Chongqing Essential Tour

Upon arrival in Chongqing, check in to your reserved hotel and rest for a short while to relieve travel fatigue and prepare for the upcoming journey.

In the afternoon, proceed to Hongya Cave. This landmark building, featuring the traditional stilt-house style of the Ba-Yu region, is nestled against the mountainside and along the river. Illuminated at night, Hongya Cave is truly spectacular, and you can find suitable vantage points nearby for photo opportunities. At Hongya Cave, you can not only admire its unique architecture but also sample a variety of Chongqing specialties, such as hot and sour noodles, mountain city rice dumplings, and roasted brain flower. If you're feeling energetic, you can walk from Hongya Cave to Jiefangbei, where you can experience Chongqing's fashionable and bustling atmosphere. You can continue enjoying food at the snack streets near Jiefangbei or browse the shopping malls.

Hongya Cave

Your Journey’s Rewards:

Experience the charm of Chongqing's nightscape and immerse yourself in its vibrant urban culture.

Educational Focus:

How do landmarks like Hongya Cave and Jiefangbei reflect Chongqing’s urban culture and historical context?

Takeaway:

With its unique stilt-house architecture and geographical location nestled between mountains and water, Hongya Cave showcases the style of traditional dwellings in Bayu culture. As Chongqing’s commercial center, Jiefangbei has witnessed the city’s modern development history, carrying memories of the city from the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression to the reform and opening-up era.

Thought Challenge:

How should cities balance the preservation of historical landmarks with the development of modern commerce and tourism industries?

After breakfast, take the subway to Chongqing Zoo. Integrating functions such as popular science publicity, animal protection, scientific research, and leisure entertainment, Chongqing Zoo allows you to see adorable giant pandas. At the Panda House, you can watch pandas eating bamboo, playing, and sleeping, all in their extremely cute poses. After leaving Chongqing Zoo, head to Liziba Light Rail Station. At the Liziba Observation Platform, you can witness the magical scene of the light rail passing through the building with your own eyes and take photos.

Giant Panda

Liziba Light Rail Station

From Liziba Light Rail Station, proceed to the boarding point of the Yangtze River Cableway. As a unique river-crossing transportation in Chongqing, the Yangtze River Cableway lets you overlook the magnificent scenery on both sides of the Yangtze River from the air while experiencing the unique landscape of the mountain city.

Yangtze River Cableway

After riding the Yangtze River Cableway, visit Chongqing China Three Gorges Museum. As a large comprehensive museum with rich collections, it comprehensively showcases the history, culture, natural scenery, and folk customs of Chongqing and the Three Gorges region. Through various forms such as cultural relic exhibitions and multimedia displays, you can learn about the historical changes of the Three Gorges region as well as the history and development of Chongqing, thus expanding your knowledge. After leaving the Three Gorges Museum, head to Ciqikou Ancient Town. Here, you can taste authentic local cuisine, buy unique handicrafts, enjoy tea in teahouses, and feel the historical atmosphere of the ancient town.

Exhibits of the Three Gorges Museum

Taste Delicious Hotpot in Ciqikou

Your Journey’s Rewards:

Visit the zoo to watch cute giant pandas; explore Chongqing’s unique urban landscape, taste local delicacies, and experience its culture.

Educational Focus:

Why is Chongqing called a "magical city"?

Takeaway:

Chongqing is called a "magical city" because mountainous areas account for over 70% of its total area. Due to this objective factor, Chongqing can only build houses and railways on mountains following the terrain. Additionally, Chongqing’s special topography has made its people skilled at utilizing the environment and meeting their living needs through various means, which has also shaped Chongqing’s unique urban design concepts, including mountain-based architecture, river-crossing cableways, and cable cars.

Thought Challenge:

How can urban development better protect and showcase unique geographical and cultural characteristics, making them a sustainable part of urban life?

After breakfast, you will have a full-day journey of exploring stone carving art at Dazu Rock Carvings. As a world cultural heritage site, Dazu Rock Carvings are renowned for their grand scale, exquisite craftsmanship, diverse themes, and rich connotations. The scenic area houses over 50,000 religious stone statues, with major attractions including the Baoding Mountain Grottoes and Beishan Mountain Grottoes.

Baoding Mountain Grottoes, the largest and most artistically valuable part of Dazu Rock Carvings, centers on Dafowan (Great Buddha Bay) and features more than 30 giant carvings with rich content and superb craftsmanship. Listening to the guide’s explanation will help you better understand the historical and cultural connotations as well as Buddhist stories behind the stone carvings. After visiting Dazu Rock Carvings, return to downtown Chongqing.

Dazu Rock Carvings

Dazu Rock Carvings

Dazu Rock Carvings

Your Journey’s Rewards:

Experience the artistic beauty of Dazu Rock Carvings and understand the integration of diverse cultures within them.

Educational Focus:

How do Dazu Rock Carvings showcase their artistic value and enhance the visiting experience?

Takeaway:

The Dazu Rock Carvings Digital Exhibition Center and Digital Cinema have been put into operation one after another. Among them, the 8K dome film Dazu Rock Carvings adopts a globally pioneering combination of on-site shooting and CG animation to present the artistic value of Dazu Rock Carvings to the audience. This not only updates the single viewing mode of Dazu Rock Carvings but also optimizes the visitors’ experience.

Thought Challenge:

In the context of modernization, how to better inherit and vitalize the cultural value of ancient stone carving heritage?

After having breakfast in the morning, you can head to the airport according to your return transportation schedule, bringing this pleasant Chongqing trip to an end.