Qingyang
The Vibe
Chengdu's literary and Taoist heartland — Du Fu's bamboo garden where Tang dynasty poetry is inscribed on stone, and the Green Ram Temple where Laozi's Taoist tradition has been observed for over 2,000 years
Description
Qingyang is Chengdu's literary and Taoist heartland — the district northwest of the city centre that contains the Du Fu Thatched Cottage (Du Fu Caotang), the memorial complex dedicated to the Tang dynasty poet Du Fu who lived in Chengdu in voluntary exile between 759 and 764 CE, and the Qingyang Temple (Green Ram Temple), one of the most important Taoist temples in China and the birthplace of the Purple Cloud Taoist school. Together these two sites make Qingyang the district where Chinese literary and spiritual traditions intersect with the city's legendary appreciation for leisure and the good life. Du Fu Thatched Cottage — formally the Du Fu Museum — is one of China's most important literary pilgrimage sites: the complex of gardens, pavilions, and replica thatched huts built on the site where Du Fu lived during his years in Chengdu, when he wrote some of his most celebrated poems including 'Spring View' and the 'Eight Laments.' The 24-hectare museum garden, laced with bamboo groves and magnolia trees, is one of Chengdu's most beautiful green spaces, attracting scholars, poets, and the general public who come to read Du Fu's inscribed verses along the garden pathways in a setting that has changed little in atmospheric quality since the Tang dynasty. The Qingyang Temple (Qingyang Gong, 青羊宫) is Chengdu's principal Taoist temple — a complex of seven halls and numerous subsidiary pavilions arranged according to the five elements of traditional Chinese cosmology. The temple is associated with Laozi, the author of the Tao Te Ching, who is said to have passed through Sichuan during his legendary westward journey. The temple's annual temple fair on the Chinese New Year draws hundreds of thousands of visitors to incense burning and ceremonial worship.
Neighborhood Stats
Popular With
- culture-seekers
- history-enthusiasts
- literary-tourists
- Buddhist-Taoist-practitioners
- walkers
- families
- photographers
Key Attributes
- Du-Fu-Thatched-Cottage
- Qingyang-Temple
- Taoist
- literary-heritage
- bamboo-gardens
- Tang-dynasty
- cultural-pilgrimage
- parks
Food Scene
The Du Fu Thatched Cottage neighbourhood hosts several traditional Sichuan tea houses where visitors take gaiwan tea in bamboo chairs amid the garden setting — the most direct experience of Chengdu's famous tea-house leisure culture. Qingyang Temple's vegetarian restaurant (within the temple precinct) serves Buddhist vegetarian cuisine prepared without meat, onions, or garlic according to traditional temple kitchen rules — the sweetened tofu dishes and stewed vegetables represent the Taoist health food tradition. The neighbourhood surrounding Qingyang District includes the Kuan Zhai Alley complex (nearby) and multiple traditional Sichuan restaurants serving the residential community.