Chong Qing Express
How to soak in this city’s urban madness
The integration of mountainous terrain and urban construction creates a special landscape here. As a consequence of its topography, the city is made up of a series of serious steps, stairways, elevated bridges as well as interloping, spiralling highways. All of these make Chong Qing unique because there is literally no other city like it. Here are some of the ‘creative’ transport infrastructure that Chongqing-ers brag about:
‘Disappearing’ Monorail
Chong Qing is famous for having a monorail that zips through buildings and underneath bridges. This transport system has now become an exciting ride for tourists, as some sections of the track stretch across the Yangtze River, through buildings, and even through mountainside forests. Riding the light rail here is like riding a roller coaster — the track runs in an S-shape and 90-degree bend in some sections, in order to conform to the city’s complex terrain
When in Chong Qing, don’t miss riding the monorail on Line 2, specifically between Da Xi Gou and Da Ping. The monorail will literally pass through a 19-storey building at Li Zi Ba station 李子坝地铁站 Li Zi Ba di tie zhan..
If you think the monorail ride is exciting, try driving here. This is NOT the city I wanna take the wrong exit in.
Devil’s Highway
If you think the monorail ride is exciting, try driving here. This is NOT the city I wanna take the wrong exit in. Here are some of those crazy highways:
Huang Jue Wan
With 5 layers of roads and 20 lanes going in 8 different directions, this is basically an urban maze.
Su Jia Ba Highway
Seen from afar, the 72-meter tall highway can be easily mistaken for a roller coaster.
Rong Qiao Highway
is made of three layers of roads featuring a spiral shape. From above, it looks like a three-storey circular motor racing track.
Ocean-Wave Road
These 300-meter-long roads in Banan District directly connects to each storey of a four-floor building.
Driving on the Roof
Architects and city planners have really gotten so ‘creative’ in making transportation and residential projects coexist in this ‘Mountain’ City that they’ve built a street on top of a three-floor garage building, complete with stores and trees, mimicking the street landscape below.
Yangtze River Cableway
The cableway across the Yangtze River was put into operation to increase the efficiency of transport between the Yuzhong and Nan’an districts in Chongqing without building expensive new bridges. With a span of 1,166 meters (3800 feet), the cableway is mainly used by the local population for inexpensive travel but tourists also enjoy the beautiful scenery that can be taken in while crossing the Yangtze River.
A return trip costs ¥30, and takes 30 minutes each way.
This post is part of the Life in China series.1. 10 Steps to Loving Chongqing
A-freak-of-nature kind of city2. Magnificent Karst of Wulong
So magnificent I thought it was CGI3. Qinghai Road Trip
So magnificent I thought it was CGII hope they will help you begin to understand this mind-boggling country.
