Chongqing
Chongqing Museum Situated on the top of the Pipashan
Mountain, Chongqing Museum was founded in 1951 as Southwest
Museum and was renamed as Chongqing Museum in 1955. Covering
a construction area of 5500 sqm, the museum has over 40
exhibiting halls with about 100,000 relics, which span over
3000 years history from the ancient Kingdom of Ba and the
near-mythical Three Kingdoms Period to World War Two and the
Chinese Revolution.
Eling Park Located it Changjiang Lu, Yuzhong
district, Eling was originally named Edingling (Goose Nape
Hill), for its narrow and steep shape resembling a nape of a
goose. The park was built in 1909, which was originally the
home of Lee, a rich businessman, also known as "courteous
park", with special plant species and a newly built tower (Liangjiang
Pavilion) providing the view of the entire city. In 1958,
large-scale of restoration was carried out on the site of
Lee Garden and the park was "Eling Park".
Ba people's hanging coffins In the past, people
considered that the higher a dead man was buried, the more
dutiful their descendants would be. This is the reason for
"hanging coffins". There is also another belief that the
height of the hanging coffin represents the rank of the dead
person. There are 108 hanging coffins in Bawu Gorge and they
sure make for an interesting visit if you are in the area.
Chongqing Animal Park comprises of different
exhibition halls of more than 150 kinds of animal species
including pandas, goldfish, birds, water animals, buffalos,
elephants, lions and tigers, camels and monkeys.
Daninghe River Valley is well worth a visit and one spot
that you musn't forget your camera, as the valley teams with
life and colour and you'll definitely get some good
photographs.
Dazu Rock Carvngs The work of Dazu Rock Carvings began in the first year of Yonghui in Tang dynasty (650A.D.), and continued until Ming and Qing dynasties. Now, it enjoys equal popularity with Yungang and Longmen Grottoes. The general term of "Dazu Rock Carvings" refers to all the cliff-side carvings in Dazu county, which includes the carvings in Beishan (including Beita), Baodingshan, Nanshan, Shizhuanshan and Shimenshan. Baoding Grotto, 15 kms northeast of the county seat, is the largest and best preserved one and is a key cultural relic site under state protection. There are more than 50,000 Buddhist, Taoist and Confucian rock carvings and 100,000 characters of inscriptions dotted around Dazu.
Hechuan Diaoyucheng City that is called "the place where Whip of God was broken" is one of China's three ancient battlefields.
Fengdu
Nicknamed"Ghost City". It is said that firstly in Han
Dynasty, there are two Taoist priests. Yin Changshen and
Wang Fangping practiced rules and became the immortal here
one after another. People rumored it false as "location of
hell" and made Fengdu famous.
Gezhouba Dam As early as in 1950s, Mao Zedong began
to plan a huge dam over Yangtze River. His ambition was
largely triggered by the rich potential water energy in the
Three Gorges area where the water level falls down sharply.
He wrote in his poem "Swimming in the Yangtze River" that he
foresaw the huge reservoir in this area after a huge dam was
built. This plan fascinated many Chinese people and it began
to be actualized in 1970 when Gezhouba Dam--the subsidiary
dam-- began to be built. It was finished in the 1980s. A
good spot to picnic.
Jialing Bridge - 150 metres long bridge completed in
1996 is a good spot to go and watch the many sailing junks
unload their wares and the locals go about their busy
day...great photo opportunities are to be discovered here.
Nanshan Park is a beautifully maintained park with a
few statues relating to Chinese culture and history. There
is a zoo, children's park, a lake, Changjin tower, and spots
for tourists to relax and for recreation.
Northern Hot Springs Park
Located fifty-five kilometers northeast of the city,
overlooking the Jialing River, the Northern Hot Springs are
in a large park which is the site of a 5th century Buddhist
temple. The park is at the foot of Jinyun Mountain north of
the city. The quiet place has many springs and valleys as
well as temples of Ming and Qing dynasties (1368-1911). The
Guanyin (Bodhisattva) Palace was built with iron tiles and
stone pillars. There are also a stone Buddha of the Song
dynasty (960-1279) and a dragon pagoda of the Ming dynasty
(1368 -1644). The springs have an Olympic-size swimming pool
where you can swim and there are also private rooms with hot
baths. Water temperature averages around 32C. There's
another group of springs 20km south of Chongqing in Southern
Hot Spring Park with hotter waters, but the northern group
is said to be better.
Shennong Stream starts at Mt.Shennong Jia in Hubei
Province north of the Yangtze. It comprises of Parrot Gorge
and Dragon Boat Gorge each, with breathtaking scenery.
Sailing through the treacherous gorges with lush pine lined
shores and translucent water, visitors can see spectacular
sights like ancient plank roads, ancient cave coffins,
caves, a rainbow fountain and rare animals like macaques and
mandarin ducks. It is also a perfect way to experience the
culture of the Tujia.
Shibaozhai is simply a rectangular rock with sheer cliffs, standing on the riverside. It is over 30 meters high with a temple built on top. A wooden pagoda, 11 storeys high, was built against the rock side. People can climb to the top via a spiral staircase inside the pagoda.
Southern Hot Spring Park
is a botanical garden with the Longevity Lake and other
places of beauty within its boundries. The view of
Chongqing, the mountainous city, is most attractive at night
from this spot. The Southern Hot Springs Park is also
popular gathering place where a typical Chongqing method of
escaping the heat is to take refuge in one of the cool caves
in the area. During the years of Japanese air raids,
hundreds of air-raid shelters were dug into the mountains
here and some have been turned into cafes and restaurants.
Red Crag Village is the home of the former Premier
Zhou Enlai and the wartime headquarters of the Chinese
Communist Party and the 8th Route Army.
Three Gorges along the Yangtze River include Qutang Gorge, Wu Gorge and Xiling Gorge on the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. It extends from White King City in Fengjie, Sichuan Province in the west to Nanjing Pass, Wuchang, in the east, with a total distance of 189 km. Along the route are strange mountains and rivers, while its two ends link Chongqing and Wuhan.
Three Gorges Dam is 600 kms long and more than 1000 square kms in total area. The lake is situated high up in some beautiful gorges and although new, excellent tourist spots are being developed in the area.
Twelve Wu Peaks Admired by visitors the world over this and related areas are popular tourist spots that are definitely worth a photo. Among the twelve peaks at the Wu Gorge, the Goddess Peak is the most exquisite. It is said that if you look carefully, a silhouette of a goddess can be seen at the top of Goddess Peak, hence its name. Qutang Gorge, known for its magnificence, is only 8 kilometers long with many scenic spots. These include the Meng Liang Staircase, the Ancient Plank Road, the Kui Gate, the Seven Gate Cave, the Bellows Gorges, and the Rhinoceros Watching the Moon.
Wulong Furongdong Cave Situated at the confluence of Wujiang and Furong rivers nearby Jiangkou Town in Wulong County, Furongdong(Hibiscus Cave) is a large limestone cave, 2400 meters long and 50 meters wide, and its main hall has covered an area of 1.1 square meter. Constructed on the basis of the investigation by the Society of Research on Caves under the China Association of Geological Sciences, the cave is rich in natural rocks and other formations.
Xiannushan Grasslands as with many other grassland spots in the same area is dominated by reed beds, large expanses of water and grasslands of the Mongolian steppe but also containing tracts of woodland, scrub and farmland. This is the place to go if you are interested in bird watching where you'll see Baer's Pochard, Falcated Duck, Japanese, White-naped and Demoiselle Cranes, Asian Dowitcher and a variety of other water and grassland birds such as Daurian Partridge, Amur Falcon, Oriental Pratincole and the Chinese Grey Shrike.
Zhaojun Village
Among the many relics in the village connected with the
Illustrious Imperial Concubine are Zhaojun Shrine, Zhaojun
Courtyard, Well of the Nanmu Tree, Zhaojun's Dressing Table,
and Cave of Embroidered Shoes. Only the well and dressing
table have now been repaired to receive visitors. Situated
at the village entrance, the Well of the Nanmu Tree earned
its name from the fact that a nanmu tree (or nanmu phoebe)
grows in it. The tree, which is believed to date back to the
time of the Illustrious Imperial Concubine, has remained
luxuriant in all the intervening centuries. The clear water
of the well runs the year round and is used by the Baoping
villagers. Zhaojun's Dressing Table stands on a piece of
elevated land and is surrounded by ancient cypresses. The
table is enclosed by a wall with a moon-shaped door in it.
There is an ancient stone figure on the higher ground from
which one can view Zhaojun Terrace in the distance.
Fujian Guild Hall, situated in the western side of
the bustling Hualian Business Mansion, is a closed building
group of the Qing Dynasty-style that composed of gate to the
monastery, large palace, back palace, theatrical building
and the western wing-room with its elegant structure,
wonderful carvings and the southern Fujian constructive
styles. Yantai Museum was set up here in 1958 and a number
of rich cultural and historical documents are selected as
treasures here as well as beautiful carvings that will
interest many.
Yantai Hill is closed to the sea in the north and connected with the land in the south. It is recorded in history that in the early Ming Dynasty, a smoke tower or beacon tower was built here in order to scare off foreign intruders and Yantai was then named for this. Now, the "Yantai Stone" a navigation light tower stands firmly in its place. "Relang Pavilion", east of the hill, is built between the sea and the mountains. When the sky is clear, you can see the sea and the mountains in the distance, which make for a pretty picture.






















