By Keqiao Cheng

 

Chongqing, known as “Mountain City”, is where you can still find some old walking trails constructed along the hillside or even on cliffs. These walking trails, made of stones, used to be the arterial roads which connected the upper part with the lower part of the city when people didn’t have the power to change the nature in the old times.

Called in Chinese as "Shānchéng Bùdào" (lit. "mountain city walking trails"), these paths are where the old memories of this city are well kept, and it is the best way to have a close look at this mountain city by taking a walk.

Here is a guide to the No.3 Walking Trail, which is the most typical and famous walkway of Chongqing.

 

Basic information

Recommended visiting time: about 2 hours

Route: Jiaochangkou-No.3 Walking Trail-Tongyuan Gate

Price: Free

 

How to get to the No.3 Walking Trail 

Hidden in plants, it is not even easy to notice the entrance to the walking trail. However, it is not difficult to find it because it is located just next to the gate of the People’s Court of Yuzhong District, at No. 234 Zhongxing Road. When you see the sign of Mati Jie (Mati Street), then you are at the right place.

Tips for transport

Metro:

Take CRT Line 1 or 2 to Jiaochangkou Station, and take Exit 5. Go down about 400 meters along Zhongxing Road until you see the Gate of People’s Court of Yuzhong District. The entrance is just next to the gate. The price of CRT, starting from RMB 2, depends on the distance you travel.

Bus:

There are a lot of buses that you can take, and just remember to get off at Zhongxing (Zhongxing Road) Stop. The price of a single ticket of Chongqing Public Transport Bus is RMB 2.

 

Must-sees along the walking trail

Houlu Residence

Built in the 1930s, Houlu Residence was the official residence of Lan Wenbin, a general of the Sichuan Army during the wartime. This brick masonry construction adapts itself closely to the undulating mountain shape, as a historical site attesting the typical morphology of mountain architecture in main districts of Chongqing.

Also, this building presents the characteristics of Shikumen, a traditional Shanghainese architectural style combining Western and Chinese elements.

 

Ruins of Benevolent Hall

Along the walking trails, there stands the remaining Bell Tower of the Benevolent Hall (Ren Ai Tang in Chinese). It is a western-style building, constructed by Frenchmen in 1902, and was a charity hospital. Now the hospital building still remains, with remote recalls of its past splendor.

 

Cliff walkways

Go upstairs from Houlu Residence, you will pass by a section of walking trails built on the cliffs.

From there you can enjoy the splendid landscaped of the southern bank of the Yangtze River and understand the complicity of the transport system of this unique mountain metropolis. Above the walkways, there are still some remaining walls of ancient Chongqing city, but the Jintang Gate does not exist anymore.