4-Day Independent Trip to Chongqing
Departure: Yichang
Duration: 4 days
1. Transportation: 495 yuan (including round-trip train, bus, etc.)
2. Meals: 161.5 yuan
3. Accommodation: 220 yuan for three nights
4. Tickets: 81 yuan
5. Other: 50.2 yuan
Total: 1007.7 yuan
1. Three Gorges Museum: Recommended
From Chongqing North Station, take bus (2 yuan) to Shangqinsi, walk 10 minutes to the museum. Make a free reservation online. Enter with your ID, reservation code, and Yucode (during the pandemic). A great exhibition hall, but some exhibits were closed—unfortunate. The worst part: I was ripped off buying souvenirs. A silk scarf cost 158 yuan there, but only 58 yuan at Hongyadong... And the box had the Capital Museum logo (noticed at home). A fridge magnet was 22 yuan there, 10 yuan at Hongyadong. Sigh.
2. Chongqing People's Great Hall: Average
Chongqing's landmark, opposite the Three Gorges Museum. Reserve via its official account; there are two payment options: 4 yuan and 0 yuan. I naturally chose 0 yuan, but at the entrance I was told the 0-yuan ticket is only for special groups (military, doctors, etc.), with no such note when ordering. Ended up buying the 4-yuan ticket. It's nothing special inside—just satisfying curiosity. I strongly suggest making it free.
3. Yangtze River Cableway: Recommended
A must-try in Chongqing, though the queue can be annoying. I was lucky—low season plus pandemic, so I waited less than 10 minutes. In peak season, it's hours of queuing for a few minutes, haha.
4. Danzishi Old Street: Recommended
A new commercial street. On flat ground it would be ordinary, but thanks to Chongqing's mountain terrain, it looks great. You can see Chaotianmen from afar. Best visited at night for the views. There are two entrances. Gaode (map) led me to the upper entrance, but you can enter from Danzishi Pier, with escalators along the way—very visitor-friendly.
5. Mountain City Trail: Recommended
Entrance/exit: next to the Yuzhong District People's Court. Route: Zhongxing Road - Shancheng Lane - Consulate Lane - Tongyuanmen (uphill). To avoid climbing, enter from Tongyuanmen and go downhill. Near the observation deck after Zhongxing Road, there's a rice cake seller—try it, you can't find it in Chengdu anymore. Shancheng Lane is the highlight, still under development. You can experience Chongqing people's daily uphill-downhill commute. Note: the cliffside plank road is only a short section; after visiting, don't continue upward—turn back to continue exploring Shancheng Lane. Going up leads to hillside roads with no scenic value, except for pure hiking enthusiasts. Along the trail are many old high-rise residential buildings with no elevators—I truly admire the local people's perseverance.
At the end of the cliffside plank road, turn back when you see this stele.
6. Yule Town: Average
A small park, like a mini Happy Valley. The popular "Fly Over Chongqing" is similar to "Fly Over Sichuan" at Chengdu Happy Valley, with better visuals and sound. Free entry, but if you want rides, a combo ticket is worth it. One ride is similar to the Running Man punishment in Taiwan, but smaller scale—pretty unique; the rest are generic.
7. Bai Gongguan (White Residence): Disappointing
I was excited to go, but left disappointed—fooled by literature. It's tiny, seen in 10 minutes. The torture chamber and dungeon were closed. Each room had biographies of martyrs, but you wouldn't know these were prison cells without asking—no signs. There's a statue of Little Radishhead (a child martyr) with no explanation; someone unfamiliar might think it's a modern Young Pioneer. Sigh. Emotionally, you feel you should visit, but it doesn't leave much impression. Many Red Rock attractions are under maintenance—Zhashidong too. A pity.
8. Zhongshan Fourth Road: Strongly Not Recommended
A street with zero visual appeal. Online hype is too strong. I didn't even feel like taking photos. It's very ordinary. Except for two or three former Republic-era sites, the so-called "Republic style" is pure fabrication. Personally, I strongly advise against wasting time here (no rebuttals accepted; if you disagree, you're right, I'm wrong).
9. Graffiti Street: Not Recommended
Again influenced by online articles. I took over an hour by bus to see it. Slightly better than Zhongshan Fourth Road—at least the graffiti is real, but it's just random scribbling, no artistic merit. Except for the wall by Sichuan Fine Arts Institute's gate and residential buildings, the paintings on the buildings are old and peeling. The graffiti is mostly concentrated near the school gate—maybe I looked in the wrong place. Sigh. The Transportation Teahouse is under a building with a narrow entrance; don't miss it. I was so disappointed I didn't go in.
10. Chongqing Night View: Recommended
Chongqing's night view is truly beautiful—Chengdu is completely outclassed (does Chengdu even have a night view?). But unfortunately, all three times I saw the night view, large areas were dark—many high-rise buildings didn't have their landscape lights on. I don't understand why. So I don't recommend the two-river cruise for night view. Consider Nanbin Park, Chaotianmen, or Hongyadong for a partial view.
11. Dazu Rock Carvings: Strongly Recommended
Whether from Chongqing or Chengdu, take a bus (unless driving yourself) to Dazu, because Dazu South Station (high-speed rail) is too far from Dazu town—you need a transfer.
Getting from Chongqing to Baodingshan is very convenient: Chongqing Bus Station (Caiyuanba) has a direct bus at 9:00 a.m. daily, 60 yuan, at Gate 4, second floor. You must exchange your ticket for a travel contract at the service counter before boarding.
On Ctrip, I bought a ticket for Baodingshan + Beishan: 57 yuan (half price for Sichuan, Chongqing, and Shandong residents). Great deal.
The most famous carvings are Baodingshan and Beishan. Baodingshan is grand and well-preserved; Beishan is more damaged. Note: there is a tourist shuttle from Baodingshan to Beishan, one per hour, 3 yuan. But after visiting Beishan, I didn't see any shuttle back to Baodingshan or other buses—only taxis or walking back to town. However, Beishan is close to town; if you're not in a hurry, you can walk.
Both sites are small; a leisurely visit takes 1-2 hours. I strongly recommend hiring a guide to fully appreciate the details.
The gate of Baodingshan is far from the actual entrance—about 20 minutes on foot. There's a Dazu Rock Carvings Museum along the way. If you don't want to walk, take the sightseeing car (10 yuan one way).
I took the sightseeing car to save energy, but it dropped me at an exit leading to a commercial street. Then I had to walk back through the street to the visitor center to catch the shuttle to Beishan—that was also a long walk. I should have just walked out directly and visited the museum along the way. Mistake.
Many attractions were under maintenance: Grand Bombing Site, Zhazidong, Luohan Temple, Nengren Temple—regrettable. At Lianglukou, the "Fat Sister Noodles" had a big bowl for 9 yuan, but it was just a big bowl—only about 2 liang of noodles, and the taste wasn't as good, too numbing. Chaotianmen's Raffles City is impressive, but I don't understand why the observation deck doesn't directly face the river. Avoid the noodles at Jiefangbei—20 yuan, too expensive. I stayed at Lazy Cat Apartment (Jiefangbei branch), 73 yuan/night, great location, complete amenities. I've been to Ciqikou and the Crown Escalator before, so I skipped them. Chongqing Tiandi is on the way to Red Rock; no need to go specially—it's just a commercial complex.
11. Incident: At Dazu bus station, I planned to take the 2:30 p.m. bus back to Chengdu. Arrived at the station just before 2:20. Before I got out of the taxi, someone asked the driver if he was going to Chengdu, saying the station had no buses to Chengdu and they were looking for people to share a ride. I ignored him and went straight to buy a ticket at the window. But the ticket seller said there was no bus—the 2:00 p.m. one had already left. I asked about the 2:30 p.m. bus (I could still buy tickets online at 2:10 p.m., but I wanted to save the 3 yuan service fee by buying at the window). She hesitated, then said that due to the pandemic (several COVID cases in Chengdu since Dec 6; I was returning on Dec 11), afternoon buses were suspended—only the morning bus was available. I didn't catch on at first and thought about taking the high-speed train. I naively went out and called for the guy who was looking for a ride to go to the high-speed rail station together. Then a woman came over, saying her friend said the high-speed rail also required a negative nucleic acid test report. I thought it was strange—I hadn't heard that Chengdu was locked down; my colleagues and family hadn't called or messaged me. I ignored her and insisted on taking the train. I bought a ticket on 12306 immediately. At the bus stop, she followed me, saying they only needed one more person, 130 yuan to Chengdu. That's when I felt something was wrong—I got on the bus and left. I arrived at Dazu South Station smoothly and took the train home. During the pandemic, be more careful when traveling—some people may exploit the situation to deceive.
