Chongqing Travel Guide

Ciqikou Old Town

This lively old area has been partly restored, and remains an authentic and busy community.  The old wooden houses and narrow streets furthest from the river are mostly unimproved, closer to the river there are craft and souvenir shops, teahouses and music, and lots of local food and snacks. The locals certainly love their food – this is a good chance to try some.

Liberation Monument

Overview

Chongqing People's Liberation Monument was built in 1945 to commemorate the victory over the Japanese in WWII. It was renamed in 1950 to commemorate the Communist conquest of the area. It is in a large pedestrian shopping plaza that is in the Yuzhong District that is regarded as the commercial center and financial center of Chongqing. There are a lot of stores, bookstores, theaters, hotels and office buildings around it. A snacks street where people can go to eat is 300 meters away. The Chongqing People’s Liberation Monument area is the city’s main shopping and business area.

Detailed Description

The People’s Liberation Monument is about 27 meters tall. It stands in the Jiefangbei commercial square that is kind of like Times Square in New York. Jiefangbei square is a pedestrian square about 24,000 square meters in area. It was completed in 1997, and around the square are large malls and shopping centers, luxury hotels, entertainment areas, financial companies and high-rise buildings.

About 300 meters away is a snacks street to buy snacks and eat in restaurants. Less than 200 meters away is a large Carrefour supermarket that is sort of like an American Walmart, but it is a French company. You can go there to find western-style food or things you’d expect in a Walmart.

Location: It is on Minzu Road in the Yuzhong District. The Yuzhong District is the city’s old district. It lies in a small area of land between the Yangtze River and the Jialing River.

History

In 1940, the Republic of China government in Chongqing built a wooden memorial at the site to commemorate Sun Yat-Sen who was the first president of the Republic of China and was considered the “Father of China.” In 1945, the Republic of China government built a monument in its place to celebrate the victory in WWII. And in 1950, the People’s Republic of China government named the monument. In 1997, the Jiefangbei Plaza was built around the monument. It measures about 400 meters by 350 meters.

Features:

1. Pedestrian area and shopping district.
2. Snacks street.
3. Starred hotels.
4. Supermarkets.

Touring Activities:

1. Shopping.
2. Entertainment.
3. Eat in the restaurants or on the snacks street.
4. Stay in the hotels. It is a central location for travel around Chongqing.
5. An interesting short walk may be to walk over to the Huguang Guild Hall on the Yangtze River and see the river. It is about a kilometer southeast. Walk east down Minzu Road to Datong Road. Walk down Datong road, and you’ll be about 250 meters away from the hall.

Stillwell Museum

No.130 of Jian She Xin Cun ( originally No.3 of Jianling Xin Cun) in Chongqing, was once used by the National Government as the house for distinguished guests. After General Joseph W. Stilwell's arrival in Chongqing on March 4, 1942, the place was made his headquarters and residence. Every time when he came to Chongqing during his two-year-and-eight-month service in China Theatre, the general lived here and conducted military conferences, held press meeting and met Chinese and foreign visitors.

The house was reconstructed and used be the government after 1949. It was turned into Gen. Stiwell museum in 1991 by the Chongqing People's Municipal government.

On display in the museum is an extensive display of mostly US-supplied photos, documents, articles and video.

People's Great Hall

Situated on Renmin Lu, the People's Great Hall (renmin dahuitang), which wascompleted in April 1954, and is an example of typicalChongqing architecture. Covering an area of 18500 square meters, this five-story rotunda is 65m high and 46m in diameter, spacious enough to hold over 4200 people and slightly reminiscent of the Temple of Heaven in Beijing.

Huguang Guild Hall

Overview

The Huguang Guild Hall is an old complex of buildings that was a cultural, business and social center for more than 200 years. When people came from other provinces to settle in the region during the Qing Dynasty, they built guild halls. The Huguang Hall was built for people from Hubei, Guangdong, Guangxi and Hunan. The complex was opened for tourists after renovation in 2005. Many theatres, opera stages and shrines can be seen. There is a museum and shops for handicrafts. There are performances of Sichuan Opera “Magical Face Changing” in which the actors change the masks that they are wearing by slight of hand or with a wave of their hands. This old hall complex has been refurbished and renovated, and it may be an interesting place to visit to see the architecture, watch performances, eat and shop.

Detailed Description

It is a complex of halls, meeting rooms, courtyards, theaters, gardens and rooms. This complex of rooms and halls served for business, entertainment, religious and social activity and as a meeting place for people from the provinces in the southeast and east. So various buildings have identifying names like Guangdong Hall for people from Guangdong Province in the far southeast corner of the China mainland where Hong Kong is now. Other halls are called Jiangnan Hall (江南会馆) that means “south of the river” for people from the area south of the Yangtze River; Lianghu Hall (两湖会馆) that means “the two Hu provinces” meaning Hunan Province and Hubei Province; and the Jiangxi Hall (江西会馆) for people from Jiangxi Province. There is a temple there called Yuwanggong where people used to pray for harvests. There is also a city gate outside the complex called Dong Shuimen that is one of Chongqing’s best preserved city gates.

Location:  4 East Shuimen Street (东水门正街 East Water Gate Street) The Dong Shuimen (“Eastern Water Gate”) is one of Chongqing’s best preserved city gates. It is just outside the guild hall complex. East Shuimen Street is in the far eastern part of the old city area that is now called the Yuzhong District. It is near the river and is next to a major avenue called Changjiang Binjiang Road that goes follows the river’s bank.

History

A building was first built in 1759 during the reign of Emperor Qianlong in the ancient city area near an eastern gate of the city along the Yangtze River. It was damaged by fire, and a complex grew that was renovated and expanded many times. Settlers from the east and south of China and their descendents wanted to meet there. They moved to the area because the Qing Dynasty rulers wanted Sichuan settled. Chongqing was then a part of Sichuan.

Millions of people died in the area during the last decades of Ming rule and when the Manchus invaded. There was a big population decline in China at the end of the Ming Dynasty and at the beginning of the Qing Dynasty associated with the Little Ice Age period and the conquest of China by the northern Manchu tribe of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912). There were famines, plagues and wars. It is said that only 800,000 people remained in Sichuan at the beginning of the Qing Dynasty. A museum in the complex instructs on the history of the westward migration and the building of the Huguang Guild Hall.

Features:

1. Old architecture. Some of the construction is more than 200 years old.
2. Renovated for opera, traditional music and theater performances.
3. A museum about the westward resettlement.
4. Restaurants and shops.
5. Dong Shuimen gate is just outside the complex. It is one of Chongqing’s best preserved city gates.

Touring Activities:

1. Learn about Chinese architecture styles, social activities, and religion.
2. Learn about the history of Sichuan and Chongqing.
3. Photography.
4. Watch theater performers, opera, musical performers, acrobats and other entertainment.
5. Enjoy the tea and food in the teahouses and restaurants.
6. See the preserved Dong Shuimen city gate.
7. You can cross over Changjiang Binjiang Road and see the river and walk along the narrow park area on the bank.

Nearby Attractions:

Around the city area, there are several tour highlights. For more shopping, “Face Changing” Sichuan Opera, and restaurants, there is a small pedestrian area composed of two city streets and alleys called Ciqikou to the northwest along the Jialing River. Other nearby attractions include the Three Gorges Museum, the Great Hall of the People, and Chongqing Zoo.

Goose Neck Park

Very popular with the locals who come here to enjoy the gardens, play Mahjohngg, make music or just relax.  Nice views over the river and Chongqing, there are also a number of interesting buildings and former Embassies in the grounds, plus an enormous long painting of the Yangtze.