A steep, layered river city of bridges, cable cars and monorails, best seen at night and eaten one hotpot at a time.
A steep, layered river city of bridges, cable cars and monorails, best seen at night and eaten one hotpot at a time.
The pedestrian shopping center of the Yuzhong peninsula, built around the Liberation Monument. Haochi Street, its food street, is an easy place to try local snacks.
A cable car across the Yangtze from Xinhua Road, about 20 m from Xiaoshizi metro station (Lines 1 and 6). It runs 7:30–22:30 from March to October and 7:30–21:30 from November to February; the south-bank station usually has shorter queues.
A cliffside complex of stilt-style buildings above the Jialing River, free to enter. Lights come on around sunset and go off at 23:00; enter at the top level from Xiaoshizi and walk down, then view it from Qiansimen Bridge.
A Line 2 monorail station built into the sixth and seventh floors of an apartment block. Watch trains run through the building from the viewing platform below.
A former porcelain port on the Jialing River with flagstone lanes, snack stalls and shops, free to enter, near Ciqikou station on Line 1. Weekday mornings are calm; weekend middays are packed.
UNESCO-listed Buddhist cliff carvings from the 9th to the 13th century, 2–3 hours from the center by road. Baodingshan is the main site; a day tour or hired car is the simplest way to go.
An option to end your stay: downstream cruises from Chongqing to Yichang take 4 days and 3 nights (upstream takes 5 days), passing Qutang and Wu gorges and ending at the Three Gorges Dam.
A shared pot of beef-tallow broth with chili and Sichuan pepper, for cooking tripe, beef, duck blood and vegetables at the table.
Wheat noodles in a spicy, numbing broth with chili oil and minced meat, and a common local breakfast.
Chopped chicken fried with a heap of dried chilies, Sichuan pepper, garlic and ginger.
Sweet-potato noodles in a hot, sour broth topped with peanuts, chili oil and green onion.
Boiled pork wontons in a sauce of chili oil and black vinegar.
Chongqing sits on steep hills where the Jialing River meets the Yangtze, and it is built in layers: roads on bridges, a monorail that runs through an apartment block, and streets that join a building on its ground floor and again on its eleventh. Most visitors come for the night views, the river crossings and the hotpot.
It suits travelers who prefer city life to monuments and who can manage stairs and spice. It pairs easily with Chengdu, about an hour away by high-speed train, so many people visit one and then the other. Some end the trip with a Yangtze cruise downstream to Yichang.
Start at Jiefangbei, then walk to Xinhua Road and ride the cableway across the Yangtze and back. Have hotpot for dinner and spend the evening at Hongyadong: go in at the top level, walk down through the terraces, then cross Qiansimen Bridge for the view back to the lights.
On day two, take Line 2 to Liziba to watch a train run into the building, then continue by metro to Ciqikou for its lanes and snacks. With a third day, go to the Dazu carvings, leaving early. Set up Alipay or WeChat Pay before you arrive, since the metro, food stalls and most tickets use them (paying in China), and see if your passport allows entry without a visa (visa-free entry).
Checked on 29 October 2026. Opening times and ticket rules change; confirm on the official site before you go.
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