Chongqing
China’s most dramatic city — a mountain metropolis of thirty million people where two great rivers meet, where the mist never fully lifts, and where the hotpot burns slow and deep.
China’s most vertically dramatic city
Chongqing was built on mountains and has been defying conventional urban logic ever since. There are no flat streets. Escalators replace staircases. Monorail lines pass through the middle of residential tower blocks. The city cascades down cliff faces to the point where the Jialing River joins the Yangtze — a confluence that has made this one of China’s most strategically important cities for three thousand years.
The food is the most ferocious in China. Chongqing hotpot — beef tallow base, five types of dried chilli, Sichuan peppercorn that numbs the lips — is not a meal but an experience. The city’s night markets, viewed from the elevated walkways above the river, are among the most cinematic scenes in China.
Chongqing is also the embarkation point for Yangtze River cruises through the Three Gorges — one of China’s great journeys. Our specialists handle every detail from city arrival to river departure.
Spring (March–May) — Misty mornings over the river, moderate temperatures, ideal for exploring the hillside neighbourhoods on foot.
Autumn (September–November) — Clear skies reveal the city’s mountain backdrop, perfect conditions for a Yangtze cruise departure.
Essential Chongqing
All Chongqing Tours →The stilt-house district of Hongyadong illuminated at night, with the river and city cascading behind it — China’s most photogenic urban view after dark.
The original and fiercest hotpot in China. We know the century-old establishments where the broth recipe has never changed.
Embark from Chongqing on a four-day cruise through Qutang, Wu and Xiling Gorges — one of China’s defining natural and cultural experiences.
A Ming and Qing Dynasty river port perfectly preserved on the Jialing bank — tea houses, shadow puppet workshops and street food that predates the modern city.
A UNESCO World Heritage site two hours from the city — over fifty thousand Buddhist, Confucian and Taoist carvings cut into cliffsides between the 7th and 13th centuries.
The Liberation Monument district at night, then the hillside stairways and alleyway communities that descend to the river — the real texture of Chongqing life.
Your Chongqing
journey starts here
Speak with a Chongqing specialist. Whether you’re here for the hotpot, the night skyline, the Yangtze cruise, or the ancient carvings at Dazu — we’ll build an itinerary that does justice to China’s most surprising city.
Or write directly: info@openchinatours.com — we respond within 24 hours