Museum

After get enough with the walk and the night started to crawl in, we were looking for some food and we found that there is a moslem are not far from the square. So we walked there, passed The Chengdu Museum and finally about 8  minutes from Tianfu Square we saw this halal noodle store in the second floor of a bakery (the bread is delicious too) and there we went (So sorry I can't read the store's name, but it is easy to be found in the moslem area). 

I ate a beef noodle and I like it. Just like the usual Chinese dishes this noodle is rich with spicy and oily flavor and some of my friends did't find it suit their taste. But honestly, I like it :)

JinLi Ancient Street

JinLi Ancient Street

One of our tour group member wanted to find a starbucks located in an old traditional building, then there we were, finding it inside JinLi Ancient Street. We first thought that this place is not far from Tianfu Square, but actually it takes us about 20-30 minutes by walk from Tianfu Square because we were taking the long way round, getting lost for we were not reading the map carefully. And we totally walked about 10 kms from our apartment to reach this street.

I didn't find any of the starbucks store's photo in my camera (my bad), but you can see it here. A quiet interesting way to end the day by sipping hot cafe mocha inside the ambience of an old traditional building, I must say. But more than that, I enjoyed my walk along this street, buying traditional snack (grilled fish), eating it while watching traditional dance performance and moreover in a breezy spring day.

At Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding

One Panda was Busy Eating

Red Panda 

Every panda in The Breeding Center have their own personal detail and characteristic described!

 你好 Er Qiao! 

Can't help but wanted to buy all of the souvenirs in The Souvenir Center

Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding

And finally! Can't believe that I have the time to visit this place I've been longing for so long. It took 30 minutes by taxi to go to this breeding center from our apartment. A really vast and beautiful conservatory to wander around. And for erderly or for some people who only want to enjoy the ambience while sipping on hot drinks, there are few beautiful cafes available which overlooking a serene lake. 

I chose to explore this place on foot but of course for some people it might be tiring, but believe me it was worth it. You could also take the train available, but the queue is quite long. There I could see panda and their (always) funny behavior. There is also red panda, anyway have you ever seen it before? Yes, they are exist!

And my favorite is Panda's cub. The little and active baby is located far in the nursery area. Not much people reach this place, but a little tip for you, really you should visit this nursery area!

Explore Time: 3-4 hours

Entrance Fee: 9 USD