Chengdu People’s Park

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Name in Chinese: 人民公园 Rén Mín Gōng Yuán [ren min gɔ:n juæ]

Duration of Tour: One Hour

Location: No.64, Junping Street, Qingyang District, Chengdu, Sichuan Province

Highlight: the Authentic Chengdu Life-style

Must-see Sightseeing Spots: The Monument of Railway Retaking Movement, Heming Tea House, the Blind Dating Corner, and the Competition of Square Dancing

Reputations: the Oldest Park in Chengdu Which Shows the Authentic Relaxing Life-style in Chengdu, A National Four-star Scenic Area

Chengdu People’s Park was built in 1911. It was originally called Shaocheng Park and renamed in 1949 as People’s Park. The park covers an area of 11.3 hectares(27.9 acres). It shows the authentic relaxing life-style in Chengdu. The nearby local people usually go to the park in the morning and in the afternoon, singing, dancing, playing Tai Chi, drinking tea in tea hoses, playing chess and killing time.

The Competition of Square Dancing

Nowadays, the Square Dancing is quite popular in China. Some retired people often go dancing in the afternoon everyday. They join in troupes or choruses and take part in the competition for fun.

Tea Houses in the People’s Park

There are six traditional tea houses in the People’s Park. The most famous one is Heming Tea House, which was built in 1923. It is the largest one in Chengdu.

The Blind Dating Corner

Nowadays, more and more Chinese young people do not plan their marriage until they own a car and an apartment(or a flat), but their parents are always eager to be grandparents. The parents arrange dating for their sons and daughters. How can they find a match for their grown-up children? The popular solution is to write down a notice for seeking marriage partner and take it to the Blind Dating Corner. The so-called Blind Dating refers to the date arranged by parents. However, most of the young people do not obey to their parents like sheep. Though, the parents know that their efforts may be definitely in vain, they still ceaselessly treat it as their only hope.

The Monument of Retaking Railway Movement

The monument was built in memory of the protest mounted by Sichuan people on September 7th, 1911. The government of the Qing Dynasty ceded the railway between Chengdu and Wuhan to the foreign colonialists. Luo Lun, a revolutionary leader staged a protest against the Qing government in Chengdu. More than thirty protesters were killed by the government’s armed forces. It led to a turbulent uprising which was launched by workers, peasants, and students. More than one hundred thousand people joined the uprising. It was crushed by the Qing government, but Sun Yat-sen highly praised the efforts made by Sichuan people. Sun Yat-sen was the founder of KMT, the National Father of Chinese. He once claimed that the uprising broken out in Wuchang would have been delayed at least one year without the outbreak of the Railway Retaking Movement. On October 10th, the uprising was staged in Wuchang by the Chinese Revolutionary League, the predecessor of Kuomintang(KMT). It brought about the collapse of the Qing Empire. In the next year, the Republic of China was founded, and Sun Yet-sen, the leader of the Republican Revolution, was chosen to be the President of the interim government. Read more about Chinese History.

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