When visiting Chongqing for the primary time final November, Joshua Guvi was nervous that town he’d seen on social media couldn’t presumably be as cool in actual life.
Positioned in a mountainous space of southwestern China, this sprawling metropolis is understood for its advanced, multilayered structure, prompting some to confer with it as China’s “8D metropolis.” Together with its rural outer areas, the entire space is the scale of Austria. As a result of metropolis’s distinctive landlocked geography and speedy progress, Chongqing has had nowhere to go however up, to the purpose the place one constructing even has a prepare working by the center of it.
For vacationers — and even some locals — getting misplaced in serpentine, eye-popping Chongqing is a part of the enjoyable.
“It truly shot so much over my expectations,” says Guvi, a journey content material creator from Canada.
These moments had been stitched collectively right into a video on Guvi’s YouTube channel. He wrote, “Chongqing looks like peering into the longer term. The neon — soaked and alive with movement. This metropolis has its personal pulse.”
Phrase is clearly getting out. Guvi started his journey in Shanghai, however says he rapidly needed to expertise a extra authentically Chinese language metropolis.
“I had heard some individuals discuss it (Chongqing) in Shanghai… Shanghai is an incredible metropolis, however I used to be curious to see extra of the particular China, versus form of the Shanghai the place you may nonetheless get by on English.”
He isn’t the one one who has been bypassing Beijing, Xi’an and different cities alongside the established Chinese language vacationer route in favor of Chongqing. Tourism in Chongqing has been skyrocketing because the nation reopened post-pandemic.
Social media has grow to be the principle means youthful vacationers be taught concerning the metropolis. One viral submit on Instagram exhibiting a constructing the place “you assume you’re on the bottom ground, however you’re truly on the twelfth” has racked up greater than 17 million views.
In line with data released by the Chongqing government, town welcomed about 1.3 million inbound vacationers in 2024, representing a year-on-year improve of 184%.
Within the first two months of 2025, the variety of international nationals coming into by town’s ports elevated by 60% year-on-year, in accordance with the Chongqing Immigration Administration Bureau.
Li Tian, a supervisor at an area journey company, says that town’s viral recognition has resulted in “a 20 to 30% improve in international guests.” She added: “We host over 20,000 vacationers yearly, and worldwide vacationers now make up about 10%. The outlook for inbound tourism could be very promising.”
In response to rising worldwide demand, the company has added English, Spanish, Thai, Japanese and Korean-language excursions.
Li says that the majority international vacationers usually keep in Chongqing for about 5 days.
On account of geographic proximity and inexpensive airfare, nearly all of vacationers come from Southeast Asia, Japan and South Korea — although guests from Europe and Australia are additionally rising.
In truth, American vacationers have seen probably the most notable improve. That’s particularly spectacular contemplating there that the only direct flight from the US to Chongqing is a once-a-week affair on Hainan Airways.
“In the mean time, the US is the primary nation when it comes to our shopper base, making up round 20% — that’s a number of hundred individuals already,” mentioned Chen Ming, founding father of a personal journey firm established within the second half of final yr.
Chen launched his boutique journey company after noticing Chongqing’s surging recognition abroad. His firm makes a speciality of personalized full and half-day experiences for small teams of 1 to 4 individuals.
“In our first month, we solely had a number of orders. Within the second, perhaps a dozen,” Chen remembers. “Now we obtain a number of hundred bookings each month.” He defined that the vacationer numbers fluctuate by season, amongst which, June tends to be average, however December and April — round Christmas and spring break — are a lot busier.
On Chen’s web site, a few of the hottest choices embody strolling excursions of town’s outdated cities and scenic climbing trails, in addition to a themed itinerary retracing the steps of standard American YouTuber IShowSpeed’s viral trip through Chongqing this April.
Different featured locations embody a decommissioned nuclear navy plant, the Dazu Rock Carvings and the Wulong Three Pure Bridges — famously featured within the film “Transformers 4”.
Defining the structure of Chongqing could be a problem, many dubbing it Cyberpunk, a style of science fiction set in a lawless subculture of an oppressive society dominated by pc know-how.
“Chongqing’s structure fashion is exclusive,” says Matthew Blair, 34, an American who moved to town in 2009. “The concrete and mountain terrain, with numerous industrial design, make it appear to be a futuristic film set — however at evening, it lights up and elevates town into a real cyberpunk dream.”
Wan Linxin, a 27-year-old Chongqing native who beforehand studied in america, has grow to be a contract tour information. He lately led a workforce of 20 American college college students by town.
“After I discovered they had been faculty college students, I pulled out my long-forgotten Luffy straw hat,” Wan says, referencing a popular anime character who wears a safari-style hat. “As a result of it was an enormous group, I wanted one thing for them to observe. After I held up the hat, they’d name me ‘Luffy’ and path behind.”
Wan took them on a tour that mirrored IShowSpeed’s livestream journey, together with a hillside out of doors escalator, a towering 20-story overpass, and the internet-famous “Kui Xing Constructing,” whose rooftop is a public plaza.
“They stored asking me questions,” Wan recalled. “Why is the eighth ground of 1 constructing linked to the bottom ground of one other? Does the monorail passing by the constructing disturb the residents? Why are some home windows lined in cages?”
In truth, Chongqing’s distinctive multidimensional structure just isn’t an aesthetic design, however a necessity.
Positioned on the confluence of the Jialing and Yangtze rivers in China, Chongqing is also known as the “Mountain Metropolis.” House to greater than 32 million residents, town stretches throughout gorges, hillsides, river valleys and a layered skyline, which experiences dramatic elevation adjustments — usually spanning a number of hundred meters. The remarkably difficult geography makes conventional flatland city planning almost not possible in Chongqing.
As a substitute, city capabilities are organized by peak and stacked collectively — transportation programs, residential buildings, industrial areas, sky gardens and pedestrian plazas all layered into the terrain.
Buildings usually characteristic entrances on a number of flooring relying on the encircling road stage based mostly on the terrain. In consequence, a single high-rise might need entry-level entry on the first, twelfth, and even twentieth ground — creating what individuals name the astonishing “8D Area.”
Wan led the group of 20 American college college students to Liziba Monorail Station, one of many metropolis’s most iconic examples of Chongqing’s distinctive architectural panorama the place the monorail passes by a residential constructing constructed into the hillside, extending alongside the Yangtze River deep into the city.
“That’s after I realized probably the most precious reward of being a information,” he added. “It’s attending to fall in love along with your hometown another time by the eyes of a traveler.”
Moreover the dramatic geography and concrete visuals, Blair, who’s captivated with every part spicy, says the meals has stored him in Chongqing for 15 years.
“Huge quantities of road meals, late evening BBQ, and a pair of a.m. hotpot eating places additionally make CQ stand out and [are] frankly scrumptious,” Blair mentioned. “The locals are resilient and as spicy as their meals. They’re beneficiant, loud and alive — and so they make you wanna be part of the tradition.”
Like Beijing and Shanghai, Chongqing is one among 4 provincial-level municipalities instantly administered by China’s central authorities.
And this lesser-known financial hub within the higher reaches of the Yangtze River has quietly held its place as China’s fifth-largest financial system for the previous 5 years. Final yr, it even surpassed Guangzhou to rank fourth nationwide, behind solely Shanghai, Beijing and Shenzhen.
On account of its distinctive historical past and geography, town has lengthy been seen by the central authorities as a strategic stronghold for China’s “Go West” development campaign — a key inland hub linking east and west. Throughout World Struggle II, Chongqing served because the wartime capital because of its mountainous terrain and pure defenses. At this time, remnants of wartime navy websites and international embassies coexist with town’s every day life — now you can take pleasure in hotpot in underground bomb shelters eating places.
As Chongqing has gone viral on-line, native authorities have invested closely in each financial progress and cultural promotion.
In June this yr, Chongqing unveiled its newest high-speed railway station, spanning a complete space of 1.22 million sq. meters — roughly the scale of 170 commonplace soccer fields. Constructed to accommodate a considerably bigger quantity of passengers, it could be the biggest high-speed rail station on the earth ever accomplished in a single part.
As for Chongqing’s dazzling nightscape, Chongqing native Zhao Wenjing, 41, says it’s been a long time within the making.
“The event of the evening view in Chongqing began from after I was born – about 30 years in the past,” she mentioned, “The nightscape improvement in all probability actually picked up lately round 2019 when Chongqing began selling tourism significantly, primarily about putting in lighting factories, LED lights on buildings, and so forth.”
A comprehensive lighting plan for Chongqing’s central city districts was carried out final yr. The town is constant to develop night-view commentary factors from a number of views — each from above and under — and is including illuminated outlines to landmark buildings throughout the skyline.
Unbiased tour information Wan additionally famous that the Chongqing authorities has been extremely proactive in selling city tourism, organizing common drone exhibits, vacation mild shows and fireworks exhibits.
Throughout peak journey seasons, native residents even obtain textual content messages from the federal government, kindly asking them to remain house to depart extra room for vacationers visiting.
“I really consider increasingly worldwide vacationers will come,” says Zhao. “In spite of everything, Chongqing’s vibe is one thing that may’t get replaced anyplace else on the earth.”
In the meantime, China’s current wave of visa-free initiatives is a part of a broader push to advertise inbound journey.
Starting in December 2023, China granted visa-free entry to residents of France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and Malaysia. As of June 2025, China has unilaterally carried out visa-free entry for residents of 47 countries and affords visa on arrival or simplified entry insurance policies for a total of 54 nations.
Information from the Chongqing immigration bureau exhibits that within the first two months of 2025, the variety of international nationals coming into by visa-free entry elevated by 245% year-on-year.
Guvi tells CNN that he would completely advocate town his mates and followers.
“I want we stayed longer,” he mentioned.
