Jinli Ancient Street
Rebuilt Qing-style shopping street beside Wuhou Shrine; evening lanterns.
Visitor info
- Opening hours
- 24/7 street
- Ticket
- free
- Suggested visit
- 2 hours
Price is indicative — final quote on inquiry.
Why it's worth it
A street whose name is 1,800 years old, rebuilt as Qing-dynasty wooden shopfronts — and it works: red lanterns over bluestone, sugar artists spinning dragons from caramel, shadow-puppet theatres and Sichuan snacks from one end to the other. Night is when Jinli becomes Jinli.
Don't miss
- The full lantern-lit street after dark, crowd-noise and all — this is the photo
- San da pao: glutinous rice balls thrown from distance onto a board of soybean flour, for show as much as taste
- The stage shows — shadow puppets, face-changing mini-performances, woodcarving stalls
Getting there
Metro Line 3 to Gaoshengqiao, Exit D; five minutes' walk to the west gate next to Wuhou Shrine.
Tips
- Come at 6pm, eat your way through dinner, stay for the 8pm lanterns
- It's tourist-priced — set a snack budget or you'll spend a week's noodle money on sticks
- Pair with Wuhou Shrine next door in the afternoon; the combined exit route drops you into Jinli
Photos
More in Chengdu
- Wuhou Shrine
Three Kingdoms temple of Zhuge Liang and Liu Bei among cypress groves.
- People's Park
Chengdu's open-air living room: tea houses, ear cleaning, matchmakers' corner.
- Giant Panda Breeding Base
Dozens of pandas eating bamboo; arrive 08:00 for feeding time.
- Jinsha Site Museum
Capital-site ruins of the ancient Shu kingdom from the Shang-Zhou period, discovered in 2001: the Golden Sun Bird ornament (over 90% gold content, openwork rotating pattern) was designated the symbol of China's cultural heritage; the gold mask and the ten-section jade cong are national-treasure artifacts, testifying to the high development of ancient Shu civilization
- Wuhou Shrine · Jinli Street
The only shrine in China where ruler and minister are worshipped together: Liu Bei's Huiling Tomb and Zhuge Liang's hall were merged into one garden in the late Ming/early Qing; the 'winning hearts' (Gongxin) couplet is a famous maxim on governing Shu; Sanyi Temple and the stone-carved Chu Shi Biao (Memorial on Dispatching the Troops) are must-sees for Three Kingdoms fans; Du Fu's Tang-dynasty verse 'Where is the chancellor's shrine to be found?' has made it a sacred site of Three Kingdoms culture
- Du Fu Thatched Cottage
The original site of Du Fu's thatched cottage when he lived in exile in Chengdu from 759: the poet lived here for nearly four years, writing over 240 poems such as 'My Thatched Hut Wrecked by Autumn Wind' and 'Delighting in Rain on a Spring Night'; a memorial shrine was built from the Five Dynasties onward, taking its Gongbu Shrine layout in the Ming and Qing; Zhu De inscribed the couplet 'The poet-sage shines through the ages, the Cottage remains for posterity'