Whether you are natives or foreigners, Chongqing is the most recommended one-day destination for business trips, flight transfer, or weekend outings with friends. The free-entry attractions for a one-day tour in Chongqing are as follows.
TOP 1 Urban Culture
Jiefangbei
Recommendations: Jiefangbei, Guanyinqiao
Recommendation reason: The business districts in the downtown of Chongqing pool the three major business cards of the city, namely hotpot, beauty, and night view.
Jiefangbei is the center of Chongqing and a must-see place for foreigners to the city. It is a modern business district integrating such functions as culture, shopping, leisure, tourism, business, catering, and entertainment, thus being hailed as the “No.1 Street in Western China”.
TOP 2 Night View of the Mountain City
Night view of downtown Chongqing
Recommendations: Hongyadong, Clock Tower Plaza at Nanbin Road
Recommendation reason: As we all know, night scenery is a must-see of Chongqing. Surrounded by Yangtze River and Jialing River, this captivating city built next to mountains is home to rows of towering buildings that are reflected in the river under multicolored neon light. It is Chongqing’s unique and favorable terrain that gives birth to its world-renowned night scene.
Built along mountains and a river, Hongyadong is based on the most traditional architecture with Bayu features, bonds nightscape, business leisure landscape, and urban cultural landscape.
Situated in front of Ciyun Temple on Nanbin Road, Clock Tower Plaza faces Chaotianmen Square across the river. It commands the magnificent night view of the mountain city where two rivers intersect, with high-rises reflected in the river under the light of a riot of colors.
TOP 3 Characteristic Ancient Towns
A whole look of Ciqikou Ancient Town
Recommendations: Ciqikou Ancient Town, Zhongshan Ancient Town, Fengsheng Ancient Town
Recommendation reason: The distinct glamour of Chongqing exudes from the time-honored streets and towns hiding behind high-rises.
As the epitome and symbol of ancient Chongqing, Ciqikou Ancient Town flawlessly combines ancient town protection with commercial development, joining dwellings, cuisine, folk arts, and the lifestyle of the Bayu Region.
1,000-meter-long Banquet
As a previously prosperous riverside wharf, Zhongshan Ancient Town witnesses well-preserved historical commercial streets that date back to the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
In ancient times, Fengsheng Ancient Town used to bear the geographical superiority of connecting three counties. Shops flank the meandering rocky roads linking courtyards and alleys, most behind which are quadrangles built with black bricks and tiles with typical Hui-style, which is rare among the numerous ancient towns in Chongqing.
TOP 4 Former Residences of Celebrities
Duoshu Building
Recommendations: Former Residences of Lao She and Liang Shiqiu
Recommended reason: Throughout the ages, Bayu Region has been the cradle of a number of outstanding figures. During the War of Resistance against Japan, when Chongqing served as the wartime capital of China, elites from all over the country in the fields of politics, economy, military, and culture gathered here. Now, the former residences where they once lived and worked and related remains are relatively well preserved, and some of the buildings are still in good condition.
The former residence of Lao She named Duoshuzhai is located at No. 63-32, Tiansheng Xincun, Beibei District. During the six years when he lived here, he completed the masterpiece Four Generations under One Roof. In addition, hundreds of works about the War of Resistance against Japan, containing novels, dramas, proses, essays, folk musical theaters, poems, and memoirs, also came to fruition.
The former residence of Liang Shiqiu called Ya. She also lies in Beibei District. With brick pillars, wooden frames, double walls, and a tiled roof, this building consists of six rooms, of which a bedroom and a parlor belonged to Liang Shiqiu.