Running spot in Chengdu

[Xiao Wei]

Hi everybody!

I’m about to arrive in Chengdu and stay there for a year. I love to run and I was wondering if they were any nice places where you can run and get some quiet time. A nice parc for example or a place where you can relax and work out.

I was also wondering about the air in Chengdu,is it as polluted as people say ?

I’ll take any advice from runners out there.

Cheers,

[JerryS]

Outside 3rd ring road. Any place outside third ring road would be preferable than the smoggish city…

Best to find a place/apt complex with allot of trees and monitor the air quality day vs night. This can easily be done by eye sight. Not sure about peoples park… Since its in the middle of the city and thats where the pollution is essential centered…

[SS]

The air has been TERRIBLE for the past couple of weeks. Details here.

After several months of not getting over a cold last winter the doctor advised not to run in the city, so now I check the air quality on that site before going out to run. I go to the university track most often. A park like People’s Park is usually too crowded but the bigger, greener ones like Huanhuaxi park in the west often have runners.

I would also like to find a good spot for longer runs, so hope others chime in.

[Ray]

The lake on the 2nd ring road, just past kehua bei lu intersection (heading towards wanda plaza) is not bad for a run. Forget street running; cars, loose tiles and slack-jawed gawkers make it kinda tough.

[Charlie]

I don’t know about where to run, but I’ve been using an iPhone app recently to check the pollution levels everyday and it’s really helpful. It’s free and it shows figures supplied by both the US Government and the Chinese Government. Sometimes they’re in hilarious opposition, like when the US says pollution is “Unhealthy” and China says it’s “Good”.

Here’s a link to the app: China Air Pollution Index

[trudat]

I run here and thankfully I haven’t gotten any respiratory problems so far because of it.

I would advise running early in the morning (i.e., 5-7am) when it is cooler and the streets aren’t clogged with people.

I’ve been thinking of buying one of these to go running even if I might look like an alien from out of space. http://totobobochina.taobao.com/

[Rick in China]

That’s a cool mask! Forget alien. But one problem – nasal breathing. I saw an awesome little thing on “shark tank”, which would add to your modern mask look, which is like a nasal mask..the guy patented it so I don’t know how readily available it is. Will look for it..

Home

Check it out 😀 I think the guy was a construction worker or contractor, just a regular dude who came up with the idea, but it’s a great one.

[JerryS]

I have this:

http://www.martialartssupplies.com/training-mask.html?gclid=CPSr9O-ow7ECFSHftgodFTYAEA

Not sure if its safe to wear in public.. I did this at my local gym in the states, i got weird looks… At my martial arts school, my Brazilian instructor just laughed. Hear in China.. Not sure what they will do.. Probably call the cops if i wore that :P. So yea, its probably not good for stopping pollution, even with its tiny air passages.

[Rick in China]

@Jerry

If your goal is to dress like a batman villain, cool!

[Andy]

I second Huanhuaxi Park next to Du Fu’s cottage. Run early before it gets too busy. I have a nice 2km loop around the lake and edge of the park.

[AKK]

JerryS: your mask is more to CD warfare usage? Althou I doubt any of the locals will be staring real hard.

I heard wearing mask while exercising increases your lung activities as they have to work harder to intake the air, pple, do take cautions while doing so.

Cheerios!

[Xiao Wei]

Thank you so much for all of your replies.

I though Chengdu was a huge city with just running tracks at the university. But now I know where to go ^^ can’t wait to discover all those places!

The mask looks really scary though ^^’

[Author]

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