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Jinjiang District · downtown

Chunxi Road & IFS: the panda that climbs a mall

A pedestrian shopping street that became Chengdu's front door the moment a 15-metre panda was bolted to the side of the IFS tower. Come for the photograph, stay for the fact that everything else is five minutes away.

The twin towers of Chengdu IFS and the giant panda sculpture climbing the mall facade
Photo: WwklionCC BY-SA 4.0Wikimedia Commons

Prices and hours checked 21 October 2026RealChengdu — Chunxi Road guide

What Chunxi Road and IFS actually are

Chunxi Road is Chengdu's main shopping street: a pedestrianised stretch of department stores, flagship shops and street food, permanently busy, and not especially beautiful. Its value is positional. Within a five-minute walk you have Taikoo Li, the IFS mall, and the whole downtown restaurant district — which is why almost every Chengdu itinerary passes through it whether it means to or not.

IFS is the anchor at its north end: a two-tower luxury mall whose ground floors are the usual brands and whose seventh-floor roof garden is the only place in the city that gives you the street below and the panda at eye level.

The reason either appears in search results worldwide is a sculpture. In 2014 the American artist Lawrence Argent installed a giant panda apparently clambering up the glass facade of the IFS tower, titled I Am Here. It is 15 metres tall, it was meant to be temporary, and the city kept it because everyone photographed it.

Getting there and finding the panda

Metro
Line 2 or 3, Chunxi Road station
For the street
Exit C or D
For IFS and the panda
Exit E1, then walk back about 200m
IFS hours
10:00–22:00 daily
Taikoo Li
2–3 minutes' walk south
Time needed
60–90 minutes, more if you shop

Checked 21 October 2026. The street is free and always open; the malls keep their own hours. Exits are the part people get wrong.

The two angles, and which one you want

  1. 1

    Street level, at Exit E1

    Look up and you get the panda's back and hindquarters hanging off the glass. This is the shot everyone takes, and it takes thirty seconds. The large curved screen opposite loops a 3D panda animation for free.

  2. 2

    Seventh-floor roof garden

    Take the lift inside IFS to the roof terrace for the panda's face at eye level, plus a view down Chunxi Road. Late afternoon light is best; the queue is shortest on weekday mornings.

  3. 3

    Then leave the street

    Chunxi Road itself is chain retail. Walk five minutes to Taikoo Li for the architecture, or cross to the side streets for food that is not aimed at shoppers.

Worth how much of your day?

An hour. The panda is a five-minute stop, the street is shopping you can do anywhere, and the food nearby is decent but not the reason to come to Chengdu. Treat Chunxi Road as the hinge between Taikoo Li and the old lanes rather than a destination, and it works.

If you are travelling with luggage, take Line 2 rather than Line 3: both serve the station, but Line 3's platform here is narrow and carries the panda-base crowd.

Questions people actually ask

Where exactly is the IFS panda in Chengdu?

On the facade of the Chengdu IFS tower on Hongxing Road, a two-minute walk from Chunxi Road station Exit E1. The sculpture is called I Am Here.

How do you get to Chunxi Road by metro?

Lines 2 and 3 both stop at Chunxi Road station. Use Exit C or D for the pedestrian street, Exit E1 for IFS and the panda.

Is Chunxi Road free?

Yes. It is a public street with no entry charge; the malls and shops set their own hours and prices.

How long do you need on Chunxi Road?

About an hour for the street and the panda photograph. Add time if you plan to shop or eat in the surrounding blocks.