Chongqing downtown: the Jiefangbei pedestrian zone
Chongqing
Chongqing is the largest municipality of China. It is situated at the Yangtze river between mountains and hills. Yuzhong is the central district. The Central Business District is called Jiefangbei. In this area are pedestrian zones, shopping malls, tall office buildings, banks, hotels and stores.
Yangtze Cruise
Chongqing is an important port for the Yangtze river cruises. The boats sail upstream or downstream to Yichang, Wuhan and Shanghai. The largest cruise ships are 5 star luxury boats with many facilities like a internet, business center, sun deck, recreation center, dancing and live entertainment. Most cruises last 3 – 5 days including short excursions. Cruise boats depart at Chaotianmen Dock. This area is near the centre of Chongqing.
Chongqing attractions
Many tourists come to start or end a Yangtze river cruise. Downtown is Jiefangbei pedestrian zone with shopping centres and restaurants. At Chaotianmen Dock is the embarking place of the cruise boats. You can make here also a mini-cruise of one hour for 40 Yuan.
Shopping
– The Jiefangbei Pedestrian Street
– Chaotianmen Market (largest market in East Jiefang Road)
– Nan Bin Flower Market (flowers, handcraft stores and tea houses)
Weather
The weather in Chongqing in summer is hot. A temperature between 37 – 40 celcius degrees is common here. Chongqing is also known in China for its foggy days usually in spring and summer.
Hotels
Luxury hotels are the JW Marriott Hotel and Intercontinental Chongqing located in Jiefangbei (downtown Chongqing), the Carlton hotel adjacent to the Chongqing Convention and Exhibition Center and the Hilton Hotel is near the central station. Sunrise Ming Qing International youth Hostel (405 reviews, 7.9) is just a 5-minute walk from the Chaotianmen Pier.
Airport
The Jiangbei International Airport is 21km from downtown Chongqing. It has flights to Seoul, Tokyo, Nagoya, Bangkok and Singapore. Tickets are sold by hotels, travel agencies or on the internet. An airport shuttle bus connects the airport with the CAAC office. Fare is 15 Yuan.
Taxi
Start rate for the first 3 kilometer is 10 Yuan. For each kilometer more 2 Yuan will be added. A taxi from the airport to downtown Chongqing is 25km and cost 50-60 Yuan. From central railway station to downtown is about 20 Yuan. In hotels or stores you can get maps in Chinese and English. Those maps are very usefull because allmost all taxi drivers speak little english.
Bus
Public buses are the cheapest but also very crowded. Fare is 1 or 2 Yuan. Chongqing’s long distance bus station is across the central railway station in Yuzhong District. There are long distance buses to Chengdu, Emeishan and Leshan.
Train
Chongqing has trains to Chengdu, Beijing, Guangzhou, Xian, Shanghai and many other cities. Chongqing is huge and has many railway stations. With the fast train it takes only 2 hours and 45 minutes to Chengdu Central (North) Station. Fare for this high-speed train is about 95 Yuan for a soft seat second class. First class train tickets should be bought at least 24 hours ahead. Depart of the fast train to Chengdu is from Chongqing North Station.
China travel
– Beijing
– Chengdu
– Guangzhou
– Hong Kong
– Nanjing
– Shanghai
– Xian