Complete Guide to the Red Three Cliffs (Part 2): Hiking 21 Kilometers to Commemorate the Red Crag Spirit

In the previously published "Red Three Cliffs: The City Light of Chongqing," we said: "A quick rough sketch is far from enough to showcase the profound weight carried by this red land of Chongqing, and the great resilient Red Crag revolutionary spirit..."

The tip of a pen is one way to commemorate; walking is another.

In Part 1 (Complete Guide to the Red Three Cliffs (Part 1): Experiencing the Most Precious Urban Spirit), the area of Zhongshan Fourth Road-Grand Hall-Datianwan-Cultural Palace was like clusters of blooming flowers connected and dependent on each other. In this article, the two areas of Hongyan Mouth-Tiger Head Rock-Hualong Lake and Liziba-Eling-Fotuguan-International Village are scattered like jade beads dropped from a plate. Fortunately, the mountain ridge axis, mainly the Mid-Hill Cliff Trail, perfectly strings together these landscapes and cultural sights. We moved from paper to reality, walking 21 kilometers to scout out the overall tourism experience of this Red Three Cliffs route. Along the way, multiple hilltop city balcony viewpoints allow visitors to gaze upon this mountain-and-water city.

If you have time, whether you are a visitor from elsewhere or a local resident, you can take this walk—it will surely be worth your while. If you are an urban hiking enthusiast, this route is a must-do. For those traveling by car or public transport, there are also more comfortable ways to explore.

Without further ado, this guide features more core walking points and a longer route, covering a full 21 kilometers on foot.

The main nodes along this route are: Hongyan Village — Tiger Head Rock Park — Former Site of Xinhua Daily General Office — Dahua Trail — Liziba Viewing Platform — Liziba Anti-Japanese War Heritage Park — Three-Story Road — Erchang Creative Industry Park — Eling Park — Chongqing Tiandi. Hongyan Village and Eling Park can serve as either starting or ending points, depending on your personal schedule and geographic convenience.

We began our journey at Hongyan Village, so the narrative in this article follows that order. At the same time, we will also intersperse travel strategies starting from other locations for your reference.

Exploring the City Light of Chongqing

Time: 9:00 AM

Route: Hongyan Village → Tiger Head Rock → Former Site of Xinhua Daily General Office → Dahua Trail

Fresh early spring sunshine brims with vitality—the best time to explore the truest spirit of a city. So, on this morning, we begin our walk along the Red Three Cliffs route from Hongyan Village.

Hongyan Village shines with the city's light.

We set Hongyan Village and the Hongyan Revolution Memorial Hall as the starting point of this Red Three Cliffs route (of course, you can also make it the end point) for a special reason. Hongyan Village was originally called Hongyan Mouth, the site of Mrs. Rao Guomo's Dayou Farm.

In early May 1939, during the Japanese air raids, the original location of the Southern Bureau of the CPC Central Committee at No. 70 Jifang Street was destroyed. Through the Eastern Sichuan underground party, Zhou Enlai contacted Mrs. Rao Guomo and, with her consent, moved the Southern Bureau to Dayou Farm.

Hongyan Village thus became the most important office location of the Southern Bureau and the Eighth Route Army's Chongqing Office.

From 1939 to 1946, older-generation revolutionaries such as Zhou Enlai, Dong Biwu, Ye Jianying, Wang Ruofei, Qin Bangxian, and Deng Yingchao lived and fought here.

During the Chongqing Negotiations in 1945, Chairman Mao Zedong stayed in Chongqing for 43 days. Except for three days when he stayed at Shandong Linyuan at Chiang Kai-shek's invitation, Mao lived in Hongyan Village for the remaining 40 days.

"Hongyan was but a desolate valley, yet it shone brightly during the War of Resistance." During the Anti-Japanese War, Hongyan Village became the command center of the Chinese Communist Party in the Kuomintang-controlled area and a mainstay of the抗日 national united front. The people in the rear area affectionately called Hongyan Village "the beacon in the foggy city" and "the little liberated area in the KMT-controlled region."

In May 1946, the National Government moved east to Nanjing. Zhou Enlai and Dong Biwu led the CPC delegation, the Southern Bureau, and the office staff to leave Chongqing for Nanjing one after another.

Before departure, Dong Biwu inscribed the four characters "Dayou Farm" for Mrs. Rao Guomo and wrote a seven-character quatrain titled "Dedicated to Mrs. Rao Guomo": "Eight years of success in the rear, / Hongyan gave shelter from despair. / The hostess delighted in garden arts, / Busy planting flowers and bamboos to entertain guests." This commemorates the glorious deeds and life stories that took place here.

The Hongyan Revolution Memorial Hall was established here in 1955 and opened to the public on May 1, 1958. In 1959, Dong Biwu inscribed the museum's name. In 1961, the State Council designated it as one of the first batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units.

The great feats achieved by the older generation of revolutionaries here and the Red Crag Spirit they cultivated have made this red land famous both at home and abroad, becoming a renowned revolutionary holy site and a national patriotic education base.

The Hongyan Revolution Memorial Hall has four floors, exhibiting "Eternal Red Crag: History and Cultural Relics of the Southern Bureau of the CPC Central Committee." The museum boasts a rich collection worth exploring slowly. We will briefly introduce a few items.

The Xinhua Daily printing press is a precious collection in the hall. It is 224 cm long, 154 cm wide, 153 cm high, weighs about 1 ton, was imported from Germany, and equipped with a Siemens motor. Many articles with significant public opinion influence were printed by this press—a veritable sharp sword.

The display of a secret radio station in the hall is ingenious. The sound of transmitting frequencies and the scene of desks and chairs make one feel transported back to that tumultuous era. The letters written by older revolutionaries and patriots, and the clothes they wore, also allow us to time-travel, as if seeing their figures busy for the revolution.

Exiting the Hongyan Revolution Memorial Hall, you can enter the various former sites within the Hongyan Village area for a leisurely stroll. The area contains the Dayou Farm archway site, Rao Guomo's former residence, the Southern Bureau site, the auditorium site, the nursery site, the basketball court site, and a series of other buildings and facilities from that time, nestled quietly in the mountain hollow.

The most important building in Hongyan Village is probably the former office building of the Southern Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and the Eighth Route Army's Chongqing Office. The entire building is of earth-and-wood through-joint structure, with two floors above ground and one below, covering an area of 800 square meters and containing 54 rooms of various sizes. It is located on the northwest slope of Dayou Farm.

The ground floor housed the public office of the Eighth Route Army's Chongqing Office (before the Southern Anhui Incident, the New Fourth Army's Chongqing Office also worked here). The second floor was the secret office of the Southern Bureau and the offices and bedrooms of leading comrades. Zhou Enlai's office and bedroom were where the responsible comrades of the Southern Bureau often held meetings and made major decisions. The largest room on the second floor was the library of the Southern Bureau and the office. The third floor housed the secret section and secret radio station of the Southern Bureau and the office, mainly responsible for communication with Yan'an and various local radio stations, as well as the transmission of confidential documents.

It is imaginable that in this building, countless orders that deeply influenced the Chinese revolution were sent to the whole country and even the world, and numerous events that guided the course of the revolution took place here.

The area is lush with towering trees, quiet and peaceful. The foot of the mountain and the mountainside feel like two different worlds. This is not only an important revolutionary site but also a nice place for a leisurely walk. Beside the Hongyan Revolutionary Cemetery, there are red flowers and flowing water. If occasional voices from above breach your ears, they are mostly from pedestrians on the Mid-Hill Cliff Trail.

If you come to the area in spring like we did, the Hongyan Cherry Blossom Garden behind the Southern Bureau site is also worth a visit. In 1979, former Japanese Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka, as an expression of Sino-Japanese friendship and in memory of Premier Zhou Enlai, presented Deng Yingchao with a batch of Japanese precious mountain cherry trees. Deng Yingchao transferred 78 of them to the Hongyan Revolution Memorial Hall, and this garden was formed.

In 1942, Deng Yingchao, then member of the Southern Bureau and Secretary of the Women's Committee, also organized a nursery in Hongyan Village while carrying out revolutionary work. Zhou Enlai said, "Children are the descendants of the revolution, the treasures of our motherland, and our successors; everyone should care for them." He also mobilized staff to make various toys for the children. The Red Crag Spirit and the revolutionary cause need to be passed on by future generations.

We think Deng Yingchao's transfer of 78 cherry trees to the Hongyan Revolution Memorial Hall is profoundly significant. Here, we commemorate those arduous years and never forget those people and those events. The smoke of war has faded, and under the spring sunshine, cherry blossoms bloom brilliantly. May the tree of peace remain evergreen, and the flower of peace bloom forever.

Travel Tips

For drivers, simply navigate to "Hongyan Village" or "Hongyan Revolution Memorial Hall."

Parking: Hongyan Village has limited parking spaces; parking is convenient on non-holidays.

Opening Hours: Open all day; entry to the Hongyan Village area's former sites requires reservation.

Public Transport: Take buses 210, 215, 219, 261, 262, 318, 501, 503, 808 to Hongyan Village stop.

Leisure: Man Coffee, Starbucks, Guxingyuan GUGA Garden

Nearby Food: Jingge Chongqing Hotpot, Yizui Jiangbao Duck, Bella Verace Pizza Napoletana, Er Hotpot

Exiting Hongyan Village, you can take a taxi or other transport to Tiger Head Rock Park. The former site of the Xinhua Daily General Office is located at No. 86 Tiger Head Rock Village, Hualong Bridge, Yuzhong District. It is one of the core attractions of the Red Three Cliffs route.

During the Chongqing Negotiations, Comrade Mao Zedong praised the Xinhua Daily journalists who fought bravely under Tiger Head Rock, calling them the "Xinhua Front Army" besides the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army.

This is because the Xinhua Daily and the magazine "Qunzhong" (The Masses) published by the Xinhua Daily office were the only openly distributed large political organs of the Chinese Communist Party in the KMT-controlled areas during the early period of the Anti-Japanese War and the Liberation War. They made important contributions in exposing the true face of the KMT, consolidating the anti-Japanese national united front, and winning international public support.

These two publications were prepared in Nanjing at the end of 1937, first published in Wuhan in January 1938. In October of the same year, Wuhan fell, and the newspaper office moved to Chongqing. By the time the KMT closed down the office in February 1947, Xinhua Daily had been running for nine years.

In those nine years, the Xinhua Daily General Office held its ground at Tiger Head Rock for seven and a half years, publishing more than 2,700 issues of Xinhua Daily. They fought with words to maintain unity, making Chongqing the southern center of public opinion.

For example, after the Southern Anhui Incident in 1941, Zhou Enlai published his famous line written in Hongyan Village on this newspaper: "A great injustice, a leaf in Jiangnan; fratricidal strife, what urgent haste?!" — a cry to the whole society.

"Whenever the KMT deviated from the direction of joint resistance, the Southern Bureau would use Xinhua Daily to launch public condemnation. Chiang Kai-shek, who called himself the 'Supreme Commander of Resistance,' did not dare to go further down the path of 'actively opposing the Communists and passively resisting the Japanese,'" said a staff member of the Hongyan Revolution Memorial Hall. It was precisely because of the Southern Bureau's forbearance and negotiation that the second KMT-CPC cooperation was maintained until the final victory of the Anti-Japanese War. The historical contribution of Tiger Head Rock is indelible.

Standing at the Shiyoukoulu viewing platform, you can see in the distance a few gray-walled houses in the mountain hollow—that is the site of the former office. Since the Xinhua Daily General Office site is currently closed for exhibition preparation, we cannot visit it for now.

According to our understanding, the former general office site is being transformed into the "Xinhua Daily Historical Exhibition Hall." The cultural relic itself will be fully renovated, upgraded, and restored for display. Adjacent to it, Hualong Bridge Park is being developed into a comprehensive park for leisure, culture, fitness, and entertainment.

We can imagine that once completed, the mountain landscape combined with the red spirit here will surely become another must-visit spot.

Travel Tips

The Xinhua Daily General Office site is under construction and currently not open.

Public Transport: Shiyoukoulu stop, accessible by buses 139, 471, 837, 418, etc. Some parts of Tiger Head Rock Park are under construction; there is no parking lot yet; you can find parking spaces nearby.

Tiger Head Rock Park sits along the entire Mid-Hill Cliff Trail. The main trail section from Tiger Head Rock to Fotuguan was first opened in 2021. The entire Mid-Hill Cliff Trail is about 28 kilometers long, with a main line of 9.1 kilometers, starting from Fotuguan Park in the east and reaching behind Hongyan Village in the west. If you are an urban hiking enthusiast, this trail is not to be missed.

Stepping onto the Dahua Trail section of the Mid-Hill Cliff Trail, you will notice that this route features multiple elevated boardwalks that spiral along the mountain curve. The trail is wide and paved with anti-slip steel grating, making walking easy, and allowing three to five people to pass comfortably.

Continuing forward, the path rises and falls. With a gentle breeze, the walk is smooth and unobstructed. There are many pedestrians on the trail, all in high spirits. If you are tired, you can rest on benches along the way and gaze at the Jialing River in the distance.

When you reach the Fotu Night Rain Stone Carving Posthouse, you can overlook the Jiahua Bridge from a suspended viewing point, with heavy traffic flowing and the Jialing River surging forward. On the right, dense forest blends with the mountain scenery, and Metro Line 2 traces a beautiful arc into the distance.

This is the "train heading to spring."

If you head into the core area of Fotuguan Park, you will feel as if you are deep in a mountain forest. Stone cliffs hang like sharp blades; tree roots over ten meters long cling to the rock face; bird calls sound from time to time. You will glide through like a snake.

Travel Tips

Public Transport: Take buses 210, 215, 219, 261, 262, 318, 501, 503, 808, 1410 to Huacun stop, or take Metro Line 1 to Eling stop.

Leisure: Landing Luoting, Kerouac Coffee, Xiedai TEA BAR, Little Lion Coffee

Nearby Food: Liziba Liangshan Chicken, Chapaofan, Feihu Hotpot, Hua Fangzi, Jieyou Buyou, Yeyan Huayuan Restaurant · River View Private Dining...

Here is the Most Authentic Chongqing Lunch

Time: 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM

After a morning of walking, the best reward is food. At the end of the morning route, you'll find the most authentic Chongqing cuisine.

Exiting Fotuguan Park, you can take a bus or taxi to Liziba, where a wealth of food awaits you.

As the name suggests, Liziba Liangshan Chicken is right in Liziba. On the internet, Liziba Liangshan Chicken enjoys many accolades, such as "America has KFC, China has Liangshan Chicken" and "If you haven't eaten Liangshan Chicken, you haven't been to Chongqing; if you haven't eaten Liziba Liangshan Chicken, you haven't eaten Liangshan Chicken."

Liziba Liangshan Chicken is almost stringent in its selection of ingredients. For example, for the main ingredient—chicken—it sets 12 criteria: free-range chickens from Liupanshui, Guizhou, known for their fighting nature; raised for 10 to 12 months; weighing 2.5 to 4 kg; with blood-red combs; and feeding mainly on green plants and insects from the mountains.

The specialty of Liangshan Chicken lies in its aroma. It uses garlic, old ginger, pickled chili, pepper, and dozens of other premium spices, cooked with ancestral stir-frying methods, then braised with a unique secret recipe that includes high-quality wolfberries, red dates, Chinese angelica, and codonopsis. The chicken is sticky, smooth, and tender, balancing yin and yang, leaving a lingering fragrance and an endless aftertaste.

Travel Tips

Per person cost: 150-200 yuan

From the A exit of Fotuguan Station on Metro Line 2, go straight along Three-Story Road on the right for about 5 minutes to see Chapaofan, a restaurant halfway up the mountain serving Jianghu cuisine.

When we were young, our grandparents said: "Nothing looks better than plain dressing, and nothing tastes better than tea-soaked rice." Chapaofan's signature dishes include: tea-soaked rice, half fish, spicy chili sausage, and taro with sauce.

Tea-soaked rice is refreshing; scooping up a spoonful of steaming tea-soaked rice, a light fragrance wafts into the nose. The rice grains are distinct, with a perfect firmness and softness; chewing slowly, you can taste the sweetness of the rice.

The half fish is actually a whole fish. Bright red sauce with green Sichuan pepper and scallions makes the tongue unusually excited. The fried fish, with scallions as a base, is not spicy and has a slight sweet aftertaste.

The sauce-flavored taro is salty-sweet; the surface of the taro is crispy, and when you bite into it, it becomes soft and sticky. The spicy sausage is different from the slightly greasy braised sausage; it is firm and chewy, with a crunchy sound.

Travel Tips

Other food: Further up on Jiankang Road-Xueku area, there is plenty of food; see "Complete Guide to the Red Three Cliffs (Part 1)."

Popular Attractions in the Red Three Cliffs Grand Scenic Area

Time: 2:00 PM – 7:00 PM

Route: Liziba Viewing Platform → Liziba Anti-Japanese War Heritage Park → Three-Story Road → Erchang Creative Industry Park → Eling Park → Chongqing Tiandi

After tasting delicious food and taking a rest, we believe you have new energy for the afternoon journey. If the morning bathed you in the city light of Chongqing, the afternoon allows you to traverse the urban texture of Chongqing.

The first stop in the afternoon is Liziba Viewing Platform.

The spectacle of the metro train passing through a building and the train heading to spring have made Line 2 famous nationwide. The viewing platform was built for tourists to take photos and stay, covering 840 square meters and accommodating up to 350 people at the same time. Extending outward, there is an about 8-meter-long glass suspension bridge, properly offset from the "metro passing through building" shooting area, allowing various poses to interact with the train.

Liziba Anti-Japanese War Heritage Park is only about 200-300 meters from the viewing platform and is easily found following signposts. It is located on a narrow sloping field facing the cliff of the Jialing River, stretching 1.8 kilometers and covering an area of 120,000 square meters. It is the first anti-Japanese war heritage park in Chongqing.

The park consists of 5 groups of 9 anti-Japanese war heritage buildings and natural scenery, including restored structures such as Gao Mansion, Li Gengu's Former Residence, Liu Xiang's Mansion, Former Site of the National Political Council, Bank of Communications School, and Old Gold Vault. It comprehensively showcases the historical features of Chongqing during the Anti-Japanese War in politics, economy, culture, military, diplomacy, and finance, serving as a new symbol and interpretation of anti-Japanese war culture.

If you have enough stamina or love hiking, you can then ascend from Three-Story Road to Erchang Creative Industry Park and then to Eling Park.

Travel Tips

Public Transport: Take Metro Line 2 or buses 210, 215, 219, 262, 318 to Liziba stop. There is a parking lot in the park.

Opening Hours: Free entry, open all day. Allow 1-2 hours to explore the entire park.

Near the Liziba Station of the monorail, on the direction of Chongqing Tiandi, there is a yellow building; next to it is the entrance to Three-Story Road. Three-Story Road connects the Erchang Creative Industry Park on the mountain with Liziba Main Street at the foot, with a vertical drop of over 100 meters. Walking up is the "most Chongqing" route.

On the first level of Three-Story Road stands the former residence of General Stilwell, now the Chongqing Stilwell Museum, the only museum in China named after a foreign military figure.

On December 8, 1941, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, and the Pacific War broke out. Subsequently, the United States declared war on Japan, and the Allied Powers decided to establish the China Theater, with Chiang Kai-shek as Supreme Commander and Stilwell as Chief of Staff. The establishment of the China Theater provided a coordinated command center for Allied forces in Burma, Thailand, and India, playing an important role in combating the Japanese.

Not far from the Chongqing Stilwell Museum is the former site of the American Flying Tigers. Many Chinese people may know their story, most famously the Hump Route. In 1941, Chennault, at the request of Chiang Kai-shek, formed the American Volunteer Group (Flying Tigers) to assist China in the war against Japan.

On the second level of Three-Story Road, there is a beverage shop called Jiangpan Xunhua · Coffee Xiaozhu, an excellent viewing terrace. Sipping tea on its terrace, you can quietly enjoy the river view on one side while on the other side, the Liziba train passes through the building, seemingly grazing your scalp as it whizzes diagonally overhead—a unique experience.

Travel Tips

Parking is inconvenient on Three-Story Road. If driving, first park at the Liziba Anti-Japanese War Heritage Park parking lot at the foot.

Public Transport: Take bus 3201 to Three-Story Road stop; or take buses 210, 215, 219, 261, 262, 318, 501, 503, 808, 1410, 3201, or sightseeing bus T002 to Liziba Station; or take Metro Line 2 to Fotuguan Station.

At the top of Three-Story Road, you reach Erchang Creative Industry Park, a must-visit spot for young people touring Chongqing.

Erchang Creative Industry Park was originally the Chongqing No. 2 Printing Factory. After the old factory buildings were combined with postmodern artistic styles, a different kind of vitality emerged from the blend of old and new. It became famous nationwide through the movie "I Belonged to You."

If touring Three-Story Road has left you slightly tired, you can rest here. The park has various shops worth exploring, such as Dawang Youcha (King's Oil Tea).

Travel Tips

A blue bus runs between Eling Park and Erchang; you can take it if needed. This year, Erchang's fully automatic multi-story parking garage has officially opened, so drivers don't have to worry about parking.

Opening Hours: The creative park is open 24 hours; shops are generally open from 9:00 AM to 10:00 PM; bar hours depend on the owner.

Ticket: Free

Eling Park needs no introduction for Chongqing locals; it has long been integrated into people's daily lives and leisurely walks.

For tourists from elsewhere, a brief summary: The park is located on Eling Main Street in Yuzhong District, perched on the summit of Yuzhong, flanked by the Yangtze River and Jialing River to the north and south. The park is lush with vegetation, serene, and rich in cultural heritage, featuring attractions such as the Rope Bridge, Kansheng Tower, Hiroshima Garden, Tongxuan, and the Soviet Martyrs' Tomb. Kansheng Tower rises prominently, offering views of all directions—magnificent and a must-visit for tourists coming to Chongqing.

Eling Park is the earliest private garden in Chongqing and a model of Chongqing garden design. We visited during the vibrant spring season; the weather had just cleared, and the park was bustling with visitors, all as cheerful as flowers. The air was crisp and filled with greenery, lifting our spirits. A few steps inside, two gray-walled, blue-tiled buildings came into view on the left—our first stop at Eling Park: the former Australian Legation site.

Built during the Republic of China period, the building has one floor above ground and one below, with a brick-and-wood structure. It housed the first Australian legation in China, where the inaugural Australian ministerial mission worked from 1941 to 1946. The courtyard paved with bluestone is refreshing; a stone basin with rainwater and a moss-covered rockery seem naturally formed over time.

Next to the Australian Legation is the Danish Legation. In August 1941, because the Danish government recognized the Wang Jingwei puppet regime in Nanjing and also recognized Japan's puppet Manchukuo, the Republic of China government broke off relations. This historical fact is unpleasant, but the exquisite small courtyard at its entrance is worth appreciating.

Exiting the Danish Legation, you come to a relatively wide road within the park. On the left is Ejing Villa, an independent courtyard with winding corridors worth exploring. Going up the road and entering the middle-right area, you find Lotus Pond, Sanyou Pavilion, and the Soviet Martyrs' Tomb, all arranged tastefully on the slope, showcasing the layered and three-dimensional character of a mountain city park.

In the middle of Eling Park is its iconic attraction: the Rope Bridge, built in the 1920s. This bridge originally had a beautiful name, "Yigan Bridge." "Yi" means water ripples, and "gan" is langgan, a kind of beautiful stone like pearls. Although the name is elegant, most people did not recognize the characters, so they intuitively called it the "Rope Bridge."

As the best-preserved surviving feature of the original Li Garden, the Rope Bridge's shape is not the usual straight or angular but an "S" shape. At the top of each arch, an inverted stalactite is embedded! Building such a rope bridge was extremely labor-intensive; it is said to have been reworked nine times before completion, earning it the reputation of a rare bridge. Its unique design, peculiar shape, difficulty of construction, and excellent preservation are truly admirable.

The Rope Bridge spans both sides of Ronghu Lake, connecting the surrounding scenery. A poem titled "Walking on the Yigan Bridge" reads: "A thousand flowers and ten thousand bamboos on a three-forked road; through the bamboo, the bridge leads to more flowers."

Feige (Flying Pavilion) is located at the northern end of Eling Park. Its green tiles and colorful eaves stand out against the green backdrop of the park. Because its center is a hexagonal pavilion that resembles a flying bird, it is called Feige. During the Anti-Japanese War, Chiang Kai-shek and Soong Mei-ling spent summers here.

At the highest point of the park is Kansheng Tower, also known as Liangjiang Pavilion, located at the northeastern end of Eling Park. The tower is 41.5 meters high, with an elevation of 380 meters, and has nine floors, each offering a viewing platform. It is an excellent spot for climbing high and looking far.

Using Kansheng Tower in Eling Park as the end point of the Red Three Cliffs route, we can stand on the ridge of Yuzhong and conclude today's journey with boundless beauty. The setting sun spreads golden light over the two rivers; the city's skyscrapers rise in layers, extending into the distance. At night, a sea of lights twinkles in the surroundings and rises toward the horizon, ethereal and misty.

Truly magnificent! This majestic mountain-and-water city!

Travel Tips

Public Transport: Take Metro Line 1 to Eling Station, Exit 1. Alternatively, navigate to "Eling Park."

Driving: There is a small parking lot inside the park with about 30 spaces; there are also some parking lots around the park. So, outside of holidays, parking is sufficient.

Opening Hours: 9:00 AM – 10:00 PM

Ticket: Free

Chongqing Tiandi in the Night

Time: 7:00 PM – 10:00 PM

The depths of the night belong to Chongqing Tiandi. Here, there are trendy restaurants, bookstores to linger in, bars to while away the time, and hotels and hostels for an overnight stay.

One venue is a shark-themed dining bar, featuring the longest visible acrylic seawater aquarium in Asia. Inside the giant aquarium are two 3-meter-long sand tiger sharks, over a dozen blacktip sharks about 1 meter long, and various other marine fish and creatures.

The restaurant is decorated in a dreamy blue ocean style; fish swim with sharks, and we dine with sharks. Enjoy fresh and delicious food in the shark restaurant, watch the shark feeding show, and experience the fierce nature of the ocean's overlord up close. This dual feast for the taste buds and eyes leaves a strong impression!

The restaurant's ingredients come from organic farms, so the food is fresh and tasty. Enjoying the ocean atmosphere while savoring fresh delicacies—eating with family in such an environment is a unique experience worth trying!

Travel Tips

Per person cost: 200-400 yuan

Nanzhishan · Gutenberg Xinghan Bookstore is a new addition to the Nanzhishan bookstore system. It excels in book selection, display, and categorization, as well as in overall environmental design—well worth a stop.

The bookstore's name comes from Johannes Gutenberg, the inventor of Western movable type printing. In a sense, his invention led to the media revolution.

This name reveals the bookstore's ambition—perhaps they too aim to revolutionize the bookstore. In the middle of the store, a wooden ship-shaped reading space is designed to carry readers into the vast sea of knowledge.

The store organizes and displays books by topic, and uses its own technology for unmanned checkout and automatic book sales, allowing customers to choose books more freely. The large areas of green landscape around the store and the creatively designed Zen terrace make customers feel as if they are in a forest even in the midst of the noisy city.

Travel Tips

Per person cost: 0-100 yuan

There is no Room 2046 here, but once you arrive, you won't want to leave.

Charcoal black floors, matte gold lobby corridors, soft ambient lighting... Entering the hotel, a black-toned space greets you immediately.

Muxi Hotel follows a unique black-toned elegant aesthetic, using layered lighting to segment the minimalist black planes. Details incorporate dynamic and playful installations, quite stylish. From start to finish, Muxi Hotel advocates an elegant "quiet black."

Additionally, it offers modern VR visual experiences. Muxi Hotel aims to be the best-reviewed boutique light-business hotel in Chongqing, and providing VR interaction can offer high satisfaction to its target customers.

Travel Tips

Per person cost: 400-1000 yuan

Parking: Chongqing Tiandi has a three-level parking lot with plenty of spaces, usually ample. You can also park here and walk slowly to Hongyan Village.

Food Recommendations: Besides the above-mentioned food and hotels, Tiandi also has Tongluowan, Yu Bancheng, Dayu Teppanyaki, Denghuang Tavern, Shui Ba Kuai Hotpot, Sifang Shangxia Hotpot, Muyuan Chaoshan Beef, Fujiya Kaiseki Cuisine, Yunsheng, Nayuki Tea, Starbucks, Miao Pin Ji, and other places to eat or rest. After dinner, a walk along the riverside promenade is very pleasant.

From Hongyan Village to the former Xinhua Daily General Office, then to the Mid-Hill Cliff Trail, Liziba Viewing Platform, Liziba Anti-Japanese War Heritage Park, Erchang Creative Industry Park, Eling Park, and as covered in Part 1, the Chongqing People's Grand Hall, Three Gorges Museum, Yi Garden, Gui Garden, Zengjiayan, Soong Ching Ling Memorial Hall, and the Special Garden Museum of Democratic Parties History in China, the integration and wholeness of the cultural and natural landscapes in the Yuzhong Red Three Cliffs Grand Scenic Area is truly astonishing.

The gunfire has faded away, but the Red Crag Spirit remains eternal, flowing into the lives of everyone and into daily existence. The most beautiful scenery is not only found in mountains, rivers, and seas but also resides in the spiritual dwelling of each person.

The Red Three Cliffs, strung together like pearls on a chain and connected into a continuous stretch, quietly await visitors.