Jin Li Street – Chengdu’s throw-back to ancient China’s commercial streets
Walking around Chengdu, you’d think it was a fairly new city – with all the modern buildings and its crisp look – but Chengdu has an amazing history. It was on both the Tea Horse Road and the Silk Road, which made it a trader’s paradise. Eighteen hundred years ago, Jin Li Street was the aorta of Chengdu’s commercial area. It was packed with shops, lined with lanterns, and bustled with pedestrians. In that sense, not much has changed, but the street obviously holds a different purpose now. It’s one of Chengdu’s greatest tourist attractions. The 400 meter pedestrian lane has that new Chengdu crispness, but the buildings are all decorated to look like ancient China. They’re beautiful, and the people flock to the street to absorb that beauty, and to buy a lot of panda souvenirs.
