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Three Kingdoms to Qing Dynasty

China · 5 stories · 2–3 hours

Two compact clusters — the Wuhou Shrine and Jinli, then Kuanzhai Alley about 3 km north (a short metro or taxi hop between them). A third-century chancellor, a brocade street rebuilt in 2004, and a Manchu garrison of 1718.

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Stories along the way

  1. 1. An Emperor and His MinisterChinese temples are usually very clear about hierarchy. Rulers are honoured in one place, their servants in another, and the distance between the two is the point. This place…
  2. 2. Brocade CityStep out of the shrine and straight into the noise. Jinli runs alongside it — lanterns overhead, smoke off the snack stalls, handicraft shops shoulder to shoulder — and it is one…
  3. 3. Chengdu's Timeless Jinli StreetImagine a 550-meter stretch of cobblestone framed by curving wooden roofs and glowing lanterns in the architectural style of the Qing Dynasty. This is Jinli Ancient Street, a lane…
  4. 4. Distant Bishops of ChengduImagine being appointed the very first Catholic bishop to oversee a vast expanse in southwestern China—and then never actually setting foot there. That was the peculiar fate of…
  5. 5. Wide, Narrow, and WellThree lanes running parallel: Wide Alley, Narrow Alley, and Well Alley. The names are as plain as they sound, and the history behind them is not plain at all. In seventeen…