Capital of the province of Sichuan, Chengdu is a huge metropolis of some 16 million inhabitants that a flourishing industry has dredged over the decades. Resolutely modern, bristling with skyscrapers and invaded by shopping malls, it is active day and night, tireless. And when she relaxes or does tai chi, it is often in the lush People’s Park, one of its many green spaces.
But unfortunately, nothing remains of its historic center, Tianfu Square has been expanding there since the 1960s. Fruit of the contradictions of History, the statue of Mao today greets the luxury shops that cluster there!
Another temple of shopping extends to the east of the square: no international brand is missing in the district surrounding the pedestrian alley of Chunxi. Chengdu works hard, so Chengdu consumes happily!
Modernity having had to destroy everything that could be, some typical neighborhoods have been rebuilt to revive a certain atmosphere. The joyful and commercial area of Janli Street with its souvenir stalls and the scent of its local specialties, delights Chinese and foreign tourists alike.
But Chengdu makes it a point of honor to preserve and maintain its religious and cultural heritage, buildings and museums bear witness to this.
Jinsha Museum
In a landscaped park, a course by parcels overhung by archaeological excavations which brought to light the capital of a kingdom: that of the State of Shu (1200 to 650 before our era). Discovered in 2001, the site has yielded some 6,000 precious objects in gold, jade, bronze, ivory, lacquer…numerous pottery and several tons of elephant tusks. It is in the Gallery of the Eternal Earth and Sky that The treasures of the Jinsha Museum are on display, including one of the centerpieces: the disc of the Sun and the Immortal Bird, 12.5cm in diameter, composed of 94.2 percent pure gold. It is the emblem of the city. Another marvel is the golden mask which, with its 19cm wide and 11cm high, is the largest and best preserved example in China.
Chengdu also likes to maintain its flamboyant literary past (the historic gesture of the three Kingdoms in the Wuhan sanctuary) and the memory of these two exceptional men, the poet Du Fu and the pilgrim monk Xuanzang.
Du Fu’s Cottage
Having become persona non grata under the Tang, the poet went into exile here from 759 to 765, writing, among other things, his painful poem The Fugitive (“She is certainly beautiful (Chengdu) but I don’t have a single friend there whose the roof be my refuge”). He lived in a cottage surrounded by a vast wooded area, where everything today (vegetation, pagodas, lotus pond pavilions, century-old bonsai, etc.) is conducive to wonder. The site has been a place of pilgrimage for almost a thousand years.
Daci Temple
It was here that the Buddhist monk Xuanzang (602-664) was initiated into monastic life and took up his pilgrim’s staff, setting off in search of original texts of Buddhism in India. He surveyed it for seventeen years, studied the great texts and distinguished himself in the translation of sutra. The Wenshu temple preserves a bone fragment of the pilgrim monk, a venerated relic among all. The Daci temple, a haven of peace near a noisy shopping center, is dedicated to the bodhisattva of compassion.
