Hongyadong
Stilted Building Riverside Complex On The Jialing River Cliffs · Chongqing, Chongqing
A towering riverside complex of stilted wooden-style buildings stacked eleven storeys up a cliff above the Jialing River in central Chongqing, just upstream of its meeting with the Yangtze. Built in 2006 on the site of an old cliff cave and city gate, it recreates the diaojiaolou stilt houses that once clung to Chongqing's hillsides, and houses restaurants, bars, snack streets, teahouses and souvenir shops on levels linked by stairs and lifts. At dusk its tiers light up in gold, turning the whole cliff into a glowing lantern that many visitors compare to the bathhouse in the animated film Spirited Away - an image that made it one of the most photographed places in China. Because Chongqing is built on steep hills, the top floor opens onto a city street while the bottom floor sits by the river road, part of the disorienting, many-layered cityscape that earned Chongqing its nickname of the 8D city. The best views are from the Qiansimen Bridge and the opposite riverbank, where crowds gather every evening.
88 Jialingjiang Binjiang Road, Yuzhong District, Chongqing, Chongqing, China
Open daily; shops and restaurants from late morning to late night. Lights on from about 18:00 (winter) to 19:30-20:00 (summer) until about 23:00. Crowd control and possible reservations on major holidays.