Picture choosen by: Ms.Wendy W Places of Interest People's Park
The People's Park always seems full of life. Locals flock here to practise their singing and dancing and do their exercises. The teahouse draws many visitors (and locals after their tai chi practice) for good reason.

Du Fu's Cottage
One of the city's most popular scenic spots was set up in honour of the poet Du Fu (AD 712-70), a man who wrote some of the Tang dynasty's most enduring poems. Du Fu's Cottage is a park centred around his former residence and is arguably the most beautiful green space in Chengdu.

Giant Panda Breeding Research Base
Nearly 50 giant and red pandas live at the Giant Panda Breeding Research Base, one of the most popular sights in the city. Breeding obviously is its focus and March to May is the falling in love period. In autumn and winter, you can also peer through the glass into the panda nursery, which is just adorable - except when the scientist in the nursery notices tourists' imminent arrival and starts poking the sleeping babies to get them active.

Green Ram Temple
The Green Ram Temple is the oldest and most extensive Taoist temple in the Chengdu area. For local visitors, stroking the bronze goat here is a must - it can supposedly vanquish life's troubles and pains. Its odd, ungoat-like companion has no special powers, but is unique in that it combines features of all the Chinese zodiac animals. Another highlight here is an eight-sided pagoda built without bolts or pegs.

Sichuan University Museum
The Sichuan University Museum is one of the better museums in the southwest. The collection is particularly strong in the fields of ethnology, folklore and traditional art, and is housed in a swank modern building near the university's east gate. However, it's been closed for some time and no-one seems to know when it will be reopening. Stay tuned.

Tomb of Wang Jian
The small, dark and pleasantly spooky Tomb of Wang Jian was erected in honour of Wang Jian (AD 847-918), a general who came to power after the AD 907 collapse of the Tang dynasty and later became emperor of the Shu kingdom. He's remembered for ruling in a hands-off manner and for the success of agriculture during his reign.

WangJianLou Park
In the southeast of town, near Sichuan University, is Wangjianlou Park, a park known for its beautiful bamboo-lined paths and dedicated to the Tang dynasty poet Xue Tao, one of the few women of this period whose work is still celebrated today. The four-storey, wooden Qing pavilion in the heart of the park overlooks Brocade River and was built in her honour. The well nearby is where Xue Tao is said to have drawn water to dye her writing paper.

Wenshu Temple
Wenshu Temple is a Tang dynasty monastery that is Chengdu's largest and best-preserved Buddhist temple. It has air redolent with incense, a low murmur of chanting, exquisite relief carvings, and, best of all, a sense of serenity and solitude despite the crowds of worshippers who flock to the place. If you only have time for one temple on your visit, this is by far the most interesting.

Wuhou Temple
Next to Nanjiao Park; admission around Y2 ; open 06:00 to 22:00, Wuhou Temple is a complex of pavilions and statues commemorating figures from the Three Kingdoms period (AD 220-80). The images and names you'll see most frequently here are Emperor Liu Bei and that of Zhuge Liang, a legendary military strategist known for his wisdom and culture and immortalised in one of the classics of Chinese literature, The Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

Zhaojue Temple
The Zhaojue Temple dates back to the 7th century and has since served as a model for many Japanese and Southeast Asian Buddhist temples.
During the early Qing dynasty, Zhaojue Si underwent extensive reconstruction under the supervision of Po Shan, a famous Buddhist monk who established the lovely waterways and groves you see here today. The effect is impressive and the grounds are quieter and more spread out than at Chéngdû's other temples.