Chengdu is large, with a population of 20 million people including the surrounding suburbs.
It follows other Chinese cities in attempting to balance the old and new in a world of rapid industralisation, population growth, and modernisation.
Just around the corner from this lane, the Narrow Lane in Central Chengdu, stands a brick wall from the Song Dynasty (960-1279). Nearby is a memorial to the Tang Dynasty poet, Du Fu (712-770), one of China and Japan’s most revered poets. He is honoured by the preservation of his cottage and its surrounds. There are numerous other historic sites around the city including Buddhist and Taoist temples, and traditional gardens. They are refuges from modernity.
Chengdu is many things, like all cities. As the capital of Sichuan Province, it’s the home of Sichuanese cuisine, claims to have the best tea houses in China, is best place to see pandas, and has an unexpectedly relaxed outlook on life.
A Quatrain by Du Fu
Against blue water birds appear more white;
On green mountains red flowers seem to burn.
Alas! I see another spring in flight.
O when will come the day of my return?
This is my contribution to Fiona’s A-Z Guidebook, this month starting with the letter ‘C’.
nomadicpaths 
People here are known for their slow pace of life! Many Chengdu people enjoy sitting outside of tea houses, taking it easy!
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Thanks for the comment. My friends from Chengdu took me to a tea house where a couple of tables of locals were enjoying playing mahjong. Noisy, but fun. I was impressed to hear that once you buy a tea, you are able to have an indefinite number of additional pots of hot water during the day.
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Chengdu looks to be my kind of place that’s unique and love the pace! Glad we are connected through Fiona’s travel series!
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Thanks for your comment, Joanne. The countryside and smaller towns and villages not far from Chengdu can be really nice, and surprisingly for me, the tree cover in much of Sichuan province is really dense.
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Gosh 20 million – wow! I love discovering the small heritage places
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I like small old places too. They have character. Not far from Chengdu, there are some really interesting smaller heritage towns. I plan to write about a couple of them later, like Langzhong.
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I’m embarrassed to admit I’ve never heard of Chengdu! But as you say, there’s plenty to see and do – I would be putting pandas at the top of my list!
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I try to follow the principle that to be unaware of something is not an embarassment, but rather, is a pleasure to discover. I’ve seen a few pandas in different zoos, always sleeping during my visits. In Chengdu, there are pandas of varying ages, and on my visit at least, they were very active. Perhaps it’s the fact that they’re eating the bamboo from their local habitat that makes a difference.
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i love that juxtaposition of old and new. thank goodness there is still some history around. i am jealous! pandas! one day i must do that.
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