Chongqing - In recent years, some old neighborhoods in Chongqing have been through dramatic changes. The city renovation makes these old neighborhoods vibrant with life and becomes the city's new landmarks that appeal to locals and tourists. Ziwei Road in Yubei District is one outstanding example of these newly remodeled old neighborhoods that shine like a new landmark for consumption.
Not long ago, Ziwei Road was an old back street with automotive repairing shops, the farmer's market, and vendors. In 2019, this road was renovated, and some trendy shops that served craft beers, coffee, exotic cuisines, designer's clothes, luxury products, and so forth were brought in. With eye-catching decorations of shops and rich and diverse products for customers to choose from, the road becomes increasingly popular among residents and tourists from other provinces.
Mrs. Liu and her daughter were enjoying their afternoon tea when we encountered them at Truman, a restaurant selling western food and wines at Ziwei Road. Mrs. Liu is a resident living in the neighborhood. Before the road was upgraded, she seldomly had afternoon tea because no such shops nearby her home served it. Now, as long as she gets free time, she will walk outside and spend several hours in these shops having tea, coffee, or some snacks to enjoy the time.
Ziwei Road has another widely-known name, "Mini Bangkok in Chongqing." Not only is there some shop selling authentic Thai food, but also the aroma of the whole street makes tourists feel that they are traveling in Thailand, especially for the owner of Nomi. She told us that she liked traveling abroad and experiencing different cultures. Due to covid-19, she could not travel overseas, and when she had dinner on this road one day, she felt that she was in a street of Thailand, so she gave the road the name "Mini Bangkok." Meanwhile, she opened shop here out of nostalgia.
More businesses choose to open their shops on this road. The owner of Ri Chang, a restaurant selling Italian cuisines, introduced her newly opened restaurant here. She told us her restaurant only opened ten days ago. One reason for her to open a restaurant at Ziwei Road is that the road is well-known among citizens and tourists, and the other one is that she always wants to open an Italian restaurant in a community, so Ziwei Road is an ideal place as a new consumption landmark.
According to the officer's introduction from the sub-district office, there are over 20 unique shops at Ziwei Road and receive more than 60,000 visits per month.
Click the video to play the Livestream around the trendy street with our reporters Xuelin and Alex.