Streetscenes, Chengdu

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The Walk along Jinli Street was crowded with shops and stalls either side of the street. The road is closed to vehicle traffic so no vehicle risk, however it is easy to lose partner or children in the crush to view the unusual and wonderful shops and stalls.

My photos are just a small sample of some of the shops that looked like they would photo well. It was a slow journey as all the women wanted to go inside each shop and touch the goods, in many instances having no intention of buying.

The men enjoyed themselves just watching the crowds walk by.

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At the entrance to Jinli Street a large notice stating The Rules Pertaining to Civilized Tour are prominently displayed. They are good rules and when we visited it appeared they were obeyed.

This street is something special and includes a beautiful Chinese Garden.

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This is the traditional way of manufacturing Saw Silk which is used in clothing. The Silk Shop on Jinli Street has on display this saw silk manufacturing process. I really enjoyed viewing this display. My wife liked this shop as she said they have high quality goods for sale.

I could be wrong but I think there might be a spelling mistake on the notice (3rd photo) where 'saw' should read "raw". During our 24 days in China we occasionally noticed an incorrect spelling. What really amazed me was the number of people who could speak excellent English, usually very clear with little accent.

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Jinli Street was a delight to visit, there was something for everyone ranging from historical silk production to cheap handbags, traditional food and a magnificent Chinese Garden with ponds.

We just loved our leisurely walk through the crowded street, my wife loved it as there was so much she wanted to buy and she was successful on several items. I enjoyed lunch and the beautiful Chinese Garden, not to be missed.

I love seeing how people live in their own country and the Chinese are masters of TaiChi but not the kind of TaiChi we are used to in Western Countries - they use fans and all sorts of props - it's almost a dance so graceful and elegant and not just the young ones either - so many elderley people practice this amazing form of exercise. Beautiful.

Jinli Street is a quaint “loop” street that has tea houses, bars, souvenir shops, artist stalls and food vendors.

The best time to visit this street is in the early evening around dinner time when the street really comes alive, and visit Wuhou Temple.

We went fairly late and had trouble getting fed - most restaurants ran out of most of their food items : (

Along the main roads we saw a lot of huge advertisement billboards, often many storeys high, hiding the buildings behind.
Except the bikes and the huge billboards in the streets, it was very striking to see the many girls, wearing chic and lascivious dresses with thin nylon stockings without suspenders, so rolling a bit down. Mostly we saw, that the girls kept their money and toiletpaper in their stockings.

Chengdu is a city of cyclists.
Especially in the neighbourhood of the large departmentstores and shopping centres we saw large parking lots for bicycles. Hundreds, maybe thousands of biclycles at one place ! Not always easy to find your own bicycle again after shopping, I could imagine.