This morning, you will be met by your local guide and driver in your hotel in downtown or the arrival hall at the airport/railway station if you arrive in Chongqing by very early flight/train. Then, you will start your exploration of Chongqing, the “City of Mountains.”
Firstly, enjoy the historic visit to Ciqikou Old Town that is praised as the “epitome of Chongqing”. Take your leisure walk on the polished paved paths to admire its over 1,800-year-old historical culture dated from Song Dynasty, appreciate its well-kept tiled-roof folk dwellings of hundreds of years old, watch the well-inherited folk artistic skills, and imagine and once busy transshipping scene shown at the ancient port there. Then, be escorted to Three Gorges Museum at the city downtown. The vast collection of more than 280 thousand pieces of precious historical relics will let you have an amazing understanding of the great Yangtze River and formation of the magnificent Three Gorges, and also tell you the gradual thriving of Chongqing from 3,000 years ago, to its war defense in 20s century, and developmental path to be one of the 4 prosperous municipalities in China. Stepping out from the museum, have a nice look at the People’s Assembly Hall that is popular with fancy classical exterior design and was listed into the History of Architecture compiled in London in 1987.
After lunch, be transferred to take Chonqing Rail Transit Line 2 from Huanghuayuan Metro Station to Liziba Metro Station to look at the city’s prototype from a different angle. Then, get off to have the never-seen magic of the train going through a 11-storey block of flats, existing only in the fantastically structured Chongqing built against mountains.
After that, travel up to E’ling Park and embrace the impressive panorama of Chongqing City which has been highly praised as “Little Hong Kong” with its well-arranged row upon row of modern skyscrapers and two winding rivers surrounding. Then, go down to visit Hongya Cave, the must-see highlight to appreciate the layers of featured Ba and Shu regional wooden tilted houses overlapped leaning the mountain up to 11 storeys, which looks quite glittery lit by the orange lights from nightfall. And continue to get up to the 11 level with vehicles and roads alongside to catch the sparkling nightscape of Jialing River and the nearby buildings with beautiful neon.
After the visiting, your guide and driver will escort you to Chaotianmen Dock and help you board your Yangtze River cruise. If you have the schedule to leave Chongqing today, they will escort you to the airport/railway station for catching your flight/train to the next destination or home. Service Ends!
Note: For visitors planning to take the Yangtze River cruise after the 1 day Chongqing city tour, it is highly suggested to enjoy dinner onshore first before boarding since there is nearly no food service on the embarkation night.