# China Footnotes — Chengdu (成都): 12 places for a first visit

> Spend the morning with the pandas, the afternoon in a teahouse, and the night at a hotpot table. Chengdu is the China that makes you slow down and stay.

Data version bf7a986c4c57, generated 2026-10-08T16:15:57.632Z.

## How to use this file

- Read every Chengdu place in full: https://chinafootnotes.com/chengdu/llms-full.txt
- Read one place: https://chinafootnotes.com/places/{id}.md
- JSON: https://chinafootnotes.com/api/places?city=chengdu · https://chinafootnotes.com/api/cities/chengdu
- Before you go (visa, paying, apps, internet, booking ahead): https://chinafootnotes.com/before-you-go.md
- The whole guide, all cities: https://chinafootnotes.com/llms.txt

## Key figures

- Population: 21.54 million (2025)
- Area: 14335 km² (2024)

## Weather by month

- Jan: 9.3 °C / 2.7 °C, about 2.8 rain days
- Feb: 12.1 °C / 4.9 °C, about 3.8 rain days
- Mar: 16.8 °C / 8.4 °C, about 6 rain days
- Apr: 22.5 °C / 12.9 °C, about 8 rain days
- May: 26.3 °C / 17.2 °C, about 9.7 rain days
- Jun: 28.3 °C / 20.5 °C, about 10.6 rain days
- Jul: 30 °C / 22.1 °C, about 12.1 rain days
- Aug: 29.9 °C / 21.7 °C, about 12 rain days
- Sep: 25.7 °C / 18.9 °C, about 11.2 rain days
- Oct: 20.7 °C / 14.7 °C, about 8.4 rain days
- Nov: 16 °C / 9.6 °C, about 4 rain days
- Dec: 10.7 °C / 4.2 °C, about 2.1 rain days

Source: [WMO, distributed by NOAA NCEI](https://www.nodc.noaa.gov/archive/arc0216/0253808/6.6/data/0-data/Region-2-WMO-Normals-9120/China/CSV/WENJIANG_56187.csv)

## Book before you go

- [Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding](https://chinafootnotes.com/places/chengdu-panda-base.md): Real-name slot required · book up to 14 days ahead
- [Sanxingdui Museum](https://chinafootnotes.com/places/sanxingdui-museum.md): Advance booking · opens up to 5 days ahead
- [Wuhou Shrine](https://chinafootnotes.com/places/wuhou-shrine.md): Real-name ticket · 14 days ahead · passport accepted
- [Leshan Giant Buddha](https://chinafootnotes.com/places/leshan-giant-buddha.md): Timed tickets online; sold out on busy holidays

## In the city

- [People’s Park, Chengdu (成都人民公园)](https://chinafootnotes.com/places/chengdu-peoples-park.md): Park. A free city park where Chengdu people drink tea by the lake.
- [Kuanzhai Alley (宽窄巷子)](https://chinafootnotes.com/places/kuanzhai-alley.md): Open neighbourhood. Three restored Qing-era lanes of tea houses, snacks and shops, free to walk.
- [Wenshu Monastery (文殊院)](https://chinafootnotes.com/places/wenshu-monastery.md): Temple. A free working monastery with red walls, tea and vegetarian food in central Chengdu.
- [Du Fu Thatched Cottage (杜甫草堂)](https://chinafootnotes.com/places/du-fu-thatched-cottage.md): Classical garden. A ticketed memorial garden on the site where the Tang poet Du Fu lived in Chengdu.
- [Wuhou Shrine (武侯祠)](https://chinafootnotes.com/places/wuhou-shrine.md): Temple. Three Kingdoms temple-museum for Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang; ¥50 ticket, passport booking.
- [Jinli Ancient Street (锦里)](https://chinafootnotes.com/places/jinli-street.md): Open neighbourhood. Free lantern-lit street of rebuilt Qing-style shopfronts beside Wuhou Shrine.
- [Jinsha Site Museum (金沙遗址博物馆)](https://chinafootnotes.com/places/jinsha-site-museum.md): Museum. A Bronze Age Shu capital site with a gold-ornament collection, closed for a rebuild.
- [Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding (成都大熊猫繁育研究基地)](https://chinafootnotes.com/places/chengdu-panda-base.md): Attraction. Giant and red pandas in a bamboo park; timed real-name tickets, passports accepted.

## Dujiangyan

- [Dujiangyan Irrigation System (都江堰景区)](https://chinafootnotes.com/places/dujiangyan.md): Attraction. A Qin-era river-splitting waterworks with a swaying bridge, temples and riverside paths.
- [Mount Qingcheng (青城山)](https://chinafootnotes.com/places/mount-qingcheng.md): Attraction. Taoist temples on a forested mountain: gate, lake, cable car and Laojun Pavilion.

## Leshan & Sanxingdui

- [Leshan Giant Buddha (乐山大佛)](https://chinafootnotes.com/places/leshan-giant-buddha.md): Attraction. A 71 m Tang-dynasty Buddha carved into a river cliff, seen on foot or from a boat.
- [Sanxingdui Museum (三星堆博物馆)](https://chinafootnotes.com/places/sanxingdui-museum.md): Museum. Bronze Age masks and a four-metre sacred tree, a day trip from Chengdu.