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Part theater, part acrobatics, the Shufeng Yayun Theatre on Qintai Road stages nightly performances of Sichuan opera’s most celebrated tradition: face changing, or biànliǎn, in which performers swap elaborately painted masks in fractions of a second. The show also includes acrobatics and a captivating hand shadow puppet performance, and you can add on experiences like traditional face painting and ear cleaning.
For a sense of Chengdu’s creative presence, two districts are a must-visit. East District Memory (东郊记忆) is a converted industrial complex that has become a hub for the city’s younger generations. It’s a sprawling mix of live music venues, digital art museums, boutique fashion brands, and coffee shops that reflects Chengdu’s thriving music and arts scene. CPI, also known as Luxelakes Community (麓湖社区), expresses Chengdu’s creativity with stone steps across grassy plains—part open-air park, part retail village. It also skews younger and is family- and pet-friendly. With perfumeries, independent bookstores, bakeries, and restaurants woven through the grounds, you can linger all day, sprawled out on the grass.
The 600-year-old Shuijingfang Baijiu Distillery, whose distillation techniques are designated as National Intangible Cultural Heritage, offers guided tours and tastings of China’s most popular spirit, baijiu. Go in the morning to see production in full swing. A tasting of three different baijiu styles follows, and for those who want to go further, a blending experience can be booked separately.
To experience more of that unhurried Chengdu culture, Wangjiang Park offers mahjong tables, paths for long walks, and the unhurried rituals of a city that genuinely values its downtime. Walking down a Chengdu street, you might hear a metallic clinking sound. That’s the sound of Sichuan’s traditional ear-cleaning tongs, a tradition I didn’t have the courage to partake in, although the storefronts running highlight reels made a compelling case.
The bar scenes in the Yulin neighborhood and along Jiuyanqiao are equally worth your time. Bar Woody’s cocktails are built around unexpected wood flavor combinations, like a martini riff with sandalwood, grapefruit, and rhubarb. Papuwa leans into a funkier energy, my favorite being the Shy Pepper, a savory cocktail of vodka, chili, pomelo, and soy sauce. The Yulin area is also home to some of the city’s most inclusive spaces, among them Muchroom, a cocktail bar, and Junez, a feminist craft beer spot.
Where to eat in Chengdu
As the capital of Sichuan province and the first UNESCO City of Gastronomy in China, Chengdu has one of China’s strongest food cultures and its own Michelin Guide. Some of the most interesting meals here push well beyond the city’s reputation for heat and spice. Michelin Guide–recognized Infinite Luck, inside the Waldorf Astoria on the 50th floor, is worth a visit even if you’re not staying at the hotel. Executive chef Tony Yang, a Chengdu native with three decades of expertise in Sichuan cuisine, serves the full range of the region with beef Jell-O cubes, smoked pigeon, and Sichuan peppercorn–flavored rice crisps as highlights.
