A Cultural Trip through Chongqing City: 6 Must-visit Sights

China’s biggest "mountain city" Chongqing is one of the three starting cities of Yangtze River Cruise, thus many travelers would like to have a one day Chongqing tour before embark on the luxury ships and begin China’s most legendary voyage.

There are many to explore in Chongqing: the profound, enticing culture, the well-arranged streets and houses melting into the fog (the city is also renowned for heavy fog), the beautiful mountain landscape stretching charmingly, and the excellent spicy foods 

Ciqikou Ancient Town

Built in Song Dynasty, Ciqikou is over 1000 years old, and was an important commercial dock by land and water. Here you can experience the ancient Bayu Culture, local religious life, discover some historical sites of WWII, and many interesting folk activities.

Highlights: East-Sichuan architecture, wood or bamboo-made dwellings, temple fair during Spring Festival, Sichuan Opera, teahouses, traditional craft like dough figure, oil manufacture, sugar refinery

Zhongshan Four Road

The 800-meter-long street is jammed with historical building and museums, mainly of Anti-Japanese War period during WWII.

Highlights: The museum of Chinese democratic parties, Gui Garden, Zhou Residence, Dai Residence.

Eighteen ladder Road (Shiba Ti)

The best place to see the old Chongqing, it used to be the main street of the city. Its prosperity is far gone, but turns to be a charming cultural street, where you can find stone-slab streets, traditional noodle stalls, the old barber's shops…

Eling Park (Goose Neck Park)

A rich businessman Lee Yaoting built it in 1909 as a private garden, now it becomes a popular public park among locals. Sited in the highest place of the Yuzhong Peninsula, Eling Park is famed for the grandness, steepness, and elegance. Here you can have the best view of the mountainous city Chongqing and the majestic Yangtze.

Liberation Monument Shopping Area

Around the Liberation Monument, the most important landmark of Chongqing, the city government built China’s first commercial pedestrian street - Jiefangbei Pedestrian Commercial Street. It is ideal for shopping, entertaining and dining. 300 meters away, Chongqing’s most famous food street offers all kinds of local specialty foods and snacks. 

Chongqing Night Scene

Enjoy the wonderful Chongqing night life and the beautiful night scene as the neon is lighted. Best places for the night view include Eling Park, One Tree Observation Deck on Nanshan Mountain, the night cruise, Hongya Cave

Exploring Chengdu’s Backcountry – Pingle Old Town

For those in the know travellers, China’s new urban star Chengdu brings to mind not only the adorable, worry-free giant pandas and spicy, delicious Sichuan Cuisine, but also a dozen ancient towns around Chengdu, making it a great all-round travel destination in China. Pingle is one of the best of Chengdu’s old towns, and offers fun cultural experience.

9-day Chengdu Culture Tour to Pingle Ancient Town

Located 93kmk southwest of Chengdu, Pingle Town was initially built as far back as 150BC during the West Han Dynasty, and used to an important town on ancient Silk Road and Tea Horse Road. There is a river running through the ancient town, and leading us into the heart of Pingle, for more atmosphere and a wealth of cultural sites, including the Ming and Qing dynasties’ traditional dwellings, the thousand-year-old alleys, the ancient temples, weirs, docks, beautiful old bridges, etc.

Rambling the streets of Pingle Town, walking through the humble wooden buildings, and listening to the ancient music, you may feel that you are back in time. You can also try many local specialty foods and snacks, and experience some interesting folk activities.

If you are looking for an adventure on a mountain or a mountain hiking trip around, then you’re encouraged to visit the tranquil Lugou Bamboo Sea. There is a huge Buddha statue on the mountain, even taller than the famous 72-meter-high Giant Buddha in Leshan.

How to get to Pingle Old Town: Take a bus from the Jinsha Bus station/Chengdu Chengbei Bus Terminal (North Train Station)/Shiyangchang passenger Bus Center to Qionglai City (about one hour), then take a bus or small van to Pingle (about 15 minutes).

Best Season to visit Pingle Old Town: March till June and September till November

A Romantic Approach to Dali for Erhai Lake and Cangshan Mountain

For years, the peaceful, romantic town of Dali has been a popular destination for honeymooners, photographers and world travelers. However, a few days' cursory sightseeing tour will not reward you the real unique beauty of Dali. Why not take an in-depth Dali tour with unexpected cultural and spiritual experience?

Embraced by Erhai Lake and Mount Cangshan, small Dali is a place of self-exile. Numerous people from big cities like Kunming, Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou come and stay here to relax the mind and find peace. They cycle around Erhai Lake to find the primitive villages of Bai people, take a boat cruise in Erhai Lake to watch the cormorant fishing, and take a cable car up Cangshan Mountain to find the ancient Buddhist temples and the Three Pagodas of Chongsheng Temple (at the foot of the mountain), and enjoy the splendor of sunset and the wonderful panoramic view of Erhai Lake.

You’re encouraged to reserve a hotel or guesthouse by Erhai Lake in Shuanglang, Longkan, Taoyuan or Caicu Village with a lake-view room. Stay several days for the sunrise on Erhai Lake, the dramatic scene when it is sparkled in the sunshine, and absolutely clear after the rain.

 
For some spare time, you can stroll through Dali Old Town to feel and perceive its profound culture and folk art. Stop on the Renmin Road (People Road), you will find some special shops with special stories. For example, here is a watchmaker's shop, which is a mess, with a beaten-up shopkeeper. His wife left him in 2006, so the time of all the clocks and watches stops in 2006. Sounds like a movie script, right?

Recommended China Yunnan tours to Dali:

9-day Colorful Yunnan
12-day Yunnan Tour to Dali Lijiang Shangri-La

A Food Tour of Hangzhou: 14 Famous Local Specialty Dishes

Hangzhou Cuisine, Ningbo Guisine and Shaoxing Cuisine combined complete Zhejiang Cuisine, one of the top eight cuisines in China.  

East China’s Hangzhou City is famous for West Lake, Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, the enticing tea culture, as well as the local foods that make the most of abundant, superb ingredients. Hangzhou foods are known for its freshness, tenderness, smoothness and mellow fragrance, thus always connected with health benefits and favored by all. A trip to Hangzhou isn’t complete without tasting the city’s top 12 specialty dishes.   

West Lake fish in vinegar gravy - A popular traditional Hangzhou dish, there are many stories and legends about it. This dish uses middle-sized grass carp, which is steamed with fresh water first, and then blanked with thick, sweet vinegar sauce. Lou Wai Lou at 30 Gushan Road, Xihu District serves authentic West Lake Fish in Vinegar Gravy – the restaurant’s signature dish.

Dongpo pork - Named after Su Dongpo, a famous poet, calligrapher and painter nearly 1000 years ago during North Song Dynasty, Dongpo pork uses layers of lean and fat meat, which is pan-fried and then stewed with wine.

Jin pai kou rou (Dongpo pork pyramid) - An upgraded Dongpo pork, the pork pyramid is sliced into more than 20 layers, and stuffed with chestnuts and smoked bamboo shoots.

Longjing tea-fried river prawns - As the name suggests, this Hangzhou dish uses the river spawns in West Lake and the best green tea leaves produced in Longjing Tea Plantation Village.  

Beggar’s chicken - It was created by a beggar who baked the chicken on fire wrapped with mud. Nowadays, the dish has been renovated – the chicken itself is stuffed with pork and mushroom, and wrapped with lotus leaves.

Deep-fried bean curd roll - A favorite toufu snack in Hangzhou, it is of golden brown color, crispy and tastes very good. 

West Lake vegetable soup with fish ball

Mi zhi huo fang (Honey Ham) - Made from Jinhua ham, mixed with pine nuts, lotus seed, and blanketed with honey, the dish satisfies both sweet and savory cravings.

Stewed Fish Head with Tofu in Pottery Pot - This nutrient-rich fish dish is good for health and a good choice in winter.

Orange stuffed with crab meat - A royal dish from South Song Dynasty, it is made from fresh orange, stuffed with chicken soup and crab meat – good in taste and beautiful in shape.

Codfish Ball

Zong xiang huaxi bie (river turtle meat zongzi)

Steamed pork with rice flour wrapped with Lotus Leaf

Lotus root filled with sticky rice

China’s Most Beautiful Mountains in Photos

China is a great destination for mountain enthusiasts. Some of the world’s most legendary mountain ranges and peaks rose here millions of years ago – some are sacred with religious and secular significance, others are endowed with breathtaking natural scenery.

Mount Everest - Summon up courage to ascend the highest peak on earth, or sit outside a tea house in the nearby village, admiring silently at the soaring, elegant peaks of Everest. 

Mount Kailash - This is where the Gods live – you can have a spiritual journey or a tough yet most rewarding hiking experience.

Meili Snow Mountain - It reminds to be conquered. And you’ll discover the vertical vegetation distribution - fruits along the river valleys, precious traditional Chinjese medicines, teas and lesser pandas on alpine meadows…

Mount Wudang - a holy Taoist mountain in Shiyan, Hubei Province and a great place to practice Tai Chi in China

Mount Wutai - the first of China’s holy Buddhist mountains, and one of the world’s five Buddhist sanctuaries

 

Mount Emei - a famous Buddhist sanctuary in Sichuan, Mt. Emeishan once had more than 100 temples

Mount Tai - one of the few World Natural and Cultural Heritages

Mt. Hua - one of the Five Sacred Mountains of China, also known for its dangerously steep landscape and scariest mountain roads and cliffside walkways

Mianshan Mountain - the birthplace of Qingming Festival, its spectacular architectures built above the cliff

Yellow Mountain - the most-visited mountain in China

Mount Lu - a hauntingly smoky mountain in Jiangxi Province with magnificent waterfalls

Mount Wuyi - a natural summer resort in Fujian of typical Danxia Landform & a great place for Chinese tea culture experience

Mount Sanqing - one of the holiest Taoist mountain, UNESCO recognized it as a world natural heritage site in 2008

Karst Mountain in Guilin, Guangxi

Zhangjiajie National Forest Park

         

Danxia Mountain - Red RocksGeological Park in in Shaoguan, Guangdong Province

Camel Peak in Sichuan

Travel through Hutong by Rickshaw: Where to Find the Real Beijing

Take a look beyond the gaudily ornate buildings and some oddly-shaped modern structures, and you will find more history, atmosphere and hospitality, as well as the real Beijing in the humble hutongs.

Recommended China tour and Beijing tour with hutong travel experience:

1-day day Beijing Walking Tour 

8-Day Super-value China Golden Triangle Tour 

There's no better way to experience the unique charm of hutongs than by rickshaws. Rent yourself a rickshaw and listen to the driver’s stories and folktales about the over 700-year-old hutongs – overseas Chinese often feel lost in time, not least for foreign travellers.

 

There were thousands of hutongs surrounding Forbidden City (Palace Museum) in Beijing. Many of them have been torn down and replaced by the striking modern architectures, however, hutongs still occupy one-third of Beijing’s land and are home to almost half of Beijing ordinary people.

It is surprising that the people, especially the elderly are so friendly and enthusiastic when showing visitors the way. Most of the time, they run a small business, play chess, play with the birds, or simply enjoy the free time.

Beijing hutong travel

On first glance, Old Beijing’s hutongs look the same, long and narrow, and all with gray walls and gray tiles. But the drivers tell us each of them has its own story and the different types of courtyards (siheyuan dwellings) belonged to different people. For example, if there are round stone piers in front of the gates, the original owner must be military officers, while the square stone piers went to civil officials. A lion on the pier implied a royal family.

Some hutongs are quiet and somehow deserted, while some are very lively and popular, such as  Nanluogu Xiang, Yandai Xiejie, Mao’er Hutong and Liulichang Cultural Street, where there are many bars, cafes, boutiques, street vendors, traditional restaurants and markets.

  

Articles you may also interested in:

The 10 Most Famous Hutongs in Beijing  

Five Free Ways to Explore Beijing