Chongqing 重庆

1

The monorail that passes through a residential tower; viewing deck below.

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Stilted golden stack of bars and shops; the 'Spirited Away' night view.

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Porcelain-port lanes with teahouses and chili-fragrant alleys.

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Yangtze history and the dam in miniature, opposite People's Hall.

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An 11-story stilted-building complex on a cliff face (completed in 2006) showcasing traditional Ba-Yu stilted-house craftsmanship: a 'magical 8D' structure where the top-floor platform links to Qiansimen Bridge and floor 1 leads straight to the riverside road; at nightfall it looks like a scene from *Spirited Away*, making it a global social-media…

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The Victory Monument of the War of Resistance (completed in 1947 on the site of the 'Spiritual Fortress') is the nation's only national monument commemorating victory in the nationwide War of Resistance: 27.5 m tall, its name inscribed by Liu Bocheng; the pedestrian street around it is western China's No. 1 commercial street, and Bayi Food Street gathers Chongqing…

7

Ancient wharf at the confluence of the two rivers (Yangtze and Jialing): Chaotianmen was the foremost of Chongqing's ancient city gates, serving as a customs wharf after the port opened in 1891. Today the 'Chaotianmen' memorial archway and wharf square remain, offering real views of the two rivers' 'double-flavor hotpot' confluence (the Jialing is jade-green, the Yangtze muddy yellow)

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Built in 1987 as the 'first aerial corridor over the 10,000-li Yangtze': 1,166 meters long, a one-way crossing of the Yangtze takes 4-5 minutes; from the cabin you look down on the Yuzhong Peninsula and the hilly south bank. Its cameo in the film 'Crazy Stone' made it famous

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A century-old lane built along a cliff: dating from the Ming and Qing dynasties, it preserves stone-step paths and stilted buildings; the clifftop plank-walk section overlooks the Yangtze and Shibanpo, with modern-era buildings such as Hou Lu and the Consulate Lane ruins dotted along it — the most classic stretch of the 'Mountain City Trail'

10

A memory district of 'seven streets and six lanes' in old Yuzhong, the mother city: formed in the Ming and Qing eras and a commoners' quarter during the War of Resistance, it was fully renovated after 2016 and reopened in 2021, with grey-tiled sloped roofs and stone-step lanes restoring the old city's fabric

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A century-old treaty-port street on the Yangtze in Nan'an: after Chongqing opened as a port in 1891, consulates of the US, Britain and other countries were established here; the restored former sites now form a creative-culture district where grey-brick Western buildings mix with stilted houses

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The 'Bund of Chongqing' in Nan'an: in the late Qing and early Republic it was a gathering place for Sichuan merchants; old residences such as the Wang Family Compound and Sun Family Garden have been restored and opened, and the two-river confluence viewing platform lets you see Chaotianmen and Jiangbeizui at once

13

A night-view strip on the south bank of the Yangtze: over ten kilometers of riverfront link Yanyu Park, Changjiahui Shopping Mall and various viewing platforms, facing the Yuzhong Peninsula skyline head-on — a modern version of "Zishui Xiaodeng" (Night Lanterns on the Zigzag Waters).

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The best vantage point for a full panorama of the Yuzhong Peninsula: the platform faces the peninsula's ridge line head-on, a modern continuation of "Zishui Xiaodeng" (one of the Twelve Scenic Views of Ba-Yu); expect queues to claim a spot during the prime sunset-to-nightfall window.

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The highest point of Yuzhong (380 m above sea level): a park converted from the villa garden of Li Yaoting, Chongqing's richest man in the late Qing dynasty; climbing Kansheng Tower (Two Rivers Pavilion) rewards you with the "embrace of two rivers" view, while the rope bridge, Banyan Lake and Suzhou-style gardens make an oasis in the bustling city.

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A creative park converted from a Republic-era Central Bank note-printing factory: the red-brick workshops preserve memories of the printing machinery, and rooftop scenes in the film "I Belonged to You" made it an internet-famous spot; the rooftop lookout views Yuzhong and the two rivers.

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The "Chongqing Grand Theatre", a glass-curtain-wall building on the water: set in the Jiangbeizui CBD, its exterior resembles crystal sails, with a steady program of operas and concerts.

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A loop night-view route on the Yangtze and Jialing Rivers: about an hour's round trip from Chaotianmen Wharf takes in the lights of Hongya Cave, Raffles City, the Grand Theatre and the bridges spanning both rivers — the "Two Rivers Night Cruise" is a flagship of Chongqing's night economy.

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Former site of the "Sino-US Cooperation Organization" (SACO) concentration camp and the setting of the novel Red Crag: Baigongguan (formerly Xiangshan Villa) once held General Huang Xiansheng and "Little Radish Head", while Zhazidong was a prison converted from a coal mine, where revolutionaries such as Jiang Zhujun (Sister Jiang) were imprisoned

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A famous mountain in the western suburbs of Chongqing's main urban area; "Gele Mountain Sounds" is listed among the Twelve Scenic Views of Ba'yu: the forest garden on the mountain is the former residence of Lin Sen, Chairman of the National Government (a wartime-capital historic site), while the Yunding Temple ruins and forest trails form the hiking route, making it the starting point of the Red Crag Spirit education route

21

Former site of the CPC Central Committee's Southern Bureau and the Eighth Route Army Chongqing Office (1939-1946): Zhou Enlai and others led work in the Kuomintang-controlled areas during the War of Resistance from here, and the Hongyan Revolutionary Memorial Hall systematically displays the history of the united front

22

Zhou Enlai's residence in Chongqing from 1938-1946 (an office site of the CPC Southern Bureau): the small building at 50 Zengjiayan preserves the original office and living arrangements; the historic Zhongshan 4th Road district is shaded by plane trees, with Guiyuan and the former residence of Dai Li nearby—a condensed site of the wartime capital's political history

23

Where Mao Zedong and Chiang Kai-shek met during the 1945 Chongqing negotiations: the Double Tenth Agreement was signed here; the reception room of the former Zhang Zhizhong residence is displayed in its original state, with the negotiation table and historic photos recreating the scene

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A guild hall complex from the Qianlong era of the Qing dynasty, tied to the "Huguang filling Sichuan" migration: Yuwang Palace, Qi'an Guild Hall and Guangdong Guild Hall together form the largest surviving ancient guild hall complex in China; the opera-stage caisson ceilings and wood and stone carvings are exquisite, and the Migration Culture Museum tells the epic of the "Huguang filling Sichuan" migration

25

A Ming-Qing era river-and-land port, 'by day a thousand people bow in greeting, by night ten thousand lamps alight': a thousand-year-old town on the banks of the Jialing River, its flagstone main street and cross alleys preserving the fabric of Ba-Yu folk dwellings, with Baolun Temple (built in the Ming dynasty; legend holds Emperor Jianwen once hid here, hence the old name 'Longyin Temple') still active with worshippers

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An ancient temple built during the Zhiping reign of the Northern Song dynasty: the Luohan cliffside stone-carving complex is the temple's centerpiece, with more than 500 painted arhat statues seated in rows in the Arhat Hall; its appearance in the film 'Crazy Stone' made it widely known

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A renowned Ming-Qing temple of Southwest China beside Huayan Cave in Jiulongpo: Buddha statues by Huayan Lake mirror the lakeside scenery, temple buildings spread along the lake and hills, and the 'Eight Scenes of Huayan' are a celebrated traditional sight

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A Tang-dynasty Taoist temple on Laojun Mountain in Nanshan: the foremost Taoist temple of eastern Sichuan, with the Sanqing Hall and other halls laid out in seven tiers up the hillside, dotted with ancient banyan trees and cliffside carvings

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An ancient temple on Tushan in Nan'an: legend has it that a Yu Wang Shrine honoring Yu the Great was built here in the Western Han (Yu is said to have married a woman of Tushan here); it became a Buddhist temple in the Ming dynasty and has continued ever since; the temple's thousand-year-old ginkgo tree turns golden in autumn

30

Chongqing China Three Gorges Museum: facing the Great Hall of the People, the two form a twin landmark of People's Square; Ba-Shu bronzes, Han dynasty sculpture and the 'Magnificent Three Gorges' exhibition systematically present Three Gorges civilization and the transformation of the reservoir area; the 'Magnificent Three Gorges' 360-degree circular-screen film is the signature experience

31

A large-span assembly hall built in 1954, modeled on the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests at the Temple of Heaven: its green glazed conical roof and vermilion columns make it a spiritual landmark of Chongqing, and its vast interior dome structure is an engineering masterpiece of the 1950s

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A long-established zoo in Jiulongpo: its Giant Panda House is one of the major panda venues among Chinese zoos, with twin pandas on show year-round, plus a well-equipped big-cat area and amphibian & reptile house

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The site of the Chongqing Iron & Steel (Chonggang) structural steel plant in Dadukou: the lineage of Zhang Zhidong's 1890 Hanyang Iron Works moved west to Chongqing, keeping its industrial legacy alive for a century; steam locomotives, machine tools and structural steel workshop displays recreate the memory of the "Steel City"

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Converted from the cave workshop complex of the Ordnance Bureau's No. 1 Arsenal: wartime ordnance-production caves transformed into the Chongqing Jianchuan Museum Cluster, with several halls displaying ordnance history and the War of Resistance, and the cave workshops themselves of high industrial-archaeology value

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UNESCO World Heritage Site (inscribed 1999) and the peak of folk stone-carving art from the late Tang to the Southern Song: Baodingshan is an Esoteric Buddhist sanctuary built over 70 years by the eminent monk Zhao Zhifeng; the restoration of the Thousand-Hand Guanyin and its 830 hands amazed the world, and the 31-metre Sakyamuni Nirvana scene is the country's largest half-length reclining…

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World Natural Heritage (karst): seas of square-stemmed bamboo swaying in the wind are unique to Jinfo Mountain, cave exploration at Gufu Cave and cliff-side plank walkways thrill visitors, and in April–May tens of thousands of ancient azaleas bloom in a famous Southwest China azalea spectacle

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World Natural Heritage (karst): the Three Natural Bridges are three natural stone arches — Tianlong, Qinglong and Heilong — Asia's largest string-of-beads cluster of natural bridges and the filming location of the Tianfu Courier Station in Curse of the Golden Flower

38

An alpine meadow known as the "pastureland of the south": 330,000 mu of forest and grassland interweave, summer temperatures of 22°C make it a summer retreat for southwest China, grass skiing and horse riding are the signature activities, and in winter it is a famous ski resort of southern China

39

Baidicheng at the mouth of Qutang Gorge: built by Gongsun Shu of the Western Han, Liu Bei's deathbed entrustment of his son here is a famous scene of Three Kingdoms history, and Li Bai's verse "At dawn I leave Baidi amid rosy clouds" made the place immortal in Chinese poetry

40

On the summit of Chijia Mountain on the north bank of Qutang Gorge (1,388 m above sea level): the highest viewing platform in the Three Gorges overlooks Kuimen and the full sweep of the gorge, with the river like a ribbon and the mountains like a galloping herd

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Longmen, Bawu and Dicui gorges on the lower Daning River (national 5A): narrow gorges with jade-green water and macaques playing on the cliffs; remains of ancient plank roads and hanging coffins tell the story of the Ba people

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The world's only underwater museum (opened in 2009): Baiheliang is a natural stone ridge in the Yangtze; over 1,200 years more than 160 inscriptions were carved on it, and its 72 stone-fish water-level gauges make it the "world's first ancient hydrological station"

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A lone-peak fortress tower on the Yangtze, hailed as the "Pearl on the River": this Qing dynasty 12-story all-wooden tower stands 56 m tall, built without a single iron nail against the sheer cliffs of Yuyin Mountain—an architectural marvel

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A 1,700-year-old temple honoring Zhang Fei: relocated and rebuilt exactly as it was when the Three Gorges reservoir filled, an international model of relocating and protecting cultural relics

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The world's deepest "urn-shaped" sinkhole: 300 m across at the rim and 335 m deep, a karst wonder with sheer walls rising like a giant jar

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"Where God's Whip Was Snapped": in the 1259 Battle of Diaoyu Fortress, Mongke Khan was killed beneath its walls, rewriting Eurasian military history (the Mongol forces everywhere withdrew as a result); Southern Song soldiers and civilians held out for 36 years on the strength of its mountain-fortress defense system

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"Rosy clouds over Jinyun Ridge" is one of the Twelve Scenic Views of Ba-Yu (Chongqing): watch the sea of clouds and sunrise from Lion Peak (Shizifeng), enjoy the tranquil Baiyun Bamboo Sea, and soak at North Hot Springs (built 1927), one of China's earliest hot spring parks, where the ancient Wenquan Temple (Hot Spring Temple) and its spring pools coexist

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A 2.5 km canyoning hiking route through the gorge: boardwalks past waterfalls thread the Upper and Lower Gorges through "A Thread of Sky" narrows and deep pools; canyoning (canyon rappelling) here is a national training-base sport, and summer stream trekking is cool and thrilling

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Danxia landforms and waterfall clusters: Wangxiangtai Waterfall, at 158 meters, is hailed as "China's Tallest Waterfall"; Shuikou Temple Waterfall and Honghai Lake dot the Danxia canyons

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Wansheng's Chongqing–Guizhou rift valley: a 5 km stream-valley boardwalk winds through canyons and floating bridges; with high negative-oxygen-ion levels, it is known as the "Chongqing–Guizhou biological gene bank"

51

Taohuayuan is the karst through-cave of Dayou Cave, one of the candidate sites claiming to be the real-life inspiration for Tao Yuanming's "Peach Blossom Spring"; explore the hidden cave realm and Fuxi Cave

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A complex of Miao ritual architecture: the 24.5-meter Jiuli Divine Pillar is the world's tallest Miao totem pole; the stilted houses of Miao King City spread across the hillside; the Chiyou Grand Hall honors the ancestors of the Miao people

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The world's largest man-made cave structure: a nuclear raw-material base of the Third Front construction begun in 1966, halted in 1984 and declassified and opened in 2002; 18 chambers stretching over 20 km form an "underground Great Wall", with the reactor hall and instrument rooms well preserved—a striking site of Third Front construction history...

54

The Shizitan Reservoir in Changshou District: Shizitan Hydropower Station was one of the first large hydropower projects of New China; after the reservoir filled, aerial photos show its 203 islands forming a pattern resembling the Chinese character "Shou" (longevity)

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A 1,500-year-old ancient dock at the confluence of the Fu River and Qiong River: Xinghuimen Gate, City God Temple, and Huguang Guild Hall are well-preserved, with ancient city walls stretching along the river.

Volcanic beef-tallow broth with tripe and duck blood.

Old-wharf original from 1890s style broth.

Jiefangbei's neon snack strip until 2am.