Chengdu Photo Gallery

Welcome to Chengdu, a city with over 2000 years of history and now home to 14 million people.

The urge to abandom the Western style of consumerism is quite evident given the environmental side-effects. Welcome to hazy Chengdu.

Pandas are the main feature here, but it looks like a zoo with primarily pandas. I could theoretically see them play in a pen back home. The memorabilia is quite cute though.

Pandas love to eat bamboo.

Back in town, interesting panda souvenirs feature prominently on a pedestrian shopping street.

While it looks historical, the buildings look fairly new albeit in the traditional style. Shops and restaurants now occupy these buildings. Did I miss a museum or two?

These artificial shopping areas are not interesting to me. So I search for something more local, such as the street snacking scene.

Some stalls offered cultural performances, such as this puppet theatre using elaborately-decorated figurines.

There are a lot of bars though. It was a bit too cold to eat outside at the end of Decmeber.

Qintai Road is also a renovated "traditional" street. Not pedestrianized, it's tough to enjoy the shops and restaurants on both sides without being disturbed by heavy traffic.

Nevertheless, I got a wonderful hot pot dinner here. It's a mix of numbness and spiciness that makes Sichuan hot pot so famous.

Chinese cities are undergoing much development these days. The cities are big - but by no means inhumane in scale. Notice the mix of tall and not-so-tall buildings.

The subway system is a new and modest 2-line operation that will grow significantly in time.

Tianfu Square is the city's main junction. Upstairs from the stop is a huge public space that was bustling with people.

The space seemed a bit too big, and you need to cross the street to get here from the malls and office buildings that border it.