Chongqing East

If you’re into grand architecture and sheer scale, Chongqing East Railway Station is worth a stop - even if you’re not catching a train. Opened in 2025, it’s billed as the largest railway station in the world, a futuristic mega-terminal of glass and steel designed to handle the endless flow of high-speed trains crisscrossing China. Step inside and you’ll find cavernous halls, sweeping rooflines, and the kind of vastness that makes airports feel modest.

One of the largest Buddhist temples in Chongqing. It was founded in the Tang Dynasty and rebuilt during the reign of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty. The original name of the temple was the Guanyin Temple. After undergoing a major expansion in 1927, it was renamed the Ciyun Temple. It is said to be the only Buddhist temple in China that provides accommodation for both monks and nuns.

The largest and most important Taoist Temple in Chongqing. The temple was founded in the Tang Dynasty and greatly expanded during the Ming Dynasty. It was largely rebuilt after suffering extensive damage during the Cultural Revolution.

Shengdeng Mountain is 1064 m above sea level. Legend has it that the emperor Jianwen of the Ming Dynasty built a house here and lived here when he took refuge. Hence, the Chinese name of the mountain is sometimes written as '圣登山', which literally means a mountain which was climbed by a sage.

When Chongqing was the capital of China during World War II, Jiang Jieshi (Chiang Kai-Shek) established his military headquarters up in the mountains above Chongqing. As a result the Japanese bombers never found it, and it is now a museum, preserved as it was during the war. There are many buildings in the beautiful compound and you can visit his work room with the motto over his desk "all officials must serve the people" (in free translation), his bedroom, and his meeting room, and sit in his chair where he negotiated with the American advisers, with his American-educated wife usually to his left. The residence is usually referred to as Chiang Kai-Shek's Mount Huang (or Huangshan) residence in order to distinguish it from Chiang's other official residences (he had no less than four official residences in Chongqing alone). Together with the other buildings in the compound, the residence forms part of the Chongqing Sino-Japanese War Sites Museum (重庆抗战遗址博物馆).

It was built in 1903 to serve the French navy. The French Embassy was temporarily based here during the Second World War. The building was reopened to the public in June 2018 after having undergone more than a year of restoration work.