Chongqing - A beautiful, modern city with some unique attractions


Chongqing is the last destination of my recent Asia trip, as I'm flying back to Budapest from here on Air China’s weekly direct flight. The city has recently gained popularity for its unique attractions, such as the monorail that passes through a residential building, or the city square that sits at around street level on one side but towers 20 stories above a street on the other. Central Chongqing sits on a narrow rocky ridge between the Yangtze and Jialing Rivers, with steep cliffs on both sides. This unique landscape has led to the development of a multi-layered, "3D city". There's also the so-called cyberpunk building, the Hongyadong complex, an 11-story reconstruction of a traditional stilt house, also built into a cliff. Home to around 32 million people, hilly and modern Chongqing offers many other attractions, including a statue of the Hungarian poet and his love, Sándor Petőfi and Júlia Szendrey. 

I got a hotel room at a very good price which had a big window with some view of a river, bridges, metros, and city scape. It also had an ashtray and I loved my stay. 











The hotel, like many other buildings, is built into a cliff, and right below it and the surrounding buildings there are shops, restaurants, a steep street, and the Crown Escalator, one of the longest in China (no photos of the escalator). 










Cultural Palace. 



A park with a former parachute jump training tower and people exercising. 






Liziba Station is where one of the monorail lines (metro line 2) goes through a residential building. Following are photos from different perspectives, and a couple more pictures from above can be found at the end in the Eling Park section. 


















Hazy city and Jialing River view. 





There are many old bunkers and air shelters in Chongqing built during the Sino-Japanese War, when it was China's wartime capital. This one was repurposed to serve as an interesting restaurant. 


















Another air shelter, now used as some kind of a shop/workshop. 


The Three Gorges Museum and Chongqing People's Grand Hall. 












Bridge and city view from a park. 



Cityscape. 



Bridge and city view from a park. 





Cliffside high-rise buildings. 






On top of the Kuixing building (Kuixinglou) is the famous city square which is about street level on one side but around 20 stories high on the other. If you cross over the bridge to the top of the neighbouring building, you can see the Jialing River. 



































Chongqing Art Gallery. 





The Hongyadong (Hongya Cave) complex in the side of a steep cliff. There are a couple of small streets at the top, a cave that goes through the cliff, and in the cliffside pathways and the modern 11-story stilted house built in the traditional Bayu diaojiaolou style. 


































































Walk along the Jialing River. 









The area where the Jialing Rivers and Yangtze meet, including Raffles City with the Crystal Sky Bridge (Crystal Corridor) and Chaotianmen Square. 






















Heading to downtown. 



The historic Chongqing Ropeway, which I missed as it was overbooked. 



Jiefangbei CBD: Jiefangbei Square and the pedestrian streets around it, the heart of Chongqing's downtown.















The traditional quarter called Shibati ("Eighteen Steps"), between Jiefangbei and the Yangtze River. 

















Evening stroll along the Yangtze River, finishing at the "underworld" below my hotel. 











Eling Park (Goose Range Park), offering great views of the city and the Jialing River, and home to the Petőfi-Szendrey statue. You can also see Liziba Station from above as the metro goes through the building. 











































Walk back along the ridge to my hotel, for the last time, on the Yangtze side. 





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