If Chongqing is an 8D Rubik’s Cube, Hongyadong is the craziest side! Built on a cliff, this 11-story footstool building lets GPS get lost in a “vertical labyrinth”.
Standing on the Qianlianmen Bridge, you will see such magic: the Jialing River is tumbling under your feet, the cliff on the other side is suddenly lit up by 4,000 palace lanterns, and the 11-story building cascades down from the cliff like a lava waterfall, which is the night of Hongyadong in Chongqing!
Table of Contents
Across the millennia: from warring fortresses to cyberpunks
314 B.C.: A military fortress for the Qin Dynasty people
When Qin general Zhang Yi built his city in Chongqing, he could never have imagined that the Hongyamen he left behind would turn into a Netflix hit.
uilt on a 90-degree cliff, the 3-meter-thick walls of this fortress have “frozen” the civilization of the ancient Ba people in the rock.
Hidden behind the city gate is “Hongyadicui”! This waterfall, which has flowed from the Tang Dynasty to the present day, has been transformed into a futuristic “Cyber Waterfall” by LED light strips, while the water spray has produced moss on the rocks for thousands of years.
2006: Architect’s Crazy Experiment
Designer Li Xiangbei played a “space magic” on a 75-meter cliff: 230 steel columns were used to support 11 floors, and each floor was intentionally created with a height difference of 0.5-1 meter.
When you take the elevator from the 1st floor to the 11th floor, push the door and found back to the road – this “infinite loop” design, so that Hongyadong became the world’s first “three-dimensional pedestrian street”.
Historical Eggs
- Hongyadong is the only city gate in Chongqing with “closed door” defense, even rats couldn’t get in during the Ming Dynasty.
- During the war, the teahouse in the air-raid shelter was a meeting point for secret agents, and a cup of tea could hide intelligence codes.
- There are 2,000 ancient coins of Sichuan embedded in the green stone road, and stepping on them can “summon good luck” (metaphysics warning!).
11 Layers of Labyrinth: Each layer is a new copy!
Level 1F-3F: Old Chongqing Handicraft Wholesale Market
The street is full of Chongqing specialties:
- Handmade paintings and calligraphy, silk, traditional musical instruments ……
- Time Capsule” for souvenir shopping.
Level 4F: Odd Taste Food Lab
After 5pm, the lantern market “grows” out of the rock wall. A must-try:
- Pepper Milk Tea: the ultimate duel between spicy and creamy!
- Chili Ice Cream: A hybrid of Mexican Day of the Dead + Chongqing Hot Pot
Level 5F: Night Owl Carnival Base
Dynamic Bar Street + “Reunion 1980” retro neighborhood, a nightlife paradise for young people.
Level 6F: 3D version of “Chongqing Impression”.
36 landmarks in Chongqing are restored with projection technology, combined with lighting effects and simulated plants to create an immersive experience.
Level 7F-8F: Hotel on the Cliff
Hongyadong Hotel, off-season per capita 200 yuan to stay in the “magic mountain view room”.
9F-10F: Miyazaki fans pilgrimage site
Red corridor bridge + golden pavilion, hand shot are anime scenes! Hidden Play:
- Find the Miyazaki autograph wall (hidden behind the vending machine)
- Sweep the AR egg: see the 3D projection of the ancient Ba people doing a ritual dance!
- Snack Street: Eat hot and sour noodles, small noodles, dry pots and hot pots until you reach the wall!
Level 11F: Time and Space Folding Point
Overlooking the two rivers from the Kuixing Tower corridor, you will understand what Chongqing people say “magic 8D” – obviously standing on the 11th floor, but the light rail flew over head! When you walk to Jiefangbei, remember to count how many time zones you have traveled through: Tang Dynasty City Walls→Republican Air Defense Shelter→Spacecraft Neon ……
Best Photography
Golden hour: 19:30-22:00 in summer (when the lights are on full blast and the river turns into a “golden waterfall”)
Tips to avoid the crowds:
- Grand Theater River Beach: You can shoot Hongyadong, Raffles and Yangtze River Ropeway at the same time.
- Daijiaxiang Trail: Cliff Café Terrace for a panoramic view of the footstools.
Food Radar
- Pepper Scented Scissors: Next to the fire escape on the 4th floor, only one flavor has been sold for 30 years.
- Cliff Bar: order a “Mountain City Mist” cocktail and listen to the owner’s story about cooking hot pot in the air-raid shelter.
- Late-night only: after 23:00, the “ghost market” on the 4th floor will be transformed into a dark cuisine lab.
Accommodation Experience
- Hammock Glass Room: watch the riverboat pass through your “private airspace”.
- Reunion 1980 Hotel: Use old-fashioned beepers as door cards and hide 80s food stamps in the bathroom!
Hongyadong AB Side
Early morning at 7:00 a.m.: the hanging footstools in the morning mist reveal their wood grain texture, and the old teahouse guests set up a chess game under the tower, as if they had traveled back to the ancient times.
8pm at night: holographic projection on the cliff wall puts on a light and shadow show of “The Soul of Bayu”, and girls in Chinese costumes run past you holding up glowing sugar paintings.
Practical Information
- Address: No. 88 Jiabin Road, Yuzhong District (search “Hongyadong Folk Customs Area”)
- Transportation: Metro Line 1/6, Xiaoshizi Station, Exit Exit 9, follow the neon signs for 650 meters.
- Time: 11:00-23:00 (light 19:30-22:00)
- Tickets: Free (Reservation required at “Hongyadong” public number)
- Tips: One-way traffic on weekends, it is recommended to stroll down from the 11th floor – in Chongqing, “counter-intuitive” is the rule of survival!
P.S. Chongqing people’s magical daily life
- When asking for directions, if someone says “go up”, they probably mean “go down”.
- Navigation shows “destination reached”, but you may still be on the 11th floor. ……
- Remember to wear flat shoes! There is no such thing as “flat ground”!
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