It’s summer in Chengdu! And it’s the best time discovering the city of Chengdu while doing your internship in China. Chengdu is an old city with hundreds years of history and is not only consist of high-rise and modern buildings, but also offer old historical buildings and sights. In our last blog articles, we already introduced the temples and parks in Chengdu. Today, we want to introduce you Kuanzhai Xiangzi (宽窄巷子), one of the best historical places in Chengdu for trying some local specialities, do some shopping and just for having fun.
Kuanzhai Xiangzi, which literally means wide and narrow alley, was build in the 18th century during the Qing-Dynasty as quarter for soldiers and their families. From the originally 42 alleys, only the Kuan Alley, the Zhai Alley and the Jing Alley remained. Since 2008 the quarter with it’s old historical architecture is renovated and open for tourism and business.
In Kuanzhai Xiangzi you will find a lot of restaurants, tea houses, shops, art galleries and bars in historical atmosphere. Traders are selling sweets, music instruments, jewellery, wooden toys and calligraphy material at small booths. One of the most famous specialities at Kuangzhai Xiangzi is San Da Pao (三大炮). San Da Pao is a traditional Sichuan snack made out of glutinous rice formed into three balls. The balls are be thrown against a metal tray, which make them jump into another tray filled with soy and sesame flour. They are served with sweet syrup and are one of the highlights of a visit a Kuanzhai Xiangzi.
You can either reach Kuanzhai Xiangzi by taking subway line 2 and get out at Renmin Gongyuan (人民公园) or by taking subway line 4 and getting out at the Kuanzhai Xiangzi station (宽窄巷子)
Leave A Comment