Hongyadong & Chongqing Night Views 洪崖洞Hóngyádòng

Why go to Hongyadong & Chongqing Night Views

Hongyadong is an 11-storey complex of stilt-house-style buildings clinging to the cliff above the Jialing River, just before it joins the Yangtze, and it lights up gold every evening. It's the most photographed corner of Chongqing, a hilly megacity of bridges, monorails and fiery hotpot, where a street on one level can lead straight onto a rooftop on another.

The story

The complex echoes the diaojiaolou stilt houses that once crowded Chongqing's riverbanks, and went viral after visitors compared it to the bathhouse in Spirited Away. Across town, the Liziba monorail station runs straight through the middle of a residential tower block.

What to see at Hongyadong & Chongqing Night Views

• Riverside viewing platform 江边观景平台: The classic photo spot is the platform across the road from the lowest gate on the Jialing riverside road, from where all eleven levels are in view, a footbridge leading back to the complex.
• Zhiyan River Bar Street 纸盐河酒吧街: One of the complex's four themed quarters, a strip of bars and cafés in stilt-house style.
• Tiancheng Alley 天成巷: A lane of Bayu-style shops and craft stalls laid out as an old-Chongqing street.
• Banquet Food Street 盛宴美食街: The food quarter, with snack stalls, spice shops and hotpot restaurants where mala flavours dominate.
• Qiansimen Bridge 千厮门大桥: On busy holiday evenings, motor traffic is stopped on the bridge next door so visitors can walk onto it for the view of Hongyadong lit up.

How to visit Hongyadong & Chongqing Night Views

There are gates at the lowest level on the Jialing riverside road and at the top level on Cangbai Road, a short walk from Jiefangbei, which is usually the busier one on holidays. A good order is to take the photo from the platform opposite the riverside gate, then cross by the footbridge, enter and walk up through the levels, leaving at the top. Come at dusk to see it by day and then lit up, and expect crowds at weekends and on holidays; weekday evenings are calmer. Allow one to three hours.

How to get to Hongyadong & Chongqing Night Views

Hongyadong sits just below the Jiefangbei shopping district in central Chongqing. Xiaoshizi metro station (Lines 1 and 6) is a short walk away.

Where to stay

Stay around Jiefangbei, a short walk away, with many restaurants and metro links. Rooms facing the river give the best night views.

What to eat

• Chen mahua twists 陈麻花: Crunchy, sweet twisted dough snacks that originated in Ciqikou, sold in snack shops around the city's old quarters.
• Chongqing hotpot 重庆火锅: The city's famous numbing-spicy pot, easy to find around Jiefangbei for dinner after your visit.

Tips for visiting Hongyadong & Chongqing Night Views

• Come after dark, and look back at it from across the river or from Qiansimen Bridge for the classic photo.
• National holiday evenings are extremely crowded; pick another night if you can.
• Ride the nearby Yangtze River Cableway for another view of the city's layered skyline.

Nearby

• Dazu Rock Carvings 大足石刻 80 km
  A cliffside storybook of Buddhist hells, mothers and thousand-armed Guanyin
• Wulong Karst 武隆喀斯特 120 km
  Three colossal natural bridges, a sinkhole canyon and a cave in the hills of Wulong

Also within 30 km: Wartime Bank Buildings of Chongqing 重庆抗战金融机构旧址群 (under 10 km), Yangtze River Cableway 长江索道 (under 10 km), Jiefangbei (People's Liberation Monument) 解放碑 (under 10 km), Former Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Nationalist Government 国民政府外交部旧址 (under 10 km), Former Site of the National Political Council 国民参政会旧址 (under 10 km), Huguang Guild Hall 湖广会馆 (under 10 km).

On the map

Open Hongyadong & Chongqing Night Views on the illustrated map to see the terrain around it, what else is close, and to add it to a trip and plan the days.

Learn more

• Wikipedia
• Wikipedia (Chinese)