Travel in Chongqing

Nature and Humanity

The topography of Chongqing varies greatly, which generally tilts from the north and south to the Yangtze River valley, with Daba Mountain to the north, Wushan Mountain to the east, Wuling Mountain to the southeast and Dalou Mountain to the south. These geographical features have created a magnificent natural landscape with mountains, rivers, forests, springs, waterfalls, gorges and caves.

While boasting fantastic natural landscapes, Chongqing also enjoys rich cultural attractions. Its long history witnesses the merging of various ancient and modern cultures attracting numerous tourists both home and abroad.

In recent years, Chongqing has been making huge efforts to create six key tour routes, such as the Three Gorges, Tiankeng and Difeng (giant karst pit and fissure) in Fengjie, Three Natural Bridges, Dazu Rock Carvings, Fishing Town Relics and Baiheliang Ridge to improve the development of the tourist industry.

In 2012, the number of tourists from China and abroad hit 290 million. The total tourism income reached RMB 166.215 billion yuan.

Three Gorges on the Yangtze River

The world-famous Three Gorges on the Yangtze River starts from Chongqing in the west to Yichang, Hubei Province in the east, with a total length of 630 km. It consists of three gorges, Qutang Gorge, Wu Gorge and Xiling Gorge. It is the birth place of Qu Yuan, a great patriotic poet, and Wang Zhaojun, a beauty with her stories told for ages. Eminent poets and writers, such as Li Bai, Du Fu, Bai Juyi, Liu Yuxi, Oyang Xiu, Su Shi, Fan Chengda and Lu You, have travelled here written poems. It was a battle field during the Three Kingdoms Period (A.D. 222 - 280), where many heroes emerged and showed their talents. There are also many places of historic interest and scenic beauty, such as the Lesser Three Gorges in Wu Mountain, Tiankeng and Difeng in Fengjie, Baidi City (White Emperor City), Baiheliang Ridge in Fuling, Ming Mountain in Fengdu, Shibaozhai Stockade in Zhong County, Qinglong Waterfall in Wanzhou, Zhangfei Temple in Yunyang and the Three Gorges Dam.

Dazu Rock Carvings

As the peak of rock carving art during the Tang and Song Dynasties,the Dazu rock Carvings do not only feature magnificent scale and exquisite skill, but also unique national characteristics and high historic, scientific, and artistic values. It is renowned as an amazing example of Chinese art and a treasure house of world cultural heritage. The rock carvings on the North Mountain, Baoding Mountain, South Mountain, Shizhuan Mountain, and Shimen Mountain were listed in the “World Cultural Heritage List” by UNESCO.

Three Natural Bridges in Wulong

Three Natural Bridges is located 20 km away to the southeast of Wulong County,wit typical karst scenery featuring majesty, precipitousness, grace and uniqueness. It is not only the largest cluster of natural bridges, but also a world heritage and wonder according to explorers and geologists. On June 27^th, 2007, the fantastic scenery was listed as world natural heritage, representing the karst scenery in southern China. It is the only shooting location of the movie The Curse of the Golden Flower directed by Zhang Yimou, with an investment of RMB 360 million yuan.

Tiankeng and Difeng (giant karst pit and fissure) in Fengjie

The spectacular Tiankeng and Difeng is located in the south of Fengjie, part of the Qiyaoshan Mountain Range and Wushan Mountain Range. It covers an area of more than 400 km², including ten major areas like Xiaozhai Tiankeng, Tianjingxia Difeng, Maze River, etc. It boasts various kinds of scenery, such as stone forest, peak forest, karst caves, natural bridge, and waterfall gully. Xiaozhai Tiankeng ranks first in the world for magnificent scenery of its kind. Tourists can enjoy the amazing karst scenery here.

Baiheliang Ridge in Fuling

Baiheliang Ridge is known as “the best reserved ancient hydrometric station in the world” by UNESCO. The ridge is a natural stone ridge, measuring 1,600 meters in length and 15 meters in width. It is 100 meters away from the south bank of the Yangtze River, and to the east of the junction of the Yangtze River and Wujiang River, including three parts of upper, middle and lower parts. The carvings, known as “the one and only stone tablets underwater on the Yangtze River, in China, even in the world”, are mainly located in the 220-meter middle part of the ridge. 174 pieces of carvings left many important historical sites of relics of over 1,000 years, from the Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing Dynasties to modern China. Tourists can go to the underwater museum via underwater access to appreciate the carvings.

Fishing Town Relics in Hechuan

Fishing Town Relics is one hour’s drive from the city proper of Chongqing, a famous ancient battlefield of the Song-Meng (Yuan Dynasty) War. The Mongols who once swept across the Eurasia Continent were stopped outside the town and the Great Khan Mengge died there. So the town is called as “the place where God broke his whip”, as well as the Holy City of Europe. It is the best reserved ancient battlefield in China. There are 8 km of walls and 8 city gates reserved, military and domestic installation relics like forts, ancient planks, exits of blind pass, military camps, general’s camps, Tianchi Pond, etc., places of historic interests like the hanging reclining Buddha of the Tang Dynasty, standing Maitreya, cherry bays of 800 years, Huguo Temple, Eight Scenes of Yushan Mountain, and inscriptions of Wen Tianxiang, Liu Kezhuang, Chen Yi, Guo Moruo, Zhang Aiping, Liu Baiyu, Chiang Kai-shek, He Yingqin, and Zhang Zhizhong on the cliff.

Natural Gallery of Wu River

Wu River is an important branch of the Yangtze River, with total length of 1,037 km. One part of about 100 km within Youyang and Pengshui Counties is the most beautiful part along the river, which is known as a natural gallery. The river flows through Guizhou Province and southeast Chongqing, showing people the brilliant stories and folk customs of the Tujia People, Miao People and Han People. Thousands of tourists are attracted to a number of high-quality tourist areas here, such as the Small South China Sea in Qianjiang, Apeng River, Shengui Gorge, the Peach Blossom Garden in Youyang, Gongtan Ancient Town, Longtan Ancient Town, Hong’an Town in Xiushan and Qianye Pasture in Shizhu, etc.

A Colorful Mountain and River City

The city proper of Chongqing is surrounded by mountains and situated at the convergence of rivers. All kinds of buildings are decorated by mountains and rivers, row upon row in a well-arranged pattern. The centered urban area is at the confluence of the Yangtze River and the Jialing River. Gripping two rivers and possessing hills, it looks like a peninsula. Built up upon the mountains, Chongqing features both Ba-Yu style houses and modern skyscrapers. Places like Chaotianmen, Chuqimen, Wanglongmen, Shibati are telling the legend of this time-honored city. Mountains make the city magnificent, while water makes it vigorous and the fog mysterious. The combination of mountains and rivers makes Chongqing more dynamic and passionate. The night scene of the city is breathtaking! Standing on the top of a mountain at night and watching the lights in the city and their reflections in the river, you will feel deeply enchanted. The modern atmosphere and the traditions enhance each other’s glamour, making the city more attractive and harmonious.

A Romantic World Hot Spring Capital

Known for its surrounding mountains and rivers, Chongqing is also a capital of hot springs. All the 38 districts and counties in Chongqing have hot springs, except Tongnan County. There are five major hot springs in Chongqing suburbs: the North Hot Spring in Beibei District, the South Hot Spring and East Hot Spring in Ba’nan District, the West Hot Spring in Tongliang County and the Tongjing Hot Spring in Yubei District. Hot springs in Chongqing fall into different categories along five directions: east, west, south, north and the middle. Two major hot springs in each direction are organized and developed at the municipal level, so it's called “five directions and ten springs”. There are 13 hot spring areas, namely, East Hot Spring Group, South Hot Spring, Baoli Small Spring, Tianci Hot Spring, Jinjianshan Hot Spring, Beidi Hot Spring, Tongjing Hot Spring, North Hot Spring Bolian SPA, Jinyunshan International Hot Spring Vacation Area, Yishang Hot Spring, Ronghui International Hot Spring City, Central Hot Spring, and Nanshan Hot Spring, etc. With the development of so many hot springs, the hot spring tourism industry has taken an initial shape. Chongqing was officially named as the City of Hot Spring in China at the end of 2010. On October 26, 2012, Chonging was awarded the certificate of “World Hot Spring Capital” by the FEMTEC, becoming the first city obtaining such an honor in the world.

Tourism Destinations/Sites