Chengdu Intangible Cultural Heritage Park (成都非遗博览园) is the world’s first theme park dedicated to intangible cultural heritage and serves as the permanent venue for the International Intangible Cultural Heritage Festival. The park showcases the essence of intangible cultural heritage from around the world, divided into five distinct areas: “Five Continents,” “Century Dance,” “Western Stories,” “Time Travel,” and “Hundred Tastes of Drama.” These areas offer a rich cultural experience through educational exhibits, interactive activities, diverse recreational projects, and year-round cultural celebrations, creating a vibrant and immersive cultural feast for visitors.
Travel Information about Chengdu Intangible Cultural Heritage Park
Tickets and Opening Hours
Ticket Price: ¥50 (includes access to the second floor of the Exhibition Center and pottery making).
Opening Hours: Tuesday to Friday from 9:30 AM to 5:00 PM; Saturday to Sunday from 9:00 AM to 5:30 PM. Closed on Mondays (except public holidays).
Best Time to Visit
The Chengdu Intangible Cultural Heritage Park is suitable for visits year-round, with May being the best time. In May, the park hosts a grand Intangible Cultural Heritage Festival, featuring an array of performances, exhibitions, and displays of heritage projects from various countries.
How to Get There
Location: 601 Guanghua Avenue, Section 2, Qingyang District, Chengdu.
Metro: Take Metro Line 4 to the Intangible Cultural Heritage Park Station.
Attraction Ratings
- Cultural Experience: ★★★★
- Leisure: ★★★
- Unique Features: ★★★
- Beauty: ★★
- Romance: ★★
- Excitement: ★
Highlights of Chengdu Intangible Cultural Heritage Park
Five Continents Area
Located on the western side of the Chengdu Intangible Cultural Heritage Park, the Five Continents Area symbolizes the connection between the vast and profound Chinese civilization and global cultures. This area is themed around hotel resorts, conferences, and exhibitions, featuring some of the world’s most renowned five-star hotels. To the south of these hotels lies a 20,000-square-meter exhibition center, which serves as a global cultural platform. Through hosting international forums, high-end summits, and specialized intangible cultural heritage art exhibitions, the center facilitates the integration of world cultures into China and the promotion of Chinese culture to the world.
Century Dance Area
The Century Dance Area is located at the main entrance of the Chengdu Intangible Cultural Heritage Park. It consists of two main parts: the Exhibition Center, themed around “Intangible Cultural Heritage,” and a large Celebration Plaza. The Exhibition Center showcases the vibrant life and creativity of intangible cultural heritage through international and domestic exhibitions and modern artistic expressions, providing a comprehensive and immersive experience.
The Celebration Plaza can accommodate up to 20,000 people and features the park’s landmark structure, the “Century Tower,” which stands approximately 60 meters tall and offers panoramic views of the park. During festivals, the plaza hosts grand celebrations, combining lights, music, videos, and fireworks into a breathtaking spectacle that enhances the festive atmosphere.
Related Details:
- Daily Performances at Central Plaza: The stage at the Central Plaza hosts captivating performances every day, with the most thrilling being traditional Sichuan Opera acts such as face-changing and fire-spitting. During the cultural festival, the variety of performances expands to include acts like the Korean Janggu dance, which harmonizes body, drum, and spirit, Quanzhou string puppetry, and the Dai Peacock dance, all showcasing the extraordinary charm of authentic folk music and dance.
- Guqin Art Exhibition: On the west side of Century Dance Plaza, a regular exhibition of Chinese Guqin art is held, featuring daily Guqin concerts. These performances are led by renowned Guqin masters from across the country, offering an immersive experience in this ancient and revered musical tradition.
Xichengshi Scenic Area
Located on the east side of the Expo Park, the Xichengshi Scenic Area is a dedicated space for showcasing traditional Chinese intangible cultural heritage (ICH) crafts. It consists of eight modern Chinese-style courtyard buildings that form a themed experience zone, alongside a multifunctional theater designed after the Fujian Tulou.
Each of the eight courtyard buildings in the experience zone has its own unique style, displaying classic traditional crafts listed in China’s ICH directory. During the Intangible Cultural Heritage Festival, this area becomes a vibrant exhibition space for various ICH projects, such as sugar painting, Shu brocade, Shu embroidery, lacquerware, porcelain-bodied bamboo weaving, and silver filigree craftsmanship.
Once crafted and sold in rural towns and villages by artisans carrying boxes and baskets, the traditional art of dough figurine making has now found its way to the Chengdu Intangible Cultural Heritage Park, offering visitors a unique hands-on experience. Visitors can try their hand at creating lifelike dough figurines to take home or learn the craft of paper cutting, producing beautiful window flowers and intricate paper artworks.
Time-Space Journey Area
The Time-Space Journey Area is a vibrant space for showcasing intangible cultural heritage and entertainment. It consists of three main functional zones: the Children’s Intangible Heritage Experience Center “Magic City,” the festive entertainment area “Joyful Gathering,” and the fashionable cultural street “Tao Tianxia.”
The Children’s Experience Center combines a technology exhibition hall and a cartoon theater, allowing for immersive participation and interaction with intangible cultural heritage. During the cultural festival, the entertainment space hosts performances from various countries, including Thailand, Russia, and Belgium, featuring exotic and captivating shows that draw large crowds of visitors.
Hundred Flavors of Drama Area
The Hundred Flavors of Drama Area is themed around traditional Chinese folk performing arts and intangible culinary culture. It seamlessly integrates music, dance, opera, acrobatics, and interactive culinary demonstrations from various regions of China, showcasing the brilliance of Chinese culture.
One of the highlights of the area is the “Hundred Family Feast,” which gathers a diverse array of culinary delights from both domestic and international cuisines, offering a rich dining experience. Visitors can also enjoy the bamboo pole dance, traditionally performed by the Li ethnic community of Hainan during celebrations such as weddings and harvests. In addition to watching beautiful performers, guests have the opportunity to participate in this lively and artistic dance, immersing themselves in both the cultural and experiential aspects of the performance.
Visitor Guide for Chengdu Intangible Cultural Heritage Park
Culinary Delights
The Hundred Flavors of Drama Area features the Hundred Family Feast food street, where a diverse selection of cuisines from both domestic and international sources comes together. Visitors can savor authentic and delicious dishes such as grassland ecological roast meat, Japanese hibiscus shrimp, and Shaoxing stinky tofu.
During festive periods, guests can also witness rare and exquisite live culinary performances, showcasing traditional cooking techniques. Additionally, the Intangible Cultural Heritage Center’s Chinese Food Garden offers the chance to experience various classic Chinese delicacies, making it a culinary paradise for food enthusiasts.
Entertainment and Activities
The Chengdu Intangible Cultural Heritage Park features a delightful Happy Farm, offering a full cultivation management experience. For those who enjoy ecological leisure, this space provides an escape from the city’s hustle and bustle. Visitors can adopt their favorite crops, place their own farm labels, and embrace a new urban pastoral life that embodies the philosophy of “people in the fields, fields in the garden, gardens in the city.”
The Agricultural Ecological Garden is designed based on the I Ching, corresponding to the twenty-four solar terms, and is divided into twenty-four plots of land. Along with the surrounding scientific planting areas, it creates a complete Taiji and Bagua diagram. Visitors can enjoy cycling along the paths of the ecological garden, connecting with nature while thoroughly relaxing.
The Expo Center within the park perfectly blends high technology with living heritage, featuring interactive displays such as electronic Sichuan opera masks and an automatically flipping electronic encyclopedia. Visitors can simply stand in front of the screen and shake their heads or wave their hands to see a variety of Sichuan opera masks change on the display.
Annual Events
Intangible Cultural Heritage Festival: Held every May, this event showcases exquisite intangible cultural heritage projects from around the world, offering an exciting and colorful experience.
Spring Flower Festival: During the Spring Festival, the park hosts a grand display of flowers from around the world. Rare varieties such as tricolor pansies, Icelandic poppies, violets, pinks, anemones, and other precious floral species number in the millions, creating a breathtaking floral spectacle.