Chengdu makes New York Times list of ‘52 Places to Go in 2015’

In mid-January, The New York Times released a list of "52 Places to Go in 2015". Chengdu was one of two Chinese cities among the top 52 places.

"Pandas are the city’s drawing card, but adventurous chefs and boutique hotels are now giving visitors a reason to linger after seeing the star residents," writes Justin Bergman, a famous writer and editor. Over the past few years, pandas, Dujiangyan Dam, Kuanzhai Alley, Wuhou Temple, Chengdu cuisine, Changing Faces and other representative Chengdu elements have made it onto the global stage. They have presented to the world a tourism-friendly Chengdu image that integrates nature, ecology, history, culture and urban development. The city has welcomed large numbers of tourists from both home and abroad.

According to some statistics, Chengdu saw a total of 186.2 million tourists in 2014, increasing by 20.05 percent over the previous year. Of that amount, 1.97 million were foreigners, an increase of 11.66 percent over the previous year. Sichuan will become an international tourist destination with Chengdu as its core area. To further enhance the quality of the tourism city and better cope with challenges to accommodation, catering and other services in line with tourism, top priorities will be given to improve service quality in an all-around manner.