Sichuan

[Video] Eye on Sichuan series

Our third regional series, Eye on Sichuan, explores Sichuan’s clean energy transition, slow living in Chengdu, Sichuan cuisine, and much more!

Inside a traditional Sichuan family restaurant [Eye on Sichuan series]

While Sichuan cuisine has always been one of the more well-known cuisines in China, in recent times, fad foods like Zibo barbecue have taken some of the attention away. But one homestyle restaurant in Shanghai seeks to preserve the traditional tastes of Sichuan. As Shanghai-based writer Kyle Muntz finds out, Sichuan cuisine is less about the spice and more about the freshness of ingredients.

Kyle Muntz

[Video] I was 11 when the earth shook: A child’s memory of Wenchuan [Eye on Sichuan series]

The 2008 Wenchuan earthquake is a tragedy etched into China’s collective memory, especially for those from Sichuan. ThinkChina’s Yi Jina was only 11 years old when she experienced this major event, and was too young to grasp the scale of what had happened. It took years before she understood what she had survived — and what so many others hadn’t. Even now, old footage and stories from those days still move her to tears.

Yi Jina

[Photos] How Sichuan rose from a famine unbeknownst to the world to become a ‘Land of Abundance’ [Eye on Sichuan series]

From the Three Kingdoms and Xinhai revolution, to the establishment of communism in China and the Great Famine, Sichuan played significant roles in key parts of China’s history. Historical photo collector Hsu Chung-mao shares photos of those turbulent times.

Hsu Chung-mao

Western powerhouse: How Sichuan is shaping China’s energy future [Eye on Sichuan series]

With vast hydropower potential, growing solar and wind capacities, and supportive government policies, Sichuan has reduced its reliance on coal and increased green energy production. EAI deputy director Chen Gang explains how this province is playing a role in China’s green transition.

Chen Gang

Not just cute: How pandas became a politicised symbol around the world

China is known for its "panda diplomacy", where its giant pandas were first gifted and later leased overseas as a sign of important bilateral relations and goodwill. Lianhe Zaobao correspondent Wong Siew Fong looks into how the system has evolved since the 1950s, and whether panda diplomacy still works today.

Wong Siew Fong

Electricity woes further dampen China's hopes of economic recovery

While China has yet to emerge from the shadow of the Covid-19 pandemic and its ailing real estate sector, power shortages caused by severe weather conditions are adding to its woes. Zaobao correspondent Yang Danxu tells us more about the severity of the power crunch, and its far-reaching impact across regions and industries.

Yang Danxu

Was Deng Xiaoping Hakka?

The Hakka people, or "guest people", are Han Chinese who were mostly northerners that migrated to the south of China to provinces such as Fujian, Guangdong and Sichuan. Some say that a common heritage and language, more than a specific region ties them together. Deng Xiaoping from Guang'an, Sichuan was not known to be one of the Hakka people, but arguable bits of history point otherwise, and some continue to insist on his Hakka ancestry.

Cheng Pei-kai

The 'other' Shangri-La: A journey through western Sichuan

Shivaji Das, author of travelogue "The 'Other' Shangri-la: Journeys through the Sino-Tibetan Frontier in Sichuan", captures vignettes of life in the picturesque mountains of the Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in western Sichuan. At the end of his journey, he asks: Would Shangri-La become indistinguishable from Disneyland? Would Han cultural hegemony obliterate every other peculiarity once a mesh of high-speed trains, all-weather roads, and Weibo accounts spread out in the region? Or would an environment of mutual trust, understanding, and accommodation be established?

Shivaji Das

Connecting Chongqing and Southeast Asia: Challenges and potential of China-Singapore (Chongqing) Connectivity Initiative

Chongqing's GDP accounted for 2.3% of China's total GDP in 2019, and roughly 2.4% of China-ASEAN bilateral trade volume. As the China-Singapore (Chongqing) Connectivity Initiative (CCI) enters its fifth year, EAI academic Yu Hong looks at the CCI and its major project, the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor (western corridor), and discusses the challenges the western corridor faces in building itself as the foremost connectivity channel between western Chinese and ASEAN enterprises.

Yu Hong

Lifting 'the poorest of the poor' out of poverty in Sichuan: Does poverty alleviation mean uprooting people from their homes?

As China's poverty alleviation efforts continue apace, Zaobao correspondent Edwin Ong visits a community deep in Sichuan's Daliang mountains. He finds out more about how the Yi people, once mountain dwellers, are taking to their new lives after relocating to government-built flats. Here, residents need only pay a one-time security deposit of 10,000 RMB to stay in their apartments for a lifetime. They have access to modern facilities, jobs and even dividends from shares. Is this truly utopia on earth?

Edwin Ong

Giant Buddha and sponge cities: Combating floods where three rivers meet

The recent floods in Sichuan were serious enough to wet the feet of the Leshan Giant Buddha, which sits on a platform at 362 metres above sea level at the confluence of the Dadu, Qingyi, and Min rivers. Academic Zhang Tiankan explains that while the Giant Buddha represents the ancient Chinese's wisdom in combating floods, modern-day Chinese will need to step up the building of "sponge cities" to prevent floods.

Zhang Tiankan