Yulin is a low-rise residential district in the south of Chengdu, built up from the 1980s, and it has become the city's most agreeable evening neighbourhood. The reason is physical: the streets are narrow, tree-lined and quiet, with ground-floor flats that open directly onto the pavement, and the rents were low enough for small operators to take them. The result is a few dozen blocks of courtyard bars, wine shops, coffee places, noodle counters and Sichuan kitchens, mixed in with ordinary apartment buildings and a wet market.
What an evening looks like
People start early and eat first. Dinner is likely to be a Sichuan home-style restaurant or one of the small kitchens turning out cold dishes, dumplings and stir-fries, followed by a move to a bar at nine or ten. The bars are small and mostly one-room, with a handful of tables inside and a few stools on the pavement; several specialise in Chinese craft beer, others in wine by the glass, and a few in cocktails. Live music happens in a couple of them, low-key and unadvertised. Everything is within walking distance of everything else, which is the point.
The food that goes with it
Yulin's late-night eating runs to the Sichuan repertoire: chuan chuan skewers dipped in a shared pot, cold noodles with chilli and vinegar, wontons in chilli oil, grilled skewers, and the small bowls of pickles and peanuts that keep a table going. Fuqi feipian - thinly sliced beef and offal in chilli oil - is a local staple and a good test of a kitchen. Expect to spend modestly: an evening of dinner and two bars rarely exceeds what a single round would cost in Shanghai.
Practical notes
Yulin sits in the Wuhou district, a short taxi ride south of the city centre and reachable by metro plus a walk. Streets are numbered rather than named in any way that helps visitors, so use a map application rather than instructions. The neighbourhood is residential and quiet by ten at night in the outer blocks; keep voices down. Most venues take mobile payment only. Combine it with a daytime visit to the Wuhou Shrine or the Du Fu Thatched Cottage, both a short ride away.
