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 Chongqing
City, located in the southeast section
of the Sichuan Basin, where the Yangtze
river and Jialing river meets, has an
area of 82,300 square kilometers and a
population of about 31 million. In 1997,
Chongqing became one of the four 'special'
municipalities directly under the central
government control. Chongqing, known as a city
in the mountains, is surrounded by waters on
three sides and by the mountains on four sides.
Tourists are able to get a bird's eye view of
the confluence of the two mighty rivers since
Chongqing city sits on steep hills overlooking
these two rivers. Besides foreign visitors,
local tourists Photo: Chongqing City too make their way to this city
since this place is the site of the Kuomintang's
wartime capital from 1938 until 1945 whereby most
of the tourist attractions in Chongqing are closely related
to this interesting history.
Known as Chungking in pre-pinyin China,
it has a moist climate with many cloudy
days and less frost and snow. The city is often
covered by heavy fog during spring and autumn,
hence, the name "Capital of Fog". If
you are a frequent traveler to China, you will
notice something strange here which is the
absence of bicycles. Instead, motorbikes are
more commonly used here making this city the
largest producer of motorbikes in China.
It is important to know that the heart of this
city extends across a hilly peninsula of land
crammed between Jialing Jiang to the north and
Chang Jiang to the south. Among the many famous
places of interest in Chongqing, the main landmark
seen here is the Liberation Monument which is located
very near to most accommodations. This monument
now celebrates the end of the war against Japan.
Tourists are advised not to visit this area
during the summer since temperatures may
sometimes exceed 400C during the hot
season.
 Apart
from its weather, Chongqing is one of the most
pleasant cities to stroll around
whereby this remarkable city is well known for its
extremely beautiful landscapes, fascinating night
scenes, well-known cultural sites and famous
tourists attractions such as the Three
Kingdoms Period, beautiful Dazu Rock Carvings at
Baoding Mountain Stone Carvings,
the precipitous Three Gorges on the Yangtze
River. Other places of interest that the local
tourist guides would likely bring you to visit
include the Chongqing Museum, Bei Wenquan
Gongyuan (Northern Hot Springs Park), Gezhou
Dam, Luohan Si (Arhat Temple), No. 50 Zengjiayan,
the Ruins of Huanghua City, Red Cliff Village (Hongyan
Cun), Jialing Bridge, US-Chiang Kai Shek Criminal Acts
Exhibition Hall and SACO Prisons, Stillwell
Museum, Heavenly Pit and Earthly Crack, Hongxing
Pavilion at Pipa Shan Gongyuan, Liangjiang
Pavilion at Eling Gongyuan and Huangshui Forest
Park. Photo: Dazu Rock Carvings Visitors are attracted to Chongqing due
to its many places of scenic and historic
interest and Chongqing is now one the main
industrial city in the southwestern region in
China as its production is almost one quarter of
the industrial output of neighboring Sichuan.
Please refer to the travel guide below detailing Chongqing's
transportation, hotels, recreation, restaurants,
shopping, travel services, useful telephone
numbers and places of interest.
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