Transport · Stations · Chengdu
Chengdu East Railway Station
成都东站. Chengdu's main high-speed hub, gateway to the Giant Panda Research Base, Sichuan cuisine, and the mountainous western Sichuan region.
About this station
Chengdu East Railway Station opened in 2011 and has since grown into the primary high-speed gateway for Sichuan province's capital, a city of over 20 million that has become one of China's most popular domestic and international tourism destinations.
The building's design draws on the Sanxingdui bronze culture and Sichuan's distinctive architectural heritage, with decorative panels referencing the sun bird motif found in the Jinsha archaeological site. The result is a station that feels contextually grounded in a way that many of its peers are not.
Chengdu is known internationally for giant pandas (the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding is a 30-minute drive from the station), Sichuan cuisine (regarded as one of China's four great regional cuisines, famous for its use of Sichuan peppercorn and the characteristic mala — numbing-hot — flavour), and as the base for trips into western Sichuan's extraordinary landscape: the Jiuzhaigou valley, the Siguniang Mountains, and the Tibetan plateau approaches at Kangding and Ganzi.
Entry tips
Chengdu East is the city's primary high-speed hub, in the Chenghua district east of the city centre. Allow 35 minutes. The station is busy but logically laid out. A second major high-speed station, Chengdu Tianfu, opened in 2022 for the southbound network.
Security flow
Three-stage entry. The station is one of the better organised in Sichuan. English wayfinding has been improved. The assistance desk near the north entrance is staffed by Mandarin and some English speakers.
Food inside the station
Strong Sichuan representation: mapo tofu rice boxes, mouth-watering chicken (kou shui ji) cold starters, twice-cooked pork bento sets, and the locally ubiquitous panda-themed snack merchandise. The level of spice in the station food is genuinely Sichuan-standard.
Food nearby
The Chenghua district east of the station has a mix of local Sichuan restaurants and standard commercial food courts. For Chengdu's celebrated hotpot streets, take the metro to the Chunxi Road or Kuanzhai Alley areas.
Transit to the city
Metro Lines 2 and 7 serve the station. Line 2 reaches Tianfu Square (city centre) in about 25 minutes (CNY 4). Taxis queue on the south plaza.