In February I spent two and a half weeks in Vietnam, and on the way there I managed to visit one of China’s newest metropolises, Chongqing.
I usually book my flights so there’s at least one long layover, which lets me pop into that city. This time was no exception: I had a ticket with Air China to Ho Chi Minh City, with a 13-hour layover in Chongqing (from morning until late afternoon). That was just enough time to comfortably look around downtown.
Immigration at the airport went relatively quickly, and then I left my bag at the luggage storage. It’s located in area 4F, past row 3H: storage for 6-12 hours cost 13 yuan.
The metro is in Terminal 3 (where my flight arrived), and it’s easy to find. A ticket into downtown costs 6 yuan, and there are several vending machines next to the entrance. However, you couldn’t pay by card or with the Alipay app – cash only. The machine only accepts bills up to 20 yuan; there was a person next to the machine who could break larger bills.
With one transfer I traveled to Chaotianmen Square, where the famous Raffles Tower stands (it looks a lot like Marina Bay Sands in Singapore). It was still fairly early, just getting light, and there were few people on the streets. The weather was fortunately good, but the high humidity was already noticeable.
I made the “mistake” of walking down to the riverbank. From there I continued on with quite a lot of stair climbing. Along the way I discovered that, behind all the skyscrapers, there isn’t actually much shine. I walked uphill among some rather rundown buildings.
I walked along the riverbank to the Hongyadong area, which preserves Chongqing’s old buildings. It’s stunning even like this, with the skyscrapers in the background, but it’s supposedly most beautiful lit up at night – unfortunately I couldn’t see that, but it’s a must-see all the same.
Passing by the futuristic Art Museum, I walked to Jiefangbei Pedestrian Street. This is Chongqing’s shopping street. Honestly nothing special, with lots of well-known brand stores. But at the southwestern end of the street there are tons of small eateries and restaurants, and that’s where I had lunch too. To this day I still don’t know what exactly I ate, but it was delicious 🙂
Continuing on, you reach another old-style district. Among the historic buildings there are many shops and small eateries; it’s worth visiting this area too.
Next came the metro that runs through a building. If you’ve ever seen a video about Chongqing, this is definitely in it! The building also serves as a metro station (Liziba Station), and needless to say, there were plenty of people here too. The view from the station is nice, but because of the big crowd, walking down to the riverbank was also difficult. It really is an interesting sight, watching the metro pass through the middle of the apartments, but in my opinion it’s an overrated attraction…
By metro I traveled to the People’s Hall. I rested a bit in the park in front of it, since I still had plenty of time before heading to the airport. On the other side of the park stands the imposing building of the Three Gorges Museum.
I took the metro back to Hongyadong to see it up close. I walked up to the top, where you can also find plenty of shops.
I walked over to Raffles Tower to see it in daylight too. Along the way I also passed by Luohan Temple, which is also interesting, tucked in the shadow of the skyscrapers.
From the observation deck behind Raffles Tower there’s a nice view toward the north and east. The weather was just pleasant, sunny but not sweltering hot. I spent a little time here and also looked around the area near the towers.
In summary
You can tell that Chongqing is being developed too, with the aim of becoming a modern metropolis – and to some extent it already is. But somehow I liked it less than, say, Shenzhen (not to even mention Shanghai). It doesn’t have the same level of cleanliness as those cities. On the other hand, there are also plenty of free, clean restrooms here.
The duality between modernity and the “old” style shows up most clearly when you’re among the older buildings. These are often run-down, dark-feeling areas, and you don’t even have to leave downtown to find them. I got a bit of a “ghetto” feeling in these areas.
So one day was plenty for me, although the city probably shows a different face lit up at night. One thing’s for sure: I won’t be putting it on my bucket list as a multi-day destination…