Caojiaxiang (workers' village) and Mingting Restaurant
AreaWenshu Monastery, Eastern Suburb Memory and Wangping Street
CAOJIAXIANG (WORKERS' VILLAGE) AND MINGTING RESTAURANT · CAOJIA XIANG
☾ ✦
Wenshu Monastery, Eastern Suburb Memory and Wangping Street · 30.676°N 104.086°E
Status unclearNo ticketingClosure day
One of Chengdu's first workers' housing estates (1950s red-brick dormitory blocks for the state factories, north of the old city), mostly demolished and rebuilt as high-rises in the 2010s. What survives of the old street life is a market and, in a narrow lane off it, Mingting: the city's most famous 'fly restaurant' (cangying guanzi — cheap, loud, brilliant), on the Michelin Bib Gourmand list of the first Chengdu guide in 2022 (not on the 2026 or 2027 selections), serving brain-and-tofu and other homestyle Sichuan at ¥30-40 a head. We have not read a page describing the street as it stands in 2026: treat the neighbourhood as 'rebuilt, status unclear' and the restaurant as the reason to come.
AdmissionNo ticketingFree street; Mingting ¥30-40 a head (platform 2024-25 — expect more on the day)
HoursStreet all day; Mingting lunch and dinner, shut afternoons (platform)Not independently verified — check official channels before you go
ClosedNone reportedNot independently verified — check official channels before you go
IDNone
AddressOuter Caojia Lane (Wai Caojia Xiang), Simaqiao Sub-district, Jinniu District — the market lanes north of Ma'an South Road; Mingting is at No. 26-16 on the lane (platform address)Navigate ↗
EntranceMetro Line 1 Renmin North Road, then 10-12 minutes east on foot; from Wenshu Monastery it is 20 minutes' walk north-east
Last verified 2026-09-15
How to book
None — Mingting takes no bookings; queue at the door
Beat the crowds
Mingting's queue starts before 11:30 and again before 17:30; go at opening or eat late. The street itself is never crowded.
Language
Chinese only at Mingting — a wall menu; point at the neighbours' plates. The market is Chinese.