Du Fu's Thatched Cottage Park & Museum Tours – Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China
Du Fu's Thatched Cottage Park & Museum
杜甫草堂博物馆
About this place
Admission to the park is Y60, so make a morning or afternoon out of the visit to make it worth the rather high entrance fee.
Du Fu, along with Li Bai, are the two most famous poets in Chinese history. Contemporaries of each other as well as friends, Chinese poets have emulated their poetic styles for centuries. They both lived during the Tang Dynasty (618-906 AD). Du Fu first came to Chengdu in 759, shortly after escaping the after the Anshan Rebellion in Xian, the capital city of the Tang Dynasty. After arriving in Chengdu Du Fu constructed his legendary thatched cottage, which today is Chengdu’s leading historical attraction.
Du Fu composed more than 240 poems here, and although the cottage itself is a replica, it is easy to understand how this bland dwelling was fitting for the timeless and compassionate poet. Du Fu’s works are said to display constant anguish for the state of his motherland and in particular for the countless people who were homeless as a result of the recent political upheavals. Du Fu lived here in 2 stints between 759 and 765 AD with his wife and children.
The cottage is part of a park filled with statues of Du Fu and other poets, shrines, gardens, and two pagodas. There are two small museums or exhibition halls across from each other which display a visual biography of Du Fu’s life and many of his poems. There is a fair amount of English. In Chengdu’s summer heat the heavily shaded walkways, benches, and gardens provide much needed relief to Chengdu residents who can purchase yearly passes to the grounds. Like any park in Chengdu, there is ample space around the edges of the park to relax, play cards, read a book, sip tea, or take a quiet nap.
The park’s north gate is on Qinghua Lu. Buses 17, 35, 82, 84, 301, 309, 503, and 509 all stop across the street from the entrance if you are coming from the center of town. The park is a few kilometers west of the city center; a taxi should cost no more than Y12.
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