Chengdu
Chengdu Weather
Chengdu enjoys a subtropical monsoon climate and also a typical basin climate due to its distinctive location. Generally speaking, the city experience the early spring, muggy and humid summer, cools autumn and warm winter.
Usually the spring comes very early and spring flowers are blossoming just after the Chinese New Year Festival. And autumn is cool and refreshing. Therefore, the spring and autumn are commonly very pleasant and best season for traveling.
The temperature on spring and autumn range from 15-25°C. Summer is very hot and humid and temperature is roughly 20-35°C.
Autumn & Winter
Autumn
Autumn usually starts from September and lasts till the end of October or early November. The temperature drops quickly, and there may be a lot of rain. You’d better take long-sleeved T-shirts and thin overcoats plus a thin sweater. Kalong Valley, Sanjiang and Miyaluo at this time are covered with red maple and yellow chrysanthemum, beautiful and magnificent.
Winter
The average temperature in winter from November to mid-February is about 5 °C (41 °F). However, due to the clouds and moist weather, it feels very cold. You have to wear woollens, down jackets and warm winter boots to spend a winter holiday there.
Spring & Summer
Spring
Spring in Chengdu often comes early from the end of February and lasts long until early May. As the temperature rises, colorful flowers are blooming one after another, and trees and grass are turning green under the spring wind.
Summer
Summer here is both hot and rainy, from mid-May to early the end of August. Besides shorts, a thin overcoat and rain gear are also necessary for a summer tour to the trip. At this time, the area is somewhat unpleasant because of the high humidity although the temperature is usually less than 35 °C (95 °F).
Sichuan cuisine has developed over the centuries. Its distinctive flavors entice people throughout China and recently in foreign countries.
Sichuan cuisine is famous for piquancy, but its flavoring is complex as well as hot. Typical dishes include the following:
Ma Po Tofu (Bean curd with mince and chili oil): one of the most influential flavors of Sichuan cuisine, served in every Sichuan restaurant. Chen Ma Po’s Bean Curd Restaurant at No. 197, West Yulong Street serves the most delicious and local one. For hundreds of years, Ma Po’s Bean Curd has been popular among people all over China, even throughout the world.
Feature of Chengdu Cuisine
Chengdu cuisine has three categories, Sichuan Cuisine, Hotpot, and Snack.
You will find no shortage of delicious and fiery Sichuan food in Chengdu. Most of the food is quite spicy, be sure to specify whenever you order: non-spicy (不要辣; búyàolà), a little spicy (微辣; wēilà) or ‘old’ (very) spicy (老辣; lǎolà).
However, Sichuan food also makes heavy use of Sichuan pepper (花椒; huājiāo), which looks like but is not a true peppercorn, and causes your mouth to become somewhat numb. Sichuan pepper is added in most spicy dishes. If you can eat spicy food but do not like Sichuan pepper, you need to order so (不要花椒; bú yào huājiāo).Average consumption regarding normal meals in Chengdu are between ￥15-￥50.
Chengdu Snacks
Hidden in the streets and lanes of the city, snack bars still send out savory flavors.
The most renowned snacks include:
Fu Qi Fei Pian (Braised Cow Lungs): Actually beef, heart and tongue take the place of lungs. This tasty dish is made with particular condiments using a delicate process.
Chuan Chuan Xiang: also called Ma La Tang, vegetables, sausages, shrimps and anything edible can be threaded onto a bamboo stick and cooked in the hot pot.
Lai Tang Yuan (Lai’s Glutinous Rice Ball): the nutritious glutinous rice ball made by Lai (Surname of the maker) is soft and sweet.
With more branches than McDonald’s, Lai Tang Yuan is easy to find in Chengdu.
Three-Star Piles Museum
The Three-Star Piles Museum in Nanxing Town, Guanghan, about 40 kilometers from city proper, exhibits the excavations of the ancient Shu Kingdom. It is an important archeological discovery which changed people’s understanding of ancient history and culture.
Dujiangyan Irrigation Project
This irrigation project is one of the world’s cultural heritages constructed 2,000 years ago, and amazingly continues to benefit more than 40 neighboring counties. It’s the oldest and only surviving no-dam irrigation system in the world and a wonder in the development of Chinese irrigation works.
Wolong National Natural Reserve
130 kilometers from Chengdu, Wolong Natural Reserve is renowned as the hometown of giant pandas and the Natural Zoological and Botanical Garden. It’s the earliest, largest and best-known panda reserve in China. It was placed on UNESCO Man and Biosphere Reserve Network in 1980. After the earthquake on May 12, 2008, the pandas were moved to Bifeng Gorge Panda Base .
Jiuzhaigou Scenic Area
400 kilometers away from Chengdu lies a fairyland whose natural and primitive beauty impresses everyone who visits here. Jiuzhaigou with its heaven-bestowed landscape, precious animals, plants and the special local flavor of the Tibetan People, deserves the first recommendation for a neighborhood tour of Chengdu.
Foreign Consulates
General Consulate of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan
Add: 2306# One Aroe Space Centre, No.7 Xinguanghua Road, Chengdu
Consular District: Sichuan Province, Guizhou, Yunan Province, Chongqing
Office Hours: Monday-Friday 9:00-18:00
Tel: 86-28-8526-8316
General Consulate of Royal Thai
Add: F/12, Building C, Fund International Plaza, No. 6, Hangkong Road, Chengdu
Consular District: Sichuan Province, Chongqing
Office Hours: Monday-Friday 9:00-12:00, 13:00-17:00
Tel: 86-28-6689-7861
General Consulate of the Republic of Singapore
Add: Level 30-01, YanlordLandmark Office Tower, No. 1 Section 2, Renmin South Road, Jinjiang District, Chengdu
Medical Service
All the local hospitals in Chengdu are open to international students. Students with minor illness can go to schools’ clinic for help. If you are badly ill, you can see a doctor in any of the local hospitals.
Tips for seeing a doctor in the local hospitals.
Process:
- Bring your passport, then fill in a form in the hospital which contains your name (English name or Chinese name), date of birth and contact person in China (name and contact)
- Register with a doctor
- Waiting at the corresponding section
- Seeing the doctor