Chengdu, reaching Sichuan's capital by railway

Near the temple, a metro station facilitated smooth access to Tianfu Square which I had previously visited in 1994. Overlooked by Chengdu’s iconic statue of Chairman Mao Zedong, I gazed around at how commercial architecture had changed so much over a quarter century into the contemporary face of Sichuan’s capital. However something had not changed - the bicycles flowing along Renmin West Road except that today they were mostly shared bikes.

The riverside cafes I had visited so long ago have disappeared but nearby sits a modern development I have frequently praised. The Taikooli complex combines traditional Chengdu architecture with contemporary design, so creating an excellent example of a lifestyle experience encompassing retail, dining and hotel in a traffic free environment easily accessed by metro.

Last spring, 2017, I had arrived by high-speed train from Chongqing to Chengdu's large, recently completed East Station before transferring by metro toward the Tibet Hotel. From there back in 1994 I checked out, traveling onward by bus to Leshan, embarking on a lengthy river journey down to Wuhan. In 2017, I left that same hotel walking up Renmin Road to board train T8 on a journey of rediscovery back up the same line I travelled on a quarter century previously.