CHENGDU, Sichuan: It is a chilly afternoon in Chengdu, and one of its most popular parks is anything but still.
At the Heming Tea House, located in the heart of the city’s sprawling People’s Park, crowds of visitors – from elderly residents, couples and students to influencers and tourists – are huddling over cups of steaming “kungfu tea”.
The process itself is part art, part acrobatics – servers tip traditional long spout teapots with precision and grace, sending thin ribbons of hot tea through the air into waiting cups, without spilling a single drop.
Elsewhere in the park, teenagers in elaborate cosplay pose among fields of chrysanthemum flowers while elders practise slow ballroom steps to nostalgic Mandarin songs.
Every now and then, a high-pitched “ding” sound rings through the courtyard as an ear cleaner weaves between bamboo chairs, tending to bemused customers with fluffy cotton swabs fixed to slender metal rods.
And those scenes stretch far beyond the park.
Rich in culture and famed for its slower pace of life, Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan, has long been known as one of China’s “happiest cities”.
It has made the list for 16 consecutive years in an annual poll published by Oriental Outlook, a Shanghai-based magazine affiliated with the Xinhua state news agency. This year’s list is set to be released by year’s end.
The city’s long-running streak reflects a “combination of hard and soft power”, wrote Dai Wenming, the magazine’s deputy editor for politics and culture, and also a spokesperson for the Happiness Cities Forum.
The poll examined indicators like average income, daily living as well as functionality and accessibility of public services.
Leisure is one of Chengdu’s biggest draws, said Zhang Keyun, a professor at Renmin University’s School of Applied Economics.
And beneath the city’s chilled-out exterior is an economy that has been rising steadily, he added.
“Beyond its food and culture, the city’s environment is also very good. Chengdu’s cultural exports, tourism and related industries are all highly developed,” Zhang told CNA.
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