A Chongqing Yuzhong Native Tells You the Right Way to Explore Hongyadong
As a native of Yuzhong District, Chongqing, I live right next to Hongyadong. After dinner, I jog along the Binjiang Road, passing by Hongyadong every night. I've watched it gradually become a world-famous Instagram-worthy spot. Every time I drive over the bridge at night and see it, I still think it's breathtakingly beautiful. In my eyes, it will always be the pride of Chongqing people...
12 years ago, like everyone else, I took photos with it across the street or on the opposite riverbank, just to capture a panoramic Chongqing version of 'Spirited Away'... In recent years, whenever friends from other cities come to Chongqing, I bring them here to see its most enchanting moment at night... But as an old Yuzhong resident living nearby, if I had to give myself a reason to come to Hongyadong other than running past it, it would be because of the 'history' hidden inside that we locals have experienced, full of emotion, warmth, and time.
When I was a child, there was a tram in Chongqing with two carriages linked together called Trolleybus Route 5...
When I was a child, every household had a black-and-white TV...
When I was a child, I heard my mother say that 'ten-thousand-yuan households' were very impressive...
When I was a child, going to the toilet started with a ceramic spittoon...
People who know these things are either born in the 80s, or are the parents, grandparents of those born in the 80s or 90s. In that hazy era, everything we encountered was changing rapidly. Before we could grasp it, it was already obsolete...
Just on the 5th floor of Hongyadong, the [Reunion 1980 Block] has recreated the most fashionable place in Chongqing in the 1980s—Yuzhong District—gathering it all together to create a life-scene block of Chongqing in the 1980s. This is the ultimate reason for us Chongqing natives to visit Hongyadong.
This article, written as a Chongqing local, reveals the hidden photo-worthy spots with stories inside Hongyadong. Only by knowing the stories behind them can you understand their preciousness.
### About the itinerary for hidden photo-worthy spots in Hongyadong
I have always believed that the best way to preserve history, culture, and heritage is to bring it to life, rather than blocking visitors with a rope so they can only look but not touch.
The way to bring it to life is to restore its functionality: make the best use of everything and let people participate. Just like many century-old houses in the UK are still used as living and working spaces, rather than becoming museums—that would be boring.
The biggest feature of the [Reunion 1980 Block] is that these old 1980s streets are 'living' scenes. These scenes not only instantly transport people back to the 1980s, but the brand shops from Chongqing's era, one after another, allow you to wander among them—eating, buying, watching, and playing. It's true interaction, communication between people, not boring, not lonely, not rigid. This is the highest level of immersive experience.
**Scene:** Hongyadong Reunion 1980 Block
**Address:** 5th Floor, Hongyadong, Yuzhong District, Chongqing
**Layout:** The entire [Reunion 1980 Block] at Hongyadong is divided into Outer City and Inner City
**Ticket Prices:** The Outer City of Hongyadong is free; the Inner City requires a separate ticket of 29 yuan/person; Teresa Teng Theater 29 yuan/person; Inner City + Teresa Teng Theater = 39 yuan/person.
**Other:** [1] 6th Floor, Hongyadong: Xinxin Café [2] 4th Floor, Hongyadong: Mao Cold Noodles
Even the ticket office is restored to look like the ticket hall of the 1980s.
### 5th Floor, Hongyadong: Reunion 1980 Block – Outer City
I brought my mom to visit the [Reunion 1980 Block]. My mom said she hadn't been to Hongyadong in a long time (even though she lives nearby), and I told her she would definitely love this place. Sure enough, Mom was as excited as a child when she arrived. Every time she saw a familiar lifestyle from the past, she would happily exclaim, 'Oh, isn't this the...? We lived like this twenty years ago... I had this in my old house... I used to come here every day...'
So I think every native Chongqing person, especially those born in the 80s and 90s, can bring their parents and grandparents here. This is a reproduction of the traces of our shared past lives. Every spot is the best replicated memory of the era.
The Outer City of the [Hongyadong Reunion 1980 Block] is a free area, full of the strong life atmosphere of the 1980s: Fruit Wholesale Market, Bayi Road Tongzilou, Dacong Street, Taipingmen River Street, Dayanggou Market. Each of these old archways that have disappeared was a place my parents and grandparents often passed through to make a living for the whole family.
These cigarette and alcohol stalls—every pack of cigarettes is a memory of the era...
When I was a child, the small shop was our favorite place. A five-jiao bag of snacks brought a whole day of happiness...
And in the Outer City, you can eat many special snacks. At 'Taipingmen River Street,' have a bowl of open-air tea:
Use a cup of Eagle Tea in an 80s-style small cup to feel the leisure time life atmosphere of old Chongqing.
Cheng Cold Noodles, a century-old brand from Wanzhou, Chongqing, founded in the 25th year of Guangxu (1899), is an intangible cultural heritage project. Here, a bowl of noodles with mustard, 'sour, sweet, numbing, spicy, pungent,' instantly raises your adrenaline!
Old Mountain City Tangyuan is the sweet memory of our childhood craving on Bayi Road in Jiefangbei...
If you happen to visit the old street during meal times, you can sit down and have a Chongqing old hotpot—Boss Long's Old Hotpot, which is a 40-year accumulation of mountain city culture and the pioneer brand of Chongqing street hotpot. Small bowls with plenty of ingredients, pure beef tallow broth, a small roadside shop with a table and two chairs to open for business—this is the most authentic memory of our childhood eating hotpot on the street with our arms bare...
My mom told me that back then there weren't many other forms of entertainment, and people's favorite leisure activity during breaks was playing pool.
And when I was a child, if I could eat a 'Baby Cake' popsicle in the summer, it would be a day that made all the other kids envious...
My childhood was the golden age dominated by Hong Kong movies. Going to the video parlor with friends to watch videos was like going to the cinema to watch a movie now, equally anticipated. Everyone sat on small stools, staring at the small TV screen, eyes glued, thoroughly enjoying it...
If you're tired from walking, lie down and experience a comfortable intangible cultural heritage skill—ear cleaning...
In short, in the Outer City, there is a feeling of going back to the 1980s and strolling down the street on a weekend. Thirty years ago, this is how we went shopping...
### 5th Floor, Hongyadong: Reunion 1980 Block – Inner City
The Inner City is a paid area. This area is a fusion space where old and new alternate, mixing old times and new rock music.
Glamorous signs, neon lights, Reunion Radio, Disco Square... Walking in the Inner City, you hear the sound before seeing the person. The era songs from the block reach your ears, and your body can't help swaying...
Radio gymnastics, children's songs, dance interactive performances, Reunion 1980 News Broadcast, folk music bands, midnight DJ, retro Disco, energetic songs and dances...
The city center square has restored the Chongbai Department Store and the Shancheng Wide-screen Cinema. The most worthwhile experience is the 'In Search of Teresa Teng' holographic MR interactive music show in the Shancheng Wide-screen Cinema.
My favorite Hong Kong love movie is 'Comrades: Almost a Love Story' (Tian Mi Mi), a love movie named after a song by Teresa Teng. You can imagine Teresa Teng's influence throughout Asia in the 1980s. There is only one Teresa Teng in the world, irreplaceable.
Sitting in the theater, when the curtain opens, seeing the 1:1 restored 3D Teresa Teng 'personally' sing classic songs is a heartwarming feeling. Waving glow sticks, experiencing this brief live concert by Teresa Teng, may the touch always remain...
The arcade machines near the square bring the once-popular game 'Contra' back to public view.
The Inner City also has the 39-year-old Shancheng Photo Studio, restored to its original appearance, from black-and-white film photos to today's color digital photos...
When I was a child, taking Trolleybus Route 5 from Jiangbei to Jiefangbei was called 'going to the city'...
The old 'guest houses,' hidden in the Tongzilou of the alleys, with flickering lights, hazy and ambiguous...
The Inner City has many interactive areas. While watching the old streets of Chongqing in the 1980s, read a letter from the past...
Call the future self...
On the streets of my childhood, every hair salon had such spinning colorful lights at the door. Seeing them, you knew it was a barbershop...
The generation born in the 80s and 90s all experienced a demolition and relocation, a turning point from tiled houses to apartment buildings...
When I was a child, I always heard shouts from downstairs: 'Lock picking!' 'Knife sharpening!' 'Refrigerators, color TVs, air conditioners for sale!'
The ceramic washbasins in every household were a symbol of unit honor...
Every summer vacation, we had to watch the 'Calabash Brothers'—'Give me back my grandpa!'...
These scenes, as familiar as if they were yesterday, touch and stir everyone who immerses themselves in them. This is the unique sentiment of the 1980s... Nostalgia is a common longing for modern people...
### 6th Floor, Hongyadong: Xinxin Café
As early as 1936, Chongqing had the first café in Southwest China: Xinxin Café. Perhaps, aside from Shanghai, only Chongqing had such a 'cosmopolitan life' at that time. The Xinxin Café in Hongyadong originates from this famous Chongqing story.
This once most fashionable Xinxin Café was located at the former Huixian Bridge in Jiefangbei. It can be said that Huixian Bridge was the birthplace of Chongqing's fashion industry. The reason why Xinxin Café became famous later was due to a key figure: Miss Kong the Second. Miss Kong the Second did not wear women's clothing; she wore a slicked-back hairstyle, sometimes dressed in a suit and leather shoes with a hat askew, sometimes as a merchant with a folding fan and a cigar in her mouth, making it hard to tell if she was male or female. Miss Kong the Second was overbearing and domineering in Chongqing back then. How could she miss the trendiest place in Chongqing at that time: the Xinxin Café at Huixian Bridge.
'During the War of Resistance, one day the police chief went to Xinxin Café in plain clothes. He wanted to light a cigarette but couldn't find a lighter. He grabbed a special lighter from the next table but couldn't get it to work. The person at the next table showed him how to use it, but the police chief leaned in to let her light his cigarette, only to receive a slap. It turned out that the person sitting next to him was Miss Kong the Second, who had a men's slicked-back hairstyle. The next day, the police chief actually got promoted.' This story spread by word of mouth, and people came to this trendy spot. Xinxin Café became extremely popular in Chongqing for a time.
However, with the relocation of the wartime capital, Xinxin Café also retreated from the stage of history. But the story of 'Miss Kong the Second and Xinxin Café' remains the most popular among the top ten old Chongqing stories, still talked about by later generations. Mr. Zhang, born in 1953, a senior Chongqing native who loves history, is deeply attached to Chongqing, and is obsessed with Chinese culture, brought 'Xinxin Café' back to public view. This time, Xinxin Café has come to the 6th floor of Hongyadong.
Besides Xinxin Café, the 6th floor also features a 'Dreamwalking Twelve Scenes of Chongqing · Light and Shadow Interactive Art Museum' that is still under construction. Hongyadong is becoming more and more high-tech. It feels like a multimedia art experience space. I look forward to its opening, allowing tourists to Chongqing to experience Chongqing's history with the latest technology!
### 4th Floor, Hongyadong: Mao Cold Noodles
Mao Cold Noodles is a memory of old Chongqing people. The original site was in Xiaomi Market. The creator was Mao Shengfa, hence the name 'Mao Cold Noodles.' It was founded in 1942, and together with Lai Cold Noodles (Chuanbei Cold Noodles) and Wei Cold Noodles, it was known as the 'Three Great Cold Noodles of Chongqing.'
Now, at the street level of the 4th floor of Hongyadong, a popular spot in Jiefangbei, Yuzhong District, it is operated by the son of the founder of Mao Cold Noodles. It's a small street-side shop with just one table and a stool at the entrance.
A small bowl, not a large portion. I ordered mildly spicy, but I still found it very spicy.
The auntie prepared the seasonings very quickly. The texture is different from the cold noodles we usually eat. Mao Cold Noodles are rice cold noodles, each piece feels more substantial. I like the fermented soybean paste sauce; its color is slightly yellow, and it tastes very chewy, with the solid feel of rice.
Rice is ground into slurry, the slurry is cooked in a pot, and a little alkali is added during stirring. You can taste a hint of alkali aroma, which also improves the toughness of the rice noodles.
I think it's quite tasty. The portion size is just right; too much would be cloying.
Price: 8 yuan per bowl
Address: Room 409D, 4th Floor, Hongyadong, Yuzhong District, Chongqing
This is the story of Chongqing people at Hongyadong. Perhaps it will give you a different perspective when you visit Hongyadong next time.
