The city I love

There are a lot of cities in the world; some are modern, and some are rustic. But when talking about my favorite city, it must be my hometown-Chengdu, which serves as the capital of China's Sichuan province. Chengdu is a historical and vibrant city; it is not only a top investment destination in China, but also a wonderful place for tourists. In this essay, I am going to give a brief introduction of Chengdu.

First of all, Chengdu is definitely well-known for lovely giant pandas. I believe pandas are the No. 1 reason for most of people visiting Chengdu. You can find pandas’ decorations in a variety of forms around the city, such as panda shirts, panda dolls, and panda hats, etc. The panda is a symbol of China and the government is protecting it strictly by leading research studies to ensure that pandas continue to flourish in Chengdu. The organization is called the Chengdu Panda Breeding and Research Center, which is the only giant panda breeding and research base in the world; and there are three giant panda bases in and around Chengdu City that I strongly recommend you pay a visit to, or even join in with the volunteer program to take care of the pandas if you want, which means, in the panda bases, you can not only visit giant pandas, but also you can take care of them as a panda keeper.

Also, with its long history, Chengdu has an abundance of tourist attractions. There are many places of historical interest in Chengdu, such as the Du Fu's Cottage. Du fu was a famous poet in Chinese history who used to live in that cottage, as well as the Wuhou Memorial Hall, which is China’s most important site of the culture of the Three Kingdoms Period (221-280). Also, the Giant statue of the Buddha, the one in Leshan, shows the enduring presence of Buddhism on the area which can reflect the influence of Buddhism in the Chengdu area; meanwhile, you also can visit Mount Emei to learn about Buddhism; it is one of the four famous Buddhist mountains of China, which is also one of the most well-known summer destinations in China due to its scenery and cultural attraction.

Moreover, Chengdu is famous for delicious Sichuan food. It needs to be clarified that Chinese food in China is nothing like Chinese food in America; it’s totally different and much better. Also, in my perspective, the food in Chengdu is better than the food in other places in China, especially if you are fond of spicy food. In fact, when referring to food in Chengdu, we are naturally talking about Sichuan cuisine. Sichuan cuisine specializes in a variety of flavors, especially hot, sweet, sour, salty and tongue-numbing; there is a saying, “All tastes can be tried in Sichuan”. And Sichuan cuisine has around 4,000 different ingredients and around 40 methods of cooking. Among the dishes, the most typical Sichuan dishes are Mapo Tofu, FuqiFeipian, Kungpao Chicken, and Hotpot. Sichuan cuisine also has many delicious snacks and desserts, such as Bangbang chicken, steamed beef, noodles with chili sauce, and rice dumplings stuffed with sesame paste, etc. It may take you some time to get used to at first, but the spicy food of Chengdu should not to be missed anyhow. 

To sum up, Chengdu is not only a historical city which is full of scenic spots, but also a leisure city where you can enjoy delicious food. No matter for what purpose, Chengdu is a good place to spend time living in. (Lingjuan)