Chengdu travel guide

(成|都; Chéngdū; Ch'eng-tu), located in southwest China, is the capital of Sichuan province and a sub-provincial city. It is the fifth most populous city in China. Chengdu is also one of the most important economic centers and transportation and communication hubs in China. Throughout most of Chinese history, Chengdu has been a city with a large number of people. By 2005 the population was 10,597,000, which made Chengdu the fifth largest city in China in terms of population, just following Shanghai, Beijing, Tianjin and Chongqing. The urban populace excluding recognized city dependants is 3.9 million.
More than four thousand years ago, the prehistorical Bronze Age culture of Jinsha (金|沙; Jīnshā) established itself in this region. The fertile Chengdu Plain, on which Chengdu is located, is called Tianfuzhi guo (天|府|之|国; Tiānfǔzhi Guó) in Chinese, which literally means "the country of heaven", or more often seen translated as "the Land of Abundance". It was recently named China's 4th-most livable city by China Daily. (...) more....