CHENGDU How To Sell
BY NEIL MURRAY Chengdu, the sixth-largest city in the
People’s Republic of China, is also the capital of Sichuan Province. More than 2,000 years old, the city is
probably most famous in the West for its giant pandas, which are housed at the Chengdu Research Base for Panda Breeding, a zoo-style theme park with opportunities to view them close up. The Panda Base was founded in 1987 with six giant pandas rescued from the wild. Breeding has increased the population and there are now 108. Pandas apart, Chengdu is a mix of old- style, high-rise flats, modern skyscrapers, luxury stores and overladen scooters with almost 10 million inhabitants, Jinli Old Street, one of the city’s main attractions, is a maze of alleyways, with bars, restaurants, food stalls and replicas of Qing Dynasty mansions that sell all sorts of souvenirs. The Wide and Narrow Alleys are also a popular attraction. Home to Qing-era mansions that were divided up to make residences for families in need, the two alleys now house food stalls, upmarket restaurants, teahouses and art galleries. Two hours from Chengdu, the Grand
Buddha of Leshan is sited on the apex of the Min and Dadu rivers and was built originally ‘to protect and watch over passing ships in the night’. A short flight from Chengdu to Jiu Huang airport takes you to within spitting distance of two of China’s secret (as far as Westerners are concerned) treasures – Huanglong National Park (Yellow Dragon Valley) and Jiuzhai Valley National Park (Nine Villages Valley), or ‘Fairyland on Earth’, as the Chinese call them. Huanglong is approached via a six-
minute, cable-car ride that takes visitors 9,000 feet above sea level to clamber up tree-lined, decking- covered paths, with views of snow- covered
mountains in the distance, towards the stunning Five-Coloured Pool at the top of the valley. The Jiuzhai
66 September 2012 •
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CHENGDU SALES BOOST
Valley, overlooked by the towering Min Mountains, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site with beauty sites, which include Swan Lake, Arrow Bamboo Lake (where parts of the film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon were shot) and, most spectacular of all, the towering, 500ft-wide Pearl Shoals Waterfall.
Where To Book It WENDY WU TOURS – 0844 875 2436
www.wendywutours.co.uk The ‘ultimate long weekend’ (Thursday- Monday) takes in the Chengdu Panda Reserve in Chengdu and the Grand Buddha in Leshan, with prices from £995pp, including flights from Heathrow to Chengdu with Etihad Airways, meals and visas. Combine with the Nine Villages Valley Extension (with internal flights and accommodation) to make a nine-day trip, it costs from £1,935pp.
• Panda power… “Chengdu's pandas are the obvious selling point, especially for Scottish customers, but it’s worth highlighting the Grand Buddha of Leshan and the adventure of visiting Huanglong and Jiuzhai Valley National Parks, where, so far, few Westerners go”
• See more… “Include Chengdu with Beijing, Xi'an, Juzhaigou and Huanglong on a two-week multi-city touring itinerary around China”
NEIL MURRAY Travel Writer
General Information
LOCATION: Sichuan Province, China. LANGUAGE: Mandarin, but the local dialect is Sichuanese. TIME ZONE: GMT +8hrs VISAS: Visa (from £66) required by all UK passport holders. Info at www.
visaforchina.org/LON_EN CURRENCY: The renminbi (RMB). The unit is the yuan. £1=10 yuan. CLIMATE: Subtropical monsoon with some sunshine and wind. Chengdu’s annual temperature averages around 16C-18C. The best times to visit: March- June and September-November. GETTING THERE: There are no direct flights from the UK. Etihad’s new Heathrow route flies via Abu Dhabi. Other carriers include China Southern Airlines, KLM, Air France, Air China, Cathay Pacific and Singapore. CONTACT INFORMATION: China National Tourist Office
www.cnto.info
Chengdu is a great place to see large numbers of pandas in one place and there,s much else to appeal in the city as well
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