Summer Memories of the Mountain City: A “Red” Chongqing Trip
When it comes to Chongqing, the first thing that comes to mind is the heat and the spicy food. Indeed, Chongqing has scorching weather, fiery cuisine, and warm-hearted locals. The city is full of endless hills and slopes. As the former provisional capital, Chongqing also has a red history. In the summer of 2023, my son insisted on visiting Chongqing to experience this 8D magical city himself. Although it wasn’t the best time to travel to Chongqing, being one of the four furnaces, our schedule only allowed us to go then. So we finally decided to travel from 40°C Beijing to 40°C Chongqing.
Our last flight was in August 2019, 47 months ago. The three-year special period finally ended, and our family of three could travel together again. This year’s trip was much simpler than before, and the itinerary was quite casual. We picked a few places we wanted to visit and improvised the rest. We booked flights and hotels online in advance, costing about 11,000 yuan in total.
Day 1: Today officially started our trip to Chongqing, one of the four furnaces. Although the Capital Airport is closer to our home, it still takes about an hour by car. We set off at 4:30 a.m., arrived at the reserved parking lot at 5:30, and took the shuttle to Terminal 3 of Beijing Capital International Airport. Having not been to the airport for four years, Air China’s check-in and baggage drop were all self-service, which we weren’t used to. Many people seemed unfamiliar with the process, making it inefficient. Before 7 a.m., the plane took off, and after 2 hours and 10 minutes, we arrived at Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport Terminal 3, 39 minutes ahead of schedule.
When exiting the station, we saw a taxi line. Perhaps because it was still early, there weren’t many cars. We took the escalator down and quickly experienced the legendary “yellow Ferrari.” As we approached the hotel, we drove along a section past the Yangtze River Bridge. Although only a few kilometers, it was surprisingly congested.
Our hotel was near Jiefangbei, in an alley opposite the Westin Hotel. The location was good, with the Sky Eye next door and close to the north station of the Yangtze River Cableway and Xiaoshizi Metro Station. The hotel lobby was on the 22nd floor. Our room wasn’t ready yet, so we stored our luggage and went to find lunch while exploring the surroundings. Someone online recommended the Shancheng Lamb Restaurant. A quick search showed the nearest one was less than a kilometer away, so we headed there. Whether it was my phone or the mountain city’s tricky navigation, Baidu Maps kept showing a weak GPS signal. Eventually, I had to look at the map and observe nearby buildings to find our way. Along the way, we passed Jiefangbei and the site of the Korean Independence Army Headquarters, effectively visiting two attractions en route.
The Shancheng Lamb Restaurant was on the second floor next to Peijie Old Hotpot. We ordered several dishes. I personally found the steamed lamb with rice flour and lamb rice noodles quite tasty—no real misses.
After eating, we returned to the hotel and waited about an hour in the lobby before checking in. Our room on the 25th floor had two bedrooms, both with king-sized beds, and four complimentary bottles of water per day—clearly insufficient in Chongqing’s heat.
There were some small shops downstairs selling water, but convenience stores were scarce. After resting at the hotel, we set off for the Huguang Guild Hall. It wasn’t far from our hotel. We passed through People’s Park and a residential area, mostly going down stairs, and arrived soon.
The Huguang Guild Hall, also known as Yu Wang Temple, was first built in the 24th year of Qianlong’s reign (1759). It was a meeting place for merchants from Hubei and Hunan in Chongqing. Together with the Guangdong Guild Hall and Jiangnan Guild Hall, it forms a large complex of Qing Dynasty Huguang Guild Halls, covering 8,561 square meters. It now includes the Guangdong Guild Hall, Jiangnan Guild Hall, Lianghu Guild Hall, Jiangxi Guild Hall, and four stages, including the Guangdong Assembly Hall and Qi’an Assembly Hall. The visit took about an hour.
Afterward, we had dinner nearby at the Jianghu restaurant, which had a very rustic atmosphere. Bowls were used for drinking, and the stir-fried liver and waist were excellent. Overall, a good experience.
After dinner, we took a taxi to Hongya Cave. We had booked the Two Rivers Night Cruise online in advance, 158 yuan per person, departing from the Hongya Cave pier. The Yuzhong Peninsula is bordered by the Jialing River to the north and the Yangtze River to the south, meeting at Chaotianmen. This year, the Jialing River was quite turbid, and the color difference was obvious at the confluence. When lit up, Chongqing was colorful and neon-lit, full of urban atmosphere. The cruise lasted about 40 minutes, with a Sichuan opera face-changing performance on board. However, there were few seats; tables and chairs on the deck were taken early, and seats with air conditioning required extra payment.
After disembarking, we wanted to see Hongya Cave, but it was too crowded—shoulder to shoulder. We took a few photos from across the road and decided to head back. Taking a taxi in this area meant opting for unlicensed cabs, which charged high prices, as it was impossible to get a ride through apps due to heavy traffic.
Day 2: Today’s itinerary was a chartered car trip to the 816 Project and Wulong Three Natural Bridges. We booked the car online in advance, and the driver added us on WeChat, agreed on a departure time, and waited on time at the hotel. We bought buns from a nearby shop for breakfast—hand-chopped sauce-flavored pork buns, which were decent. The driver first took us to the 816 Project. After exiting the highway, we basically drove along the Wujiang River and stopped at a viewpoint for the Wujiang Hundred-Mile Gallery, admiring the magnificent landscape.
The 816 Project site is located in Baitao Street, Fuling District, right next to the Wujiang River and backed by the Wuling Mountains. It was approved by the Central Military Commission and Premier Zhou Enlai in 1966. Excavating the mountain took 8 years, installing equipment took 9 years, with a total investment of 746 million yuan. Over 60,000 people participated in the construction. The project went through four stages: urgent construction, slow construction, suspension, and conversion to civilian use. In 1984, due to national strategic adjustments, the project was halted. In 2002, the Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense agreed to declassify the 816 Project. The total axial length of the 816 site is over 20 kilometers, completely hidden inside the mountain. The cave is cool in summer and warm in winter, with constant temperature year-round. The total built area is 104,000 square meters, with the main cavern 79.6 meters high and a vault span of 31.2 meters. There are 18 large caverns, over 130 roads, adits, branch tunnels, and shafts. The layout is like a maze—caves within caves, buildings within caves. The visitor center is a retro building. After exchanging tickets, we went through an underground passage to the cave entrance, waiting for a buggy to take us inside. Even at the entrance, we felt a cool breeze. A guide led the tour, included in the ticket. Inside, we had to climb up and down, about 10 stories high—quite physically demanding. The project was never put into operation, so there’s no radiation to worry about.
We had a simple lunch in the town: pig intestine noodles and wontons, which tasted fine.
After lunch, we headed to the next destination: Wulong Three Natural Bridges Scenic Area. The Wulong Karst Tourist Area is typical karst terrain with many attractions, such as the Three Natural Bridges (Tiankeng), Longshuixia Ground Fissure, and Fairy Mountain. With higher altitude and cooler temperatures, it’s a summer resort for locals. The driver dropped us at the visitor center, and we took a shuttle bus up the mountain. The Three Natural Bridges entrance has an elevator that began operation at the end of 2022. Unfortunately, we encountered a large study tour group and were told the line would take two hours. Time was limited, so we chose to walk down from another entrance. We swiped our IDs to enter and went down stone steps for about 40 minutes. By the end, my legs were shaking. The scenic area is famous for three imposing natural stone arch bridges: Tianlong Bridge, Qinglong Bridge, and Heilong Bridge, the largest group of natural bridges in Asia. It’s also a filming location for “Curse of the Golden Flower” and “Transformers 4.” Some parts of the pit felt like a paradise, peaceful and serene; other parts had jagged rocks, testifying to nature’s craftsmanship. Walking through, we didn’t feel the summer heat—rare in 40°C weather. At the exit, you can buy a ticket for a buggy to the shuttle bus stop or walk. Buses go to the ground fissure or back to the visitor center. Our day’s itinerary was essentially over, and we prepared to return to the city. Since we had a good rapport with the driver, we took the highway all the way back, and he dropped us at the hotel.
By the end of the day, my wife and son didn’t want to go out, so we ordered takeout—home-style Sichuan dishes. The fish-flavored shredded pork was different from what we get in Beijing, very tasty.
Day 3: Today’s itinerary was a chartered car day trip to Dazu Rock Carvings, with the same driver as yesterday. He even brought us breakfast: hand-chopped sauce-flavored pork soup dumplings, which were good. The site is in Dazu District, about 1.5 hours from the city center. The carvings date from the Tang, Five Dynasties, and Song periods, with additional carvings in the Ming and Qing dynasties. It is a World Cultural Heritage site and one of the eight great grottoes in the world. We mainly visited Baodingshan Rock Carvings, the Rock Carvings Museum, and Beishan Rock Carvings. We first went to Baodingshan. The driver dropped us directly at the scenic area, saving us the shuttle transfer. We had booked a guide in advance, and the guide waited for us by the road. At the shuttle station, we swiped our IDs to register facial info, then took the shuttle to the scenic area and entered with a facial scan. Baodingshan carvings include the Great Buddha Bay and Small Buddha Bay centered on the Sacred Longevity Temple, with the Great Buddha Bay being the main site and Small Buddha Bay secondary, distributed on the east, south, and north sides. There are over 360 giant carvings, most famously the Six Realms of Reincarnation, the Majestic Jeweled Pavilion, the Three Saints of Huayan, and the Thousand-Armed Guanyin. The scale is smaller than Longmen Grottoes, but the artistic value is high. The most impressive to me was the Yuanjue Cave. Inside the cave, three main Buddhas sit facing forward, with a Bodhisattva kneeling before them with palms together. The cave has “three wonders.” The first is natural lighting: a square opening above the entrance lets sunlight shine directly onto the Bodhisattva’s back, creating interplay of light and shadow. The second is a long reclining dragon carved on the western wall against the mountain; the dragon’s body serves as a drainage channel for the roof. Below the dragon’s head is an old monk holding an alms bowl. When it rains, water seeps through rock crevices, flows along the dragon’s body to the head, drips into the bowl with a “ding-dong” sound. The monk’s arm holding the bowl is hollow, and water flows through the hollow arm and out through hidden channels and grooves—an ingenious and complete drainage system. The third wonder is the carvings themselves: figures are lifelike, robes and cassocks smooth like silk, and the bases look like wood but are carved from a single stone—truly rare.
The Rock Carvings Museum is along the shuttle route; we asked the driver to stop there. The museum mainly displays photos and introductions of famous rock carvings from around the world, along with some actual artifacts.
For lunch, we found a restaurant in the scenic area’s commercial street. The meat bean curd was interesting, the prices were acceptable, and the taste was average.
After lunch, the driver took us to Beishan Rock Carvings, where we entered with a facial scan. The scale was smaller, with basically no restoration, but still looked good.
We then returned to the city. Since it was still early, we took a short break at the hotel before going out for dinner near the hotel—Wushan Paper-Wrapped Fish. It was a bit expensive due to the location near the scenic area, but tasted good. A whole fish with several sides was mostly polished off by the three of us.
After dinner, it was still early, so we strolled to the Sky Eye. The Sky Eye is on the rooftop helipad of the United International Building. We took the elevator to the 67th floor, went up one more level to the roof, and climbed external stairs to the helipad. At an altitude of 520 meters, when the neon lights came on, we looked down at the lighted city—a different scene from the river. The helipad was extremely crowded, so the experience wasn’t great. Among all the high points we’ve visited, this was the simplest.
Day 4: Today’s itinerary was a “Red” one-day tour of Hongyan Spirit. The Hongyan Tourist Area is at the foot of Geleshan, including Zhazidong, Baigongguan, Songlinpo, Meiyuan, the Hongyan Spirit Exhibition Hall, and the Martyrs’ Cemetery. We first took Metro Line 1 to Cigikou, then took a taxi directly to Zhazidong.
At the Cigikou metro exit, there were scenic area shuttle buses at 20 yuan per person, but taxis were more cost-effective, though sometimes hard to hail uphill. All these sites are free, requiring reservations on the “Hongyan Lianxian” WeChat account, each site valid once within two days. We visited Zhazidong, Songlinpo, and Baigongguan, entering with ID cards. These sites need little introduction—the Hongyan Spirit has always held an important place in our education. Sister Jiang, Little Radish Head, General Yang Hucheng, and other revolutionary martyrs are forever remembered. Visiting in person, seeing the martyrs’ deeds and items they used, and the places where they died, left my heart unsettled for a long time. Just three days before Chongqing’s liberation, the reactionary Kuomintang carried out the November 27 Massacre. Only 15 escaped; the rest died. Even then, they believed light would come, but they didn’t live to see that day. I brought my son to receive patriotic education, offering flowers to the martyrs, so he understands the hard-won happiness of today.
Zhazidong is 1 km from Baigongguan—walkable, but we chose a taxi. Baigongguan and Songlinpo are adjacent. On entering, the right-hand path leads to Songlinpo, requiring climbing many steps; we returned and entered Baigongguan.
We intended to have lunch at a mountain restaurant, but it was very crowded and traffic was terrible, so we returned to Cigikou. We ate at a restaurant at the entrance of Cigikou Back Street, ordering Geleshan Spicy Chicken. Overall, it was average scenic area food, not particularly recommended.
In the afternoon, we wanted to visit the Hongyan Spirit Exhibition Hall, but it was closed for renovation, so we couldn’t.
After resting at the service center at the entrance, we went to the Chongqing 1949 Grand Theater, as we had booked the 5 p.m. show. The performance has four zones. Seats in Zones A and B can rotate around the stage; these are recommended, though more expensive than Zones C and D. The stage design was excellent, with a tight rhythm, telling the story of events before Chongqing’s liberation in 1949. The actors performed well, and some scenes were tear-jerking. I recommend watching this when visiting Chongqing.
After the show, we went to Guanyinqiao and had dinner in the food street. There were all kinds of snacks and also bean curd rice—dazzling choices. The downside was the crowds and noise.
Day 5: Today was flexible, with no special plans in the morning since we had visited most places we wanted. My wife wasn’t particularly interested in Shibati, Liziba, Eling Er Factory, etc. It rained early today. When we went downstairs, the rain was quite heavy. The weather cooled down, but it wasn’t ideal for going out. We had planned to visit Luohan Temple but changed to the Hongyan Revolutionary Memorial Hall. We had Chongqing noodles at a small restaurant downstairs and took the metro to the memorial hall.
The memorial hall is not on Geleshan but on the banks of the Jialing River. It mainly showcases how the Southern Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, represented by Zhou Enlai and Dong Biwu, nurtured and formed the great Hongyan Spirit during the War of Resistance Against Japan and the early period of the Liberation War, leading communists and progressive people in the Kuomintang-controlled area in their struggles for national liberation and people’s democracy.
For lunch, we ate at a nearby Junbo Pizza. The taste was average. Why pizza? Because my son saw an ad for it in the hotel elevator. After lunch, we went to the last attraction: Chongqing Three Gorges Museum. The museum is next to the Chongqing Municipal Government, opposite the Great Hall of the People. In the afternoon, my wife’s junior high and high school classmate arrived in Chongqing by cruise with her two children, and the three kids met. The Three Gorges Museum is quite large, with four floors. Permanent exhibitions include “Magnificent Three Gorges,” “Ancient Bayu,” “Han Dynasty Sculpture Art of Bashu,” etc. I was exhausted and had to sit in the rest area afterward.
In the evening, our group of three adults and three children had a Chongqing hotpot dinner at Peijie Old Hotpot near Jiaochangkou (actually opposite the Shancheng Lamb Restaurant from day one). Several signature dishes were good. After eating, we strolled to Jiefangbei, where the three kids played together for a while, then we went back to our hotels. Our Chongqing trip came to an end.
Day 6: We packed our luggage, checked out, and took a taxi to Jiangbei Airport Terminal 3. Probably because it was the weekend, the traffic was smooth. The plane took off and landed on time. We picked up our car and went home.
Every long trip leaves me with impressions of the destination, as a record of the mood at the time.
1. The most unforgettable is probably the scorching weather. Although Beijing was also very hot this year, the heat in Beijing and Chongqing feel different. In this humid heat, we sweated a lot every day, and staying hydrated was crucial. I also took some Ren Dan and Huoxiang Zhengqi every day to avoid heatstroke.
2. The mountain city lives up to its name—three steps a slope, five steps a step. Walking always involved going up and down, and many city attractions had high staircases. I was really exhausted. Climbing stairs in such hot weather was torture.
3. Chongqing has a wealth of delicious food, mainly spicy. Hotpot, grilled fish, bean curd rice—all stimulating the taste buds, making it hard to stop. But considering the next morning, I’d better restrain myself a bit.
4. The people of Chongqing are very warm. Restaurant waitstaff would frequently ask about our dining experience. On the second night, the hotel had a power outage; in the morning, there was no electricity or water. The front desk gave us bottled water to wash up, and the cleaning staff apologized repeatedly.
5. Motor vehicles in Chongqing are very good at yielding to pedestrians. People are generally conscientious, which is better than Beijing in this regard.
6. The city felt a bit noisy. People speak loudly, and many places use loudspeakers at high volume, which can be irritating. The food street had plenty of delicious food, but it was too noisy, making you want to finish quickly and leave.
7. The total cost for the trip was 18,800 yuan, a bit more than I imagined. But we had two days of chartered cars, plus summer airfare wasn’t cheap, so it’s reasonable.
This year’s long trip ended. It felt great to be able to travel again. My son will graduate from elementary school next year, and we can plan his graduation trip. Looking forward to next year.
