[Photo from cdta.gov.cn]

[Photo from cdta.gov.cn]

Upon entering the gardenlike museum near Jinsha, visitors stand on what is considered sacred land in historical Chinese literature. The museum is dedicated to Du Fu (AD 712-770), a poet who lived in the transitional period coinciding with the decline of the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907).

Du, who experienced a great deal of hardship, used poems to record social ills, national conflict and chaos caused by war and daily suffering.

About 240 of his 1,400-plus poems Chinese people read today were written in Chengdu when he lived in the thatched cottage for nearly four years.

Near the northern entrance of the museum is a restaurant serving the famous spicy dish of mapo tofu, first served in 1862.