Chongqing

About Chongqing

Chongqing municipality stretches along the Yangtze River from the Sichuan Basin into the Three Gorges region, making it one of the largest and most populous administrative areas in the world by land and headcount. The urban core sits on a hilly peninsula between the Yangtze and Jialing rivers, where skyscrapers, cliffside walkways, and multi-level roads create a famously vertical, maze-like cityscape. Visitors come for the neon-lit Hongya Cave stilt complex, the riverside old town of Ciqikou, cable cars and river cruises over the water, and a hotpot culture so central to local identity that entire streets are devoted to it. Beyond the city, the wider municipality holds UNESCO-listed Dazu Rock Carvings, karst landscapes, and departure points for Yangtze River and Three Gorges cruises.

Capital

Chongqing (Yuzhong District, urban core)

Largest city

Chongqing (urban core, centered on Yuzhong District)

Population

~32 million (municipality-wide); ~8-9 million in the core urban districts

Languages

Mandarin Chinese, Chongqing dialect (Southwestern Mandarin)

Currency

Chinese Yuan (Renminbi)

Time zone

China Standard Time (UTC+8)

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Best places to visit in Chongqing

The 18 destinations our editors recommend — from iconic landmarks to under-the-radar finds.

Hongya Cave (Hongyadong)

This is a multi-level structure built into a cliff face on the Jialing River, stacking eleven storeys of restaurants, shops and walkways in a stilted style adapted from traditional Ba-Yu river-town architecture. The design lets you enter at street level and exit several floors lower near the riverbank, or vice versa, depending on which of its multiple street entrances you use. At night the tiered facade is lit up, which is when it draws the largest crowds and photo lines.

Ciqikou Ancient Town

Ciqikou grew up as a Ming and Qing dynasty river port on the Jialing, shipping porcelain from nearby kilns (the name means 'porcelain port'), and its steep stone lanes and wooden shopfront buildings are what remain of that trade town. Today the lanes are packed with snack vendors and small shops rather than porcelain sellers, so it functions more as a food street than a craft market. Zhong's Courtyard and Baolun Temple are separately ticketed sites within the town that preserve residential and religious architecture from that era.

Chongqing China Three Gorges Museum

This state museum sits directly across the plaza from the Great Hall and centers its collection on the Three Gorges region, covering the dam project, the resettlement of residents whose towns were flooded, and the area's geology and folk culture. Additional galleries hold archaeological finds from the wider Chongqing region, including Ba-people bronzes. It's a large, air-conditioned indoor stop that works well as a break between outdoor sightseeing.

Eling Park

Eling Park sits on a hilltop in Yuzhong District and has functioned as a public garden since the early twentieth century, making it one of the older green spaces in the city center. Its main draw is elevation: paths and pavilions along the ridge give views over the surrounding built-up peninsula, in a city where flat open viewpoints are scarce. It's a quieter, more local alternative to the newer purpose-built viewing platforms elsewhere in Chongqing.

Liziba Monorail Station Viewing Platform

Liziba station is where Chongqing's Line 2 monorail runs directly through the middle floors of a residential apartment tower, a solution the city adopted because the terrain here left no other route through the building. A public viewing platform nearby lets people watch trains enter and exit the building without riding it. It has become one of the more photographed pieces of transit infrastructure in the city precisely because the arrangement is unusual rather than decorative.

Chongqing People's Great Hall (Renmin Auditorium)

Built in the early 1950s, this auditorium combines a circular roof modeled on Beijing's Temple of Heaven with a Western-style domed hall, a hybrid style chosen to represent the new municipal government's aspirations at the time. It remains an active venue for performances and official functions rather than a purely historic shell. The paid entry lets you see the domed interior and surrounding plaza up close, rather than only viewing the exterior from the street.

Recommended itineraries

Pick a length, follow the route. Each itinerary balances headline sights with breathing room.

Where to stay in Chongqing

Three tiers, every traveller covered — from cost-conscious to flagship hotels.

Where to eat in Chongqing

Cafés, neighbourhood gems, and tasting menus worth the table reservation.

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Getting around Chongqing

Chongqing is built on steep hills at the confluence of the Yangtze and Jialing rivers, so its transport network was engineered around the terrain rather than a flat street grid. Chongqing Rail Transit - a 593 km, 12-line system blending straddle-beam monorail with conventional subway - is the fastest and most reliable way to move around, reaching the airport, both main rail stations, and most sightseeing districts. Taxis and DiDi ride-hailing fill in the gaps, river cableways and cruise ferries cross the two rivers, and walking involves stairs, sky bridges, and multi-level pedestrian decks rather than flat pavement. Renting a car is not recommended for visitors given the elevated, stacked road network and frequent fog.

Budget breakdown

Daily spend by tier in CNY, broken out by category.

Best time to visit Chongqing

Essential travel tips

• Book a Yangtze River night cruise from Chaotianmen dock to see the skyline and Hongya Cave illuminated from the water
• Ride Metro Line 2 to Liziba Station for the famous photo of the monorail passing through the apartment building, best viewed from the designated platform on Jiaotong Road
• Try authentic Chongqing hotpot at a local restaurant and ask for 'yuan yang guo' (split pot) if a milder broth alongside the spicy one is preferred
• Use Didi (ride-hailing app) or the metro rather than hailing taxis on the street, since traffic and one-way systems make curbside pickups difficult
• Visit Ciqikou Ancient Town in the early morning to avoid the heaviest tour-group crowds

Hidden gems

Off-the-beaten-path corners most travellers miss.

Safety information

Frequently asked questions

Explore Chongqing by city

The cities below have their own guides — hotels, attractions and where to eat, in depth.