Chongqing—On the land known as "the city on the dinosaur's backbone," Chongqing is awakening life codes that have been dormant for 80 million years. Qianjiang District, home to Southwest China's only Cretaceous dinosaur fossil cluster burial site, has emerged as the brightest new star on the city's paleontological map.

Dinosaur fossils in Qianjiang, Chongqing. (Photo/DENG Yan)

HU Wantai, Director of Chongqing Municipal Planning and Natural Resources Bureau, unveiled the significance of the Qianjiang discoveries. Two years of rescue excavations have yielded astonishing results: two main fossil-rich layers, over 400 discovery points, and five concentrated fossil zones spanning 5.7 square kilometers. Exquisitely preserved fossils from sauropods, ornithischians, theropods, and other dinosaur families have astonished experts. Particularly noteworthy is the discovery and naming of Changqing Qianjiangosaurus—a new hadrosaur genus and the first of its kind in Southwest China, filling a critical gap in the study of Late Cretaceous dinosaur fauna in East Asia. A colossal 26-meter-long skeleton with 6-meter-high bones now stands as Chongqing’s largest dinosaur on record.

Dinosaur fossils in Qianjiang, Chongqing. (Photo/DENG Yan)

LUO Cheng, Party Secretary of Qianjiang District, highlighted the Zhengyang fossil site in the city center—a mere 2.1 km from the high-speed rail station, making it the world's most accessible "urban dinosaur" site. An expert team led by Academician Xu Xing affirmed that these unique species may represent an entirely new dinosaur fauna, with scientific value meeting world-class geological heritage standards. Dinosaur fossils were first documented here as early as 1930. In 1974, Professor Wang Changsheng of the former Sichuan 107 Geological Team conducted the first small-scale excavation, confirming the burial site. Since June 2025, locals have voluntarily donated 19 rare fossils, continuing a preservation tradition dating back to 1930.

A specialist is working at the Dinosaur Fossil Site in Qianjiang, Chongqing. (Photo/DENG Yan)

Where scientific wonder meets tourism ambition, a "Dinosaur City" blueprint unfolds. By the end of the month, Phase I of the Dinosaur Fossil Park will open, allowing visitors to "check in" alongside Cretaceous skeletons at active excavation sites. A digital experience hall will recreate the prehistoric world through VR technology, while the registered brand "QianDuoDuo" prepares for launch. Over the next five years, a "two-parks, two-museums" framework will shape this dinosaur-themed hub, featuring themed hotels, creative industrial parks, research centers, and derivative product clusters. The 0.8-square-km core protected area will serve as a window through time.

Dinosaur fossils in Qianjiang, Chongqing. (Photo/DENG Yan)

As high-speed rail nears completion, Chongqing—a city uniquely endowed with both Jurassic and Cretaceous dinosaur treasures—is transforming eons of slumbering legends into new momentum for cultural tourism. Academician XU Xing of the Chinese Academy of Sciences emphasized: "Qianjiang's dinosaur fossils represent a pivotal era with exceptionally rich, diverse, and well-preserved specimens. Their immense research value is matched by outstanding potential for science education and cultural tourism."