I spent the entire day with my cousin, who took me around Chengdu to see some of the more well-known sights and lesser-known treasures of the city. First, we took the bus to Chunxi Road (春熙路), a very popular tourist spot with many high-end shops. We had lunch at the Modern Toilet Restaurant, which is exactly what the name suggests. If you ever dream of eating lunch while sitting on a toilet, surrounded by other toilets and plenty of poop cushions, you must go here!

After lunch, we headed down underground to a very large bookstore called Fang Suo, an award-winning bookstore chain in China. It’s very well hidden unerground, but once inside, the stunning ceiling is something to behold!

Chengdu is a city that loves its pandas. You will find pandas just about everywhere. The crowning sculpture in Chunxi Road is this giant panda, that can be seen from street level as well as the roof of the IFS building.

This panda sculpture, titled I AM HERE, adorns the top of the IFS building at Chunxi Road, Chengdu
This panda sculpture, titled I AM HERE, adorns the top of the IFS building at Chunxi Road, Chengdu

A few days ago, the New Hall of the Chengdu Museum (成都博物馆新馆) opened, after being under construction for many years.  This museum is dedicated to exploring Chengdu’s history from the earliest of times to the present, and to a lesser extent, Chinese history. The exhibits are very well designed, and the building occupies an entire city block. We followed a tour guide throughout the museum, and despite her quick pace, it still took two hours to see all five floors!

Our last stop before heading home was the campus of Sichuan University (四川大学, or 川大). Most of the students there are already done with school, but many people were out in the evening doing recreational activities.

When the day was done, my cousin and I walked a record 18 kilometers over more than 25,000 steps. This was the most that I’ve walked in a very long time!

Published by Geoffrey Liu

A software engineer by trade and a classical musician at heart. Currently a software engineer at Groupon getting into iOS mobile development. Recently graduated from the University of Washington, with a degree in Computer Science and a minor in Music. Web development has been my passion for many years. I am also greatly interested in UI/UX design, teaching, cooking, biking, and collecting posters.

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