Kuan Alley and Zhai Alley — Attraction in Chengdu

I AM the REAL Internet-famous Panda Grandpa! When Grandpa loses his cool…

Visiting Szechwan means seeing pandas 🐼, and buying panda-themed souvenirs from the "Internet-famous Panda Grandpa" seems to have become a must-do for many travelers to this region.

As for how Panda Grandpa became famous (the backstory), I’m not entirely sure. If anyone knows, feel free to share in the comments! By the time I visited, Panda Grandpa was already a celebrity, and the scene had become a bit chaotic with all the hype and copycats everywhere.

Many shops shamelessly put up signs claiming to be the "Internet-famous Grandpa’s Store," leaving first-time visitors completely baffled. Of course, the original Grandpa wasn’t having any of that! He put up signs saying, "I am the real Internet-famous Panda Grandpa!" But hilariously, the copycats followed suit, also putting up signs declaring themselves as the "real Panda Grandpa!" It’s a never-ending battle 🤣. Clearly, words and claims mean nothing to these counterfeit sellers.

The real Internet-famous Grandpa has a unique way to authenticate his shop—he displays printed photos of himself and sits outside his stall in person (see the image). So, as long as you’ve done your travel research or read posts like mine, you won’t be fooled. The Grandpa tirelessly promotes his stall and fights counterfeits from morning till evening—he truly works hard! (Image 1 shows Grandpa stitching up a panda plushie that came undone).

As others have said, the real Panda Grandpa doesn’t have an indoor shop. He sells his wares under umbrellas in an open-air stall. While his prices aren’t the absolute lowest compared to some other local sellers, his fame draws massive crowds that make it look like everything is free!

Thankfully, some thoughtful travelers have pinned Panda Grandpa’s location on platforms like Dianping and Baidu Maps, making it easier for future visitors to find the real deal without falling for knockoff shops.

However, based on my observations, plenty of tourists still don’t do their homework or read guides. Yes, I mean these tourists who searching this area by using Google map only! Many can be seen shopping at other stalls falsely claiming to be "Panda Grandpa," often at higher prices. If you visit the real Panda Grandpa first and then stroll further down the street toward Kuanzhai Alley, seeing others paying premium prices at the counterfeit stalls will give you a smug sense of satisfaction! But if you shop at the fakes first, you’ll probably feel like a fool 🤷‍♀️.

That said, while Grandpa’s prices are more reasonable than the knockoffs, they might not always be the absolute lowest. I’ll detail that more in my review of his shop. One particularly blunt male tourist even stood in front of Grandpa and asked, “I heard online that you buy your bags for 4 RMB and sell them for 8—true or not?”...

Kuan Zhai Alley (宽窄巷子), as the name suggests, refers to a Kuan (宽) or wide alley as well as Zhai (窄) or narrow alley. Hence, Kuan Zhai Alley (宽窄巷子) also has a direct translation name of “wide-narrow alley”. However, in reality, there is a 3rd lane known as 井巷子 (Jing Xiang Zi) or the “Well Alley” – probably the alley where the well was located in the past. And because it has 3 alleys or 3 lanes, it has the look of the Chinese characters “three” (三) or “River” （川). But the most interesting nickname that it has is the “Centipede Town” or (蜈蚣城) because if you take an aerial view, it does look like it has a backbone with the 3 alleys spreading outwards, resembling the legs of the centipede. This is also why, a restaurant nearby has a rooster on its rooftop, to “counter” the centipede, when it was trying to change its feng shui when business was not doing so well.

In Chengdu, there’s a saying of 南富，北乱，东穷，西贵. This saying came about because in the past,

南富 (South Rich). The South was where commerce started. 北乱 (North Messy). Criminals who committed crimes would escape to the north and seek refuge there. 东穷 (East Poor). In the 90s, because of the restructuring of the economy, many industrial workers who lived in the east were retrenched. 西贵 (West Luxe). Due to the weather, the arable lands in the west, created wealth for the region.

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Had the opportunity to spend some time walking around the alleys and despite the fact that was really crowded I had a wonderful time there. Had the chance to do spicy sauce "tasting" (after you choose the ones you want, they pack it and send to your city by mail, so convenient!). Also had my ear cleaned by a local guy with their particular technique and instruments (it felt amazing, true story), had hot pot on the restaurant with the famous dragon sculpture (absolutely delicious) and tried lots of street snacks, but the highlight was the face changing show, so intereting! You'll have to buy some tea and snacks to watch the show (I'm a coffee person...) but it's totally worth it if you have enough time. You can even dress like them and make-up like the actors and take pictures if you're...