travel · 5 May 2026

Chongqing's Monorail Through an Apartment Block and Other Urban Surprises

Chongqing is a vertical city built on cliffs above the Yangtze and Jialing rivers. It has a monorail that passes through an apartment building, cable cars between mountains, and geography so steep that addresses require both floor and lane. Here is what to see.

Chongqing (重庆) is built on cliffs above the confluence of the Yangtze and Jialing rivers — a vertical city where ground floor depends entirely on which side of a cliff you enter from.

Liziba (李子坝) Metro Line 2 station: a light-rail train passes through the sixth to eighth floors of a 19-storey apartment block. Built in 2004 as a pragmatic engineering solution, not a stunt. An observation terrace below allows photography — worth 30 minutes. Take Line 2 towards Xinshan Cun.

Chaotianmen at the peninsula's eastern tip: the Yangtze and Jialing rivers converge here. Evening light on both rivers with city lights on surrounding cliffs is a distinctive view.

Hongya Cave (洪崖洞): multi-level cliff-face entertainment complex, photographed extensively for its illuminated tiers at night — visit at dusk.

Chongqing hot pot is beef-tallow based, Sichuan peppercorn-heavy, and intense. Eat in residential neighbourhood restaurants rather than tourist spots.

Getting there: Jiangbei Airport (CKG); high-speed train from Chengdu (1 hr), Xi'an (3 hr).