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Sichuan Cuisine Museum

The Sichuan Cuisine Museum, aka Chuancai Museum, is in Pidu District, about 33km (21 miles) northwest of Chengdu city, covering an area of 40 mu (6.6 acres). The buildings are of brick construction, built in the Han Dynasty style, and decorated with rosewood screens and Sichuan embroidery. The layout reflects a classical Chinese garden.

It's the only museum in the world with the theme of the culture of the local cuisine. Inside the museum, many books, pictures, recipes, raw materials and utensils of Sichuan cuisine are on show. Visitors are also given a chance to taste many famous local snacks in the museum for free. The museum includes an Exhibition Hall, Raw Materials Hall, Interactive Hall, and Kitchen God Temple.

Sichuan Local Snacks

Exhibition Hall

In this hall can be found over 3,000 utensils for Sichuan cuisine, such as cookware, tableware, tea-sets and drinking vessels. Some of them even date back to the Warring States Period (475 - 221 BC). The utensils are made of different materials: bronze, wood, bamboo, teeth and bone, iron, pottery, and porcelain. There are also books and recipes to give you a deeper understanding of the development of Sichuan cuisine.

Raw Materials Hall

Pots of Pixian Horsebean Chilli Paste

Once you step into the Raw Materials Hall of the Sichuan Cuisine Museum, the first thing catching your eye is the over 200 pots of Pixian Horsebean Chilli Paste, which is said to be the key seasoning of Sichuan Cuisine. The longer the horsebean chilli paste is kept, the more delicious it will be. If interested, visitors have the chance to make the chilli paste on the spot.

Interactive Hall

After seeing the recipes and raw materials of Sichuan Cuisine, many visitors can't wait to cook a dish themselves. The Interactive Hall of the Sichuan Cuisine Museum is ready for all new cooks!

Choose a recipe, and you will be provided with all the materials you need. A professional cook is there to guide you if you have some problems.

It always tastes more delicious if you cook the dish yourself; at the same time, you can also master an authentic Sichuan dish!

In addition, you can also experience the cooking in the Food Street inside Sichun Cuisine Museum. The street is full of buildings in the style of Western Sichuan dwellings style.

Here, you can also taste many other local snacks, like bean jelly, Tofu Pudding, Zhong Dumplings, pickles, noodles, etc. All the snacks provided are for free and without a limit!

Interactive Hall

Guests Making Dishes

Kitchen God Temple

It's the biggest temple dedicated to the Kitchen God in China, and it's also part of Chinese cooking culture. According to Chinese legend, the Kitchen God is said provide the connection between Heaven and the common people. If you do a great job in worshiping the God, he will put a good word for you in Heaven, and you will get good fortune the whole year. Here, in the Sichuan Cuisine Museum, visitors can experience this special culture by doing a simple worship.

There are other areas housing the tools to process raw materials for cooking, like the stone roller for grinding beans, you are welcome to have a try!