Sichuan province in China.

Chances are you’ve probably munched on a dish labeled “Szechuan” in a Chinese restaurant at some point. Where does that delicious, spicy chicken come from? Well, it’s from Sichuan province (四川 – sì chuān), located in southwest China. Famous for its mouth-numbing food, cute and cuddly pandas, and stunningly beautiful landscapes, Sichuan is a fascinating place. There’s been a lot of talk about Sichuan here on the blog in the past, so in case you’ve missed any of it, here are the links to all related posts as well as brief descriptions. Read through them all and you’ll feel like you’ve visited Sichuan yourself. Plus, you’ll learn a ton of new Chinese vocabulary at the same time! I believe Charlie Sheen referred to that as, “bi-winning.”

• Better Know a… Province (Sichuan): We’re going all around China one province at a time here at the Chinese blog. Start the journey with us by diving into Sichuan province. Learn about the history, culture, famous places, and more here.
• Jiuzhaigou Eco-tourism: In this post, learn about an amazing adventure travel opportunity just outside of the Jiuzhaigou national park. While the park itself is a great place to visit, the hordes of tourists can be overwhelming at times. Cue the recently launched eco-tourism hike, which can be done for either one, two, or three days. Hike up a sacred Tibetan mountain, sleep in wooden huts, and watch yaks run free.
• My Vacation to Sichuan (Part One): Challenge yourself and try to get through this post about my trip to Sichuan that is written all in Chinese. If you don’t know characters very well, there’s also pinyin and English.
• My Vacation to Sichuan (Part Two): Learn a lot more about Sichuan and learn a lot of new Chinese in this post.
• Sichuan Cuisine: Sichuan cuisine is famous around the world, and for good reason. It is also one of the Four Great Culinary Traditions of China. Get introduced to it and learn about some of its most notable dishes.

Of course, I also put together a handful of videos about our trip there. All of them can be found on our YouTube channel, but here are two of my favorites:

Get up close and personal with the pandas in Chengdu.

Explore the natural beauty of Jiuzhaigou national park in this video.

To get you practicing your Chinese, take a few minutes and try to answer these questions!

• Have you been to Sichuan? (你去过四川吗？nǐ qù guò sì chuān ma)
• If you’ve been – where did you go? (如果你去过 －你去什么地方了？rú guǒ nǐ qù guò – nǐ qù shén me dì fāng le)
• If you haven’t been – would you like to go? Why? (如果你没去过－你想去吗？为什么？rú guǒ nǐ méi qù guò – nǐ xiǎng qù ma? wèi shén me)
• Do you like eating Sichuan food? (你喜欢吃四川菜吗？nǐ xǐ huan chī sì chuān cài ma)