Ancient Chinese History: Jinli Pedestrian Street and Wuhou Temple ~ Two wonderful tourist attractions in Chengdu China!

When we visited Chengdu, China, we had many places we wanted to visit and sight see on our list.  Of course we love to eat good local food, shop for gifts and souvenirs, explore China’s ancient history in modern days, and have fun along the way.  The Jinli Street shopping district and the Wuhou Temple was a perfect place for us to stop on our vacation with our family.

JinLi Street is an ancient street that was a busy commercial area in the Qin Dynasty around 200 BC.  The Three Kingdom period followed the Han dynasty and was just before the Jin Dynasty.  

Courtesy of Internet Images

During the Three Kingdom period, there were three Chinese states in this area known as the Wei, Shu and Wu.  (See map above courtesy of an image from the internet).  All three were powerful kingdoms ruled by their own emperor each with strong minded warlords.  In the early years, it was a chaotic time with numerous wars, infighting among various warlords and internal power struggles.  It was a bloody time in China’s history and a large percentage of the population died during these years.

Somewhere around 220 AD, Jinli Street became one of the busiest commercial areas for the Shu Kingdom.  This area has survived for many, many hundreds of years  to the current day. This famous and historic area was finally restored and reopened to the public in 2004.

JinLi Street is not a place to buy ancient treasures.  It is a modern shopping area for modern gifts and souvenirs, as well as a fun place to explore, be entertained, and have fun.  We found many small shops, with beautiful gifts to buy, as well as a number of small stalls with artisans working their crafts and even puppeteers putting on performances for the young and old to enjoy. 

Of course there are many restaurants and stalls selling local food and bars to sit relax and have a few drinks with family and friends.

For me personally, I mostly enjoyed the variety of ancient architecture style buildings, stores, shops, etc. These buildings have all been restored or rebuilt, but this area excited my senses and helped me imagine what this area was like almost 2000 years ago.

Jinli Pedestrian Street 锦里古街: 231 Wuhou Hall Street, Chengdu, Sichuan Province.

https://www.chinahighlights.com/chengdu/attraction/jinli-old-street.htm

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Wuhou Temple 
(Memorial Temple of Marquis Wu)

The WuHou Temple was built for Zhuge Liang, the Marquis Wu of the Shu Kingdoms during the Three Kingdom period of time.  This famous noble person was loved by so many people of his time for being honest and trustworthy with high degree of intelligence that solved many of the problems which people faced during this chaotic time.  Many memorials have been built in his honor but the most famous one is the Wuhou Temple in the southern part of Chengdu, China.

This is a huge temple area covering almost 400,000 square feet. When it was built, it was built next to and later combined with the temple of Liu Bei, the emperor of the Shu Kingdom.  The current temple was rebuilt and restored in the 17^th century.

When we toured the temple, the grounds, pond and garden were very pristine, and we thoroughly enjoyed the many statues, carved stones, gates throughout the temple area.  We took a lot of pictures at this lovely temple site.

To get there from downtown Chengdu, you can take any of the following Chengdu public buses including number:  1, 57, 82, 334 and 335 and then get off at the Wuhouci Station. 

You can also get there by taking the Chengdu Metro line #3 and then exit the Metro line at the Gaoshengqiao station. From the station, it is only about a 5 minute walk to the Temple by walking east along Wuhouci Avenue. 
 

The cost to tour the temple is only 60 RMB and the temple is open to visitors from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm.  I suggest you plan on about 1 to 2 hours time to see everything at the Temple and to take lots of pictures.

 武侯祠 The Wuhou Temple in Chengdu's South Suburb

 https://www.chinahighlights.com/chengdu/attraction/wu-hou-temple.htm