Chengdu, (Rong for Short),capital of Sichuan province, is not only China's important industrial base, but also a well-know historical and cultural city in southwest china, with a history of 2,500 years. Covering an area of 12,390 square kilometers and a population of 9.8 million, with 7 districts and 12 counties. With the country’s reform and opening to the outside world, Chengdu, an ancient city is now turning a new page and moving forward to a cosmopolitan city.

Chengdu is endowed with unique natural conditions and beautiful environment. It has a pleasant climate, and exquisite lush mountains. It's mountainous in the north-west area, with plains in the south-east area, and low hills in-between. It has a sub-tropical climate with an annual average temperature of 16.2 degree Celsius, and rainfall of 1.000 millimeters, and a frost-free period of about 300 days. Its mineral deposits include coal, iron, talcum, serpentine, dolomite etc. It abounds in agricultural resources.

Chengdu's main industries comprise machinery, chemicals, metallurgy, foodstuff, textiles, and especially measuring and cutting tools, airplanes, chemical equipment, analytical instruments, TV sets, computers, seamless-steel tubes, metal products, fertilizer, aluminum processing, electrical machines, wood-processing etc. which hold an important position in China. Chengdu is a major production base in China for commodity grains, rape seeds, and pigs, and abundant in peanuts, sesame seeds, cotton, sugar-canes etc. Famed as " Heavenly Land ", it has a rich supply of various products.

Chengdu is a railroad hub in South-west China, and has convenient highway and air transport as well. Chengdu has embarked on the road of building itself into an international metropolis functioning primarily as the center, in South-West China, of science and technology, commerce, finance as well as communication and transport.

     Chengdu, abounds in tourist resources, such as Temple of Marquis Wu, a memorial shrine of the prime minister, Zhuge Liang of the Shu Kingdom (221-263A.D. ); Du Fu’s Thatched Cottage, a monument to the Tang Dynasty(618-907 A.D)poet, Du Fu; Tomb of Wang Jian(847-918A.D) the emperor of the former Shu during the Five Dynasties period; Wenshu Monastery, an active Buddhist monastery housing 200 odd Buddhist figures and objects, Qingyang Temple, a well-known Taoist temple first built in the Tang Dynasty(618-907 A.D); the River-view Pavilion Park, a bamboo part suited for a quiet stroll. In the vicinity of the city, there are a 2000-year-old water conservancy project, Dujiangyan Irrigation System, a Taoist mountain called Qingcheng Shan (Green-city mountain) and a Buddhist monastery called Baoguang Monastery (Divine Light Monastery). In addition, about 160 kilometers away from Chengdu lies the largest Buddha statue Leshan Grand Buddha and a Buddhist sacred mountain, Mt. Emei. All the historical sites and scenic spots are well worth a visit, not to say, the tea houses, the local cuisine and the traditional arts and crafts.

     Chengdu as the capital of Sichuan, its administrative, economic, educational, cultural and transportation center, as well as a major industrial base. Travelers to most points in northern and western Sichuan often find themselves passing through here at least once or twice, as the city also stands at the gate way to Tibet and on the passage to Xi’an, Kunming and Chongqing(a newly established central-government-administered city).

     In comparison with the Chinese northern cities, Chengdu is an altogether different place, with more greenery, overhanging wooden housing in the old section of town. Many miles of bustling back streets deserve to be explored by tourist, and the better way to do so is riding a bicycle or taking a tri-wheeled paddle-cab of strike off on a walk, just away from the Beijing-style boulevards. Tea-houses, free markets, flea markets, peddler markets, commercial districts, underground shopping malls-you will stumble over more and more of them with each twists and turns of the back alleys. Add to this, the indoor food markets, the countless tiny restaurants specializing in Sichuan snacks, especially the popular hotpot-a kind of chafing dish in woks full of hot, spiced oil, the local tea houses the Go-chess houses scattering everywhere, artisans like small-coffee parlors and time basket-weavers, cobblers, itinerant dentists, tailors, road-side barbers, snack hawkers who swarm the streets, all contributing to the bustling energy of the city. Travelers and tourists are well advised to take a closer look at Chengdu, one of China’s most intriguing cities.