Sichuan Cuisine Museum
Sichuan Cuisine Museum is the only interactive museum in the world displaying Sichuan’s culinary culture, only 1 hour’s drive from Chengdu city center. It offers professional bilingual staff, clean facilities, original cooking classes, all-you-can-eat delicious food, and displays of antiques and art work, making for an excellent experience for Sichuan food fanatics. Find a day to go out to the museum and follow the itinerary below.
10:00 (14:30) Tasting Famous Suchuan Snacks
Upon arrival, the museum’s bilingual guide will take you to the tourist center, where you’ll start your Sichuan cuisine journey by tasting all kinds of famous Sichuan snacks. After that, you can visit the Classic Collection Hall, which shows hundreds of cultural relics and 1,000-year-old cooking tools. Here you will learn about the origin and evolution of Sichuan cuisine culture.
10:30 (15:00) Making Chili Bean Paste at Raw Material Display
In this area, visitors can see varieties of raw materials and agricultural tools used in harvesting and making Sichuan cuisine and try different traditional crafts: grinding chili powder with a traditional grinder and making tofu pudding with a stone mill. The highlight of this section is to make the famous Pi County Chili Bean Paste.
Pi County is the origin of Chili Bean Paste, Doubanjiang in Chinese, which is considered to be the “soul of Sichuan Cuisine”. The bean paste in the museum is hand-made by a unique ancient craft dating back to over 300 years ago.
11:00 (15:30) Seeing a Worshipping Ceremony at Kitchen God Temple
Sichuan Cuisine Museum houses the world’s biggest Kitchen God Temple. The Kitchen God plays an important role in Sichuan folk culture. People hold a banquet worshipping ceremony at the temple, offering incense to the kitchen god to give thanks for every meal. After the temple it is also a nice option to tour the Old Sichuan Alley and see the western Sichuan architectural style and some ancient historical relics such as Sichuan embroidery and hand-caved timber doors.
11:30 (16:00) Cooking Three Authentic Sichuan Dishes at Interactive Hall
In this section you’ll learn to cook three typical Sichuan dishes under the guidance of a professional chef and get firsthand experience of cooking skills in Sichuan cuisine, for example cutting skills, control of heat, and some secret tips for cooking and presentation. There are two set menus for your choice: A- Panda Steamed Dumplings, Kung Pao Chicken and Mapo Tofu; B- Pumpkin Steamed Dumplings, Braised Fish and Water-Boiled Beef.
12:30 (17:00) Enjoying Your Meal and Leisure Time
Finally comes the dining time! Besides the dishes you’ve cooked, you will be served with all kinds of free drinks- juice, wine, beer, tea, coffee and self-brew medicinal wine. You can go home with a“Rookie Master Chef” certificate signed by the chef and the secret recipes of the dishes you’ve learned.
You Need to Know about Sichuan Cuisine Museum Before Visiting
- Address: No.8 Ronghua North Alley, Gucheng Town, Pi County, Chengdu City
- Opening hours: 9:00-18:00
- Ticket: RMB 60 for entrance ticket, RMB 360 for cooking experience
- How to get there from Chengdu: get to Xipu (犀浦) station by metro line 2 and then walk to Xipu Kuaitie (犀浦快铁) station from Exit B; take bus no. P22 to the terminal and you’ll see the museum.
- Tips: The cooking experience is not recommended to children younger than 10 years old, as the hearth may be too tall for them. They can try the pastry making class instead.
- Recommended day tour: Try our hand-picked One-Day Panda and Sichuan Cuisine Cooking Tour and experience Chengdu highlights your way.