Jiefangbei CBD

Jiefangbei (Liberation Monument) was erected in 1947 to commemorate the end of the Sino-Japanese War — a 28-metre concrete-and-stone obelisk at the geographical centre of the Yuzhong Peninsula. The monument has been the visual anchor of central Chongqing since the Republican period.

The surrounding pedestrian zone is the most concentrated retail-and-dining district in southwest China. The vertical-city geometry is the defining experience: the Yuzhong Peninsula's spine is over 200 metres above the river-level, and the city has been built up the slopes in successive layers connected by elevators, escalators, and stairways. A single shopping mall may have its first floor entered from the surface, its second floor entered from a different street six floors above the first, and its top floor opening onto a third street level twelve floors above the first. The orientation effect is dramatic.

Hongyadong, the eleven-floor riverside complex on the Jialing River shore at the foot of the peninsula, is the most photographed Chongqing landmark. The complex is a substantial 2006 reconstruction of a smaller older heritage complex; the modern build clad in traditional cliff-village architectural detail produces a striking lit-night appearance that has become a staple of social-media tourism.

The Yangtze Cable Car, the only remaining urban-river aerial cable-car system in China after Wuhan's was closed, carries passengers across the Yangtze in five minutes — a working transport service that has become a tourist destination.