Located just next to the Wuhou Temple, Jinli Street is the most famous ancient street in Chengdu. Officially opened to the public on 1st December, 2004, here is the best place to taste of the ancient flavor of Chengdu. Historic lanes, old official residences, vernacular dwelling, exquisite souvenir shops, delicious local food, all these show the real charm of the old city.

Jinli Street enjoys a very long history. As early as the Qin Dynasty (221 BC - 206 BC), Jinli Street was very famous for baldachin. During the Shu Kingdom (221-263), it was the busiest commercial street and gained the reputation as the "First Street of the Shu Kingdom". With the development of tourism in Chengdu, in order to show the former prosperity of the street, it was restored together with Wuhou Temple and opened to the public.

This 350 meters long street is filled up with numerous souvenir stores where visitors could see the typical handicrafts of Chengdu such as Shu embroidery, lacquer products, old porcelain dishes, calligraphy and paintings and some other folk handicrafts. If you like, you could buy some home but do not forget to bargain with the sellers. Besides the souvenir shops, there are also hotels, restaurants, teahouses, bars and cafés. Strolling along the street or sitting at a cafe with a cup of coffee, smelling the traditional atmosphere, what a unique experience.

One of the things to see in Jinli Street is the local performance. There is a wooden stage siting in the middle of the street. On the stage there performed Sichuan Opera from time to time. From Sichuan Opera, visitors could enjoy folk music and the make-up changes. Besides, there are also some other performances including the traditional clothing show, sounding night watches, bamboo chairs show, etc.

The most attractive part is at the end of Jinli Street. You may get the right answer, it is the place to taste of local snacks. No matter wherever people travel to, taste the local food is the must-do thing. Local citizens in Chengdu are fond of dining, so they create different kind of food with different flavors. The most distinctive snack is San Da Pao, which is made of sticky rice, brown sugar, sesame and beans. Some other local delicacies like rice glueballs, wontons, boiled dumplings also deserve to try.

With long history, traditional-style buildings, and delicious local snacks, Jinli Street gains a high reputation among visitors from all over China and abroad.