The Ultimate Guide to Sichuan University
Some of my friends were continuously joking that one of my friends and I should make a guide to good cafes and restaurants around Chengdu since we were constantly going out to try new beverages and dishes.
Sichuan University – On Campus
Sichuan University 四川大学 is regarded as the best university in Sichuan Province, and ranked 77th in China. There are three campuses: Wangjiang 望江 (the oldest campus), Huaxi 华西(the medical school campus), and Jiang’ an 江安(located outside of the city center where the newest students attend). During my year and a half of attending classes I resided at Wangjiang campus.
Campus consisted of two foreign student dormitories, residential areas for elders and other people, and student dormitories. The West dorm and the East dorm are the names of the two foreign dorms. West dorm held most of the Western students, while the East dorm hosted a large amount of the Asian students. For those who didn’t want to pay such expensive rent (according to Chinese standard) or live in the dorms, there was also the option to find an apartment off campus. The foreign students were placed in these nice dorms where they were placed with one other student. The West dorm room looked exactly like a hotel room and was fully equipped with a study desk, side tables, and chairs. The bathroom and shower were also adequate. For many students, it was a surprise when cockroaches started crawling out and invading their rooms. The East dorm rooms also held two students, but they had communal bathrooms and showers at the end of each hall. I decided to pay the extra money to have my own room in the West dorm since it is better than ending up assigned to a difficult roommate. In comparison, the Chinese students were crammed into one small room; about four or five students per room. Their dorms also closed by midnight and were locked until morning. When I went out with my Chinese friends we always had to be sure that we returned before their dorm locked.
West Dorm (my dorm)
There are four entrances to get onto campus: North Gate 北门 (main entrance), West Gate 西门, South Gate 南门, and East Gate 东门. Many students and tourists would go and take photos near the North Gate. There is also a small North gate小北门 that leads off campus to many restaurants, cafes, and entertainment places. At night all the gates are closed; except for one. There are small side gates that are left open for pedestrians, but cars can only enter from one gate during the night. This was the perfect time for a midnight stroll when nobody else was out and about. The campus would be so quiet and peaceful; not a soul in sight. Sometimes, if I was lucky, I would see the stars shining in the sky. However, most of the time the sky was a frightening pink or purple color from all the pollution.
Besides the student dormitories, classroom buildings, and residential areas there is also an elementary school and middle school on campus. It was interesting walking to class during the morning and watching all the parents dropping their children off at school. The children would rush to the entrance and bow to their classmates who were in charge of greeting everyone at the gate. Sometimes I would witness their pledge of allegiance while the students stood still and held their hand over their hearts. When I was returning from class back to my dorm, I would see the parents waiting to pick their children up from school. The children would madly dash across the road and hop onto the backs of their parents’ scooters. It was always a challenge to stay out of their way and not get run over.
Just like any other university, there are many options for staying fit. Not only are there two tracks, a gym center, ping pong tables, basketball courts, tennis courts, a swim center, and soccer fields there are also gym centers off campus that are constantly advertised. The first semester that I attended SCU, I obtained a gym membership. However, this past year I ended up just working out in my room and running at both tracks or along the river. It was great to see everybody, both young and old, get out and go exercise at all hours of the day. When I would go running at the track, usually at night, there were students, adults, parents who brought their children, older women doing organized dancing to music, and the elderly all walking, jogging, running, playing ball, or exercising on the play structure.
Other services that are included on campus are ATMs from several different banks including ICBC, China Construction Bank, People’s Bank of China, and Bank of China. For those who are craving snacks or bottled beverages, there are small convenience stores and fruit stands all over campus. There is also a particular street near West Dorm that is filled with small stores, food stands, beverage stands, and printing shops. Besides these services, there are also phone companies on campus that sell phone plans and phones to students for a discounted price. The phone stores are China Unicom and China Mobile. It was surprisingly easy to sign up, and the monthly plans were cheap. For those who want to send mail or receive products from TaoBao 淘宝 (like Amazon) or other stores, there is a post office on campus. To receive products was slightly more challenging since the packages would be sent to any one of the stations around campus. It was your job to trace down your package. If you didn’t pick it up soon enough, it might get shipped back to the seller. Sometimes the postal service wouldn’t even notify you that your package had arrived. The stations where you picked up your packages were merely designated spots on the ground where the person in charge had lined your package up with the others. This resulted in many confusing adventures for me while I tried to find out where my packages were located.
Since I wasn’t allowed to cook food in my dorm, I often went to the cafeterias on campus for meals. There are eight cafeterias to choose from on campus. These cafeterias were about 10 minutes walk away from my dorm. Each has their own focus so you don’t have to suffer eating food that you don’t find appetizing (not that that was a problem, everything was delicious). To mention a few: Muslim food, Eastern Chinese food, dumplings and soup, etc. The food is cheap and you are able to choose from a variety of food. The only item you are required to have is the student card that you top up with money. When you order food you swipe the card over a scanner. The amount of money you pay depends on what you choose to eat. Some of my favorite things were warm soybean milk 豆浆, potato strips 土豆丝，and a fiery red chicken dish. The cafeterias are open during breakfast, lunch, and dinner. However, they are only open for a limited time, so unless you like eating at those times, you have to find other places to eat. For example, dinner time is only until 7 pm. I usually ended up eating later than that, so I usually ate at one of the places near campus.
An important place where I spent a lot of my time was, of course, my Chinese classroom building. It is located near the East dorm and took me a good 15-20 minutes to walk there. Classes are held in the morning until noon. There are also afternoon classes that are optional.
SCU’s campus is large, so I mostly stayed on campus. The campus has two lotus ponds and many roads to all the residential buildings and classrooms. In the fall, it is lovely to see all the tree leaves turning yellow, while in the spring it is a delight to see everything growing back and blooming. However, beware of all the mosquitoes that spawn in the humid climate.
On Campus Cafes
In Chengdu, coffee shops are a commodity. You couldn’t go a block without finding one. I ended up spending quite a bit of my downtime at coffee shops just studying or chatting with friends.
My all-time favorite cafe to sit at, for hours at a time, is Milk Day. The owners (brother and sister) became some of my friends. They are honestly the nicest and were always willing to offer to let us have parties and movie nights at their cafe. When I got sick, the brother prepared hot lemon water for me free of charge. They were always offering us free watermelon slices, fruit bowls, and drinks. Besides amazing drinks, they also sold sandwiches and fruit and yogurt bowls. My favorite drinks included hot/cold chocolate 热/冰可可, green tea 绿茶, and milk tea 奶茶. This cafe is conveniently located on the same block as my Chinese class building. Everyday, after my classes ended, I would just walk right over to Milk Day and sit down for an afternoon of studying at a table under an umbrella.
Some of my other favorite cafes include 读蔬记, My Garden, and 益禾堂. 读蔬记 is an aesthetic cafe filled with interesting books and nerdy chairs. It is located on the second floor of a building right across from the Little North Gate and My Garden. The drinks are amazing and the desserts delicious. Some of my favorites are the passion fruit tea and the rose tea. My Garden has the most comfy couches and chairs. I would often see people quietly taking a nap there. Their tea is flavorful, and their food is delicious. The Chinese music is a refreshing change from all the constant English music I would hear everywhere else. 益禾堂 was my go-to place when I wanted a refreshing watermelon juice 西瓜汁. This tiny cafe is located right up the road from My Garden and the Little North Gate. The woman and man who run it are the sweetest and kindest people. By the end of the year, when I walked in they immediately knew what I wanted to order. Secret: I would sometimes go two or three times a day. It was also my go-to cafe to grab a drink when I wanted to do a late night run.
On Campus Eats
The food on campus is amazingly delicious and cheap. There is a convenience shop that is located right on the corner near my Chinese language building that sells mouthwatering snacks. I would often buy dumplings or fried chicken in a wrap from them. There are three other places near my class building and they are a Vietnamese sandwich shop, a dumpling and soup place, and a Chinese pancake shop 手抓饼.
Around Campus
Campus is ginormous in itself, that I was often reluctant to even try to make it off campus during the week. The effort coupled with the heat, humidity, and mosquitoes made it difficult for me to want to head out. However, when I did make it off campus, Chengdu was always bustling with activity. Pedestrians slowly meandering down the streets, scooters and bikes zooming down the sidewalks, people laughing and chatting away, and many other activities were always saturating my vision.
Stores
Shops for anything and everything are conveniently located closely off campus. For snacks, I would run to Family Mart (North Gate), 7-Eleven (West Gate and Little North Gate), or Hongqi (Little North Gate). I would usually grab ice cream, dried pea snacks, orange juice, or C100. For bulk food, fresh fruit, or international food I would run over to Walmart (West Gate) or Carrefour (West Gate). For random accessories I always headed over to Miniso (West Gate and North Gate) or Watson’s (North Gate).
Around Campus Cafes
When I didn’t feel like continuously going to the cafes on campus I would wander off to the ones right outside of campus. My favorite ones ended up being Berry Berry, U + Coffee, Coco, a cat cafe (I forgot the name), and a cheap ice cream shop. Berry Berry is owned by a Korean woman, so it was always a good opportunity to practice my limited Korean with her. The drinks are delicious there. One of my favorites is lemon tea 柠檬茶. U + Coffee is a huge coffee shop with three floors of couches and other seating arrangements. It is super aesthetic and the music is soothing. However, the drinks and food are quite pricey. Coco is a small chain store that sells great fruit drinks, tea, and milk tea. The cat cafe is located across the river and the cats are adorable.
Around Campus Eats
Restaurants were left and right wherever I glanced. The unending options are due to the fact that food in China is cheap. Since I was located on a university campus, there are tons of options for food right off campus. Not only did the students from the university eat out at these restaurants, but also the students from the nearby high school, residential families, etc.
Out of the Little North Gate there are a galore of restaurants to choose from: noodles in tin foil baskets豆花肥牛, Korean barbecue, Korean food, Muslim food (西域风情), dumplings, dishes with crispy rice, stir-fried rice 炒饭, Hong Kong-style noodles 港式牛肉面, hot pot, Italian food (The Sense), and a heavenly chicken dish place 黄焖鸡. These are the places I would normally choose to eat at during lunch and dinner.
Out of West Gate there are a few places that I would eat at including: an Indian restaurant, Munchwich (a sandwich place), a hot pot place, and an Italian place.
From South Gate, there are quite a lot of food options as well. My favorites are: Northeastern Chinese (东北菜), Muslim (中国兰州拉面), and Korean (나라). Food is what brought me and my friends closer together. It was always a debate of where we should go and what we should eat. Since we were such a big group, we ordered a variety of dishes that we normally wouldn’t be able to try out.
Off Campus Nightlife
The nightlife scene in Chengdu is pretty active. There are many clubs and bars located very close to campus. Popular bars include: Commune, Wow Bar, Helen’s, and the bar street. Commune is located outside of West Gate near Walmart. Another one is located in the 339 area. It caters to both Chinese and foreigners. It sells a variety of alcohol from all over the world. The food is quite cheap considering that is western food. Wow Bar is located out of Little North Gate and both Chinese and foreigners go there. Their music is pounding there. Helen’s is across the river and close to Lankwaifong (the club street). Mainly Chinese go there to drink in excess and play dice games. The alcohol is fairly cheap, and the music is at a more bearable volume. The bar street is full of bars that often feature live music. Many Chinese people go there to drink and find other people to party with. It isn’t common for foreigners to go there as the alcohol is quite expensive.
As for clubs, there are also an abundance of those around campus. To name a few: Jellyfish 1 & 2, Revolucion, Moop, D-Power, Space Club, and Propaganda. Jellyfish 1 is located near West Gate and is quite small. Many people like it for its Spanish music and good DJ-ing. Mostly foreigners from SCU go to it. Jellyfish 2, Moop, and Revolucion are all located in Lankwaifong. Jelly 2 is larger than its counterpart and features louder music and lots of foreigners. Moop is underground and has a bouncy floor. It mainly plays EDM. Revolucion is partly outdoors and has Spanish music. Many foreigners flock there; some older people. D-Power is located near Wow Bar and is being run by Space Club. It often puts on promotional events like Foam Night. Right next door is another club called Onyx. By a 10 minute taxi drive, there are more clubs at 339 area. Space Club is located at the top of a building and many of its clubbers are Chinese. The music is mainly EDM. Quite close is Propaganda. It is known as being loud and full of foreigners. It is also known for having creepier guys attending there. For those who enjoy the nightlife scene, there are many options to try out.
For those who aren’t into bars and clubs, there is always KTV (karaoke bars). There is the option of renting a room for you and your friends. Many of the KTV places near campus offered English song options. The KTV places also sell food and alcohol that, depending on the place, may or may not be included in the rental price. You have the option to rent the room for several hours or even the whole night. It was always great fun for me and my friends to go and scream our lungs off for a few hours to some great beats that took us back to the old days.
The Anshun Bridge 安顺桥, located near the bar street, is an iconic part of Chengdu. During the day it is beautiful to see the ancient Chinese style architecture, while at night it is a hotspot for lovers and tourists alike. For those who want a unique experience, there is a restaurant located on the bridge that serves expensive cuisine and beverages. Along the river, many musicians gather to sing and play their instruments, couples meander, children play, people take selfies with the bridge in the background, and young people hurry to the bars and clubs.
Off Campus
The center of Chengdu is a good half an hour or more away from campus. I normally would take the subway, or on occasion an Ofo or Mobike (public-sharing bicycles), to the downtown area. It is really convenient that the metro stops in the downtown area. Downtown (Chunxi Road and Tai Koo Li) is always brimming with people no matter which day of the week I would go. Chunxi Road is known for the huge IFS shopping mall which features a giant panda (Chengdu’s famous animal). For the ground it is easy to spot the panda’s butt hanging off the side of the building. If you want a good view of its face, just take the elevator in IFS up to the rooftop. Tai Koo Li is another famous area located right next to Chunxi Road. The buildings are styled in a more traditional way and the stores there are pricey. There are also some affordable restaurants there including a dim sum place. For Starbucks lovers, the three floor traditional building is the perfect place to get a cup of coffee and chill. High-end brand shops, restaurants, and cafes are all crammed into the downtown space. Smells of the nearby hot pot restaurants, KFC, and other small hole-in-the-wall eats waft through the air tempting me to go and sit down for a bite.
Besides Chunxi Road and Tai Koo Li, there are other areas that are also just as famous for shopping, eating, and going out with friends and sweethearts. Jingli Street is known for its ancient-style buildings. Many people are attracted and go for the food, shopping, and other activities that can be found there. Be warned: it can be very crowded and noisy. Tianfu Square is another bustling hub that is located not far from Chunxi Road. The shopping mall is built in the ground and is exposed to the elements. This shopping area has many small shops for souvenir-type gifts, affordable clothing shops, and cafes (i.e. Costa Coffee). For people’s convenience, there is a metro stop inside the building. Global Center Mall is another awesome option for those who want to shop. This mall features an indoor beach and water park, ice skating rink, movie theater, and many mouthwatering restaurant options. One area that my Chinese friend took me to is the Kuan and Zhai Alley (宽窄巷子). It is similar to Jingli Street with its traditional buildings, food options, and entertainment. Close by are the People’s Park (人民公园), an Art area (奎星楼街), and a exhibition street done by middle-schoolers (泡桐树街). People’s Park is a wonderful place to relax and enjoy the scenery. Children to adults can be seen dancing, out on the lake in boats, sipping tea, playing Mahjong, writing water calligraphy, etc. Autumn is the prime time to visit when the leaves on the trees turn a stunning orange and yellow. The art area reminded me a lot of Beijing’s 798 Art District with its art exhibitions, murals, cute cafes, and restaurants.
Off Campus Eats
Eating places are everywhere downtown. Both international and Chinese food restaurants are available. The art area has many good places that are teaming with people patiently waiting for a coveted seat in their chosen restaurant. The choices are endless.
Restaurant at 奎星楼街
I hope you enjoyed this lengthy guide of both campus and restaurants/cafes. If you enjoy hot pot, spicy food, and pandas this is the perfect spot to come for a short vacation. Hope you visit the ‘Du and try out some of these places.