China Guide
Sichuan and Chongqing
Around Chengdu
Chengdu's surrounding diversions are mostly ignored by visitors, lured or sated by grander prospects elsewhere. But there fare several worthy day-trips from the provincial capital, and most can be used as first stops on longer routes. Just to the northeast, Xindu's important Buddhist monastery is a short hop from the Sanxingdui Museum, stuffed with inscrutable prehistoric bronzes. Unpretentious Qing architecture graces the picturesque market town of Huanglongxi southwest of Chengdu, while northwest, Dujiangyan sports a still-functional two-thousand-year-old irrigation scheme surrounded by wooded parkland.