Wangjiang Park

Wangjiang Park (River View Pavilion Park) occupies a bend in the Jinjiang River southeast of the city centre. The park is notable for its extensive bamboo collection — over 150 species from around China — and for its series of pavilions built in memory of the Tang dynasty poet Xue Tao, whose home stood on this site.

The park is pleasant for a slow morning walk. The Wangjiang Tower, a four-storey Qing-dynasty pavilion, gives views over the river and the surrounding bamboo. At weekends, local people gather near the pavilions for impromptu folk music sessions. The park is less visited by foreign tourists than the other major Chengdu parks and has a local, unhurried character.

things to do sight
A story
Wangjiang Park was built around a memorial to Xue Tao, a Tang dynasty poet, musician, and courtesan who lived on this site beside the Jinjiang River. She invented a small red writing paper from local plants, which became known as Xue Tao Paper and was prized by calligraphers throughout the Tang. She corresponded with the great poets of her day — including Yuan Zhen and Bai Juyi — and is one of the most celebrated women poets in Chinese literary history, though her social status as a courtesan meant she was long denied the canonical recognition given to her male contemporaries.