The Poetic and Picturesque Ba-Yu Land

Chongqing is a China's favorite city for tourists. Richly endowed with tourist attractions and with its profound culture, Chongqing has the unique magnificent scenery of mountains, rivers, forests, springs waterfalls, gorges and caves on the one hand, and embodies the ancient Bu-Yu culture, the culture of the war against Japanese aggression, the culture of the Three Gorges and the culture of a metropolis on the other hand.

Best natural scenery in Chongqing includes mountain and gorge scenery represented by the Three Gorges on the Yangtze, Jinfo Mountain in Nanchuan, Simian Mountain in Jiangjin, and the Wujiang River, the Jialing River, the Daninghe River, and lake scenery represented by the Changshou Lake, the Xiaonanhai Lake and the Qinglonghu Lake. The best historical cultural relics include the Dazu Stone Carvings, the Chongqing Liaison Office of the Eighth-Route Army, the Fishermen's Castle in Hechuan, the Capital of the Nether World in Fengdu, and the Baiheliang rock on the riverbed of the Yangtze River in Fuling.

Chongqing has developed more than 20 tourist areas and more than 300 scenic spots. It has one World Cultural Heritage, the Dazu Stone Carvings; it has 4 Scenic areas of the national level: the Jinyun Montain-the Fishermen's Castle area, the Simian Mountain area, the Three Gorges on the Yangtze, and the Jinfo Mountain area; it has 5 national-level forest parks, one natural reserves of the national level, 19 national key units of historical relics for preservation, 2 national bases for education in patriotism, 8 tourist areas of the AAAA Class, 3 tourist areas of AAA and 5 tourist areas of AA. Besides, it has 214 scenic areas, forest parks, natural reserves and key units of historical relics for preservation of the municipal level. According to their special features, the scenic areas fall into the following categories: the natural mountain scenery tourist area of Jinfo Mountain and Simian Mountian; the tourist area for cultural relics studies of Jinyun Mountain -Fishermen' s Castle; the art tourist area of Dazu Stone Carvings; the Lesser Three Gorges scenery tourist area in Wushan; the tourist area of exploration at Furongdong Cave; the hot spring and lake area in the suburbs for holiday-makers; The tourist area of Tea Mountain and Bamboo Sea in Yongchuan; the tourist area for scientific exploration in Wanzhou; the tourist area in Qianjiang for traditional customs and habits of national minority people; and the tourist area of the Mountain City as a metropolis. In the end of 2001, Chongqing gained the title of "Chinese Excellent Tourist City", which realized he historical stride from "a resource city" to "a tourist city". In 2001,Chongqing hosted 39.5 million domestic tourists, which made a profit of 16.407 billion yuan; meanwhile hosted 313.3 thousand international tourists. Tourist industry is becoming a new growing and a pillar industry.

The Chongqing Three Gorges International Tourist Festival that is held once a year has cast its wide influence both on China and on the world. Now, Chongqing is endeavoring to create the Three Gorges, Dazu Stone Carving and Mountain Metropolis to be tourist articles with top quality.

The Three Gorges: A Corridor of Arts

Leaving at dawn the White Emperor crowned with cloud, I've sailed a thousand li through Canyons in a day. With the monkeys' adieus the riverbanks are loud, my skiff has left ten thousand mountains far away.   

Li Bai (701-762 A.D.), the great poet of the Tang Dynasty, sang a song while going through the Three Gorges on the Yangtze, and left the world the above immortal poem.

The Three Gorges on the Yangtze starts from Baidicheng (the White Emperor's City) in Fengjie in the west, and ends at Nanjinguan Pass in Yichang, Hubei Province in the east. High cliffs standing face to face on either side of the river, forming the Three Gorges: the Qutang Gorge in the west, the Wuxia Gorge in the middle, and the Xiling Gorge in the east. Each of the three gorges has its unique charm: the Qutang Gorge is imposing and magnificent; the Wuxia Gorge elegant and graceful; and the Xiling Gorge precipitous and perilous. In Wushan County, there are the even more beautiful scenery of the Lesser Three Gorges on the Daninghe River and the Lesser Lesser Three Gorges on the Maduhe River. Quite a number of places of historical interest are located along the Yangtze within Chongqing's territory. They include the unique archeological work of Shibaozhai, an ancient stockade; the Memorial Temple of Zhang Fei, a famous general of the State of Shu (261-223 A.D.); the Tuogutang where Liu Bei, emperor of State Shu, entrusted his sons at his deathbed to Zhuge Liang; the prime minister and his chief advisor; Shuangguitang, the most important Buddhist temple in Sichuan, Yunnan and Guizhou provinces; and the site of "Wushan Ape Man", the earliest man on earth. The Three Gorges area is one of China's best tourist attractions that combine tourism with archaeological studies, art enjoyment, cultural studies, studies of traditional customs and habits of national minorities, and architectural studies.

When the Three Gorges Dam Project is completed, a great lake will appear in the Three Gorges Dam area, and this area will be China's largest national park, and then Chongqing will become the largest tourist area in China for sightseeing and for holiday making.

Dazu Stone Carvings: A Treasure House of Works of Art

Dazu Stone Carvings represent the Chinese art of stone sculpture of the Tang and Song dynasties. At present there are more than 50,000 sculptures in 74 places on faces of rock walls. Of these sculptures and grottoes, those in Baoding Mountain and North Mountain have the highest artistic value, and they are as valuable as those in Dunhuang, Yun-gang, Longmen and Maijishan Mountain.

The main part of Dazu Stone Carvings is made up of sculptures of Buddhist figures, with some Confucian and Daoist figures among them. They are fine models of grotto art of the Tang and Song dynasties, marking a new height in the development of Chinese stone carving art. They have a prominent position in the fields of religion, art, history, and cultural history.

The carvings, grand in scale and rich in content, are mastery works of art, showing the idea of "Gods are human-like, while humans are god-like", which is characteristic of Buddhist stone carvings of the Tang and Song dynasties. Some of the carvings have very high artistic value, such as The Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva with a Thousand Hands and eyes, Nine Dragons Bathing the Royal Prince, Weighty Kindness of Parents, and Cowherds. The Beads Counting Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva (Buddhist Goddess of Mercy) has been regarded as "Venus of the East". In 1999, the Dazu Stone Carvings were listed as one of the World Cultural Heritages.

Fascinating Traditional Customs and Habits of Local People of Different Ethnic Groups

People of different national minority groups in Chongqing still preserve their traditional customs and habits.

Tujia people in Qianjiang District have their traditional festivals and special activities for special occasions, such as their New Year's Day, New Year gathering, local opera singing, the Hand-Waving Dance, the Colored Lantern Dance, etc. New Year's Day is the day for them to offer worship and sacrifice to their ancestors, and the Hand-Waving Dance is a dance originated from activities of these sacrifice ceremonies. From the third day to the fifteenth day of the first month on the lunar calendar each year, Tujia people in Xiushan County go in groups from house to house and from village to village, carrying colored lanterns and beating drums and gongs, wishing everyone good luck in the new year. The Carrying Pole of Chinese Littleleaf Box Wood, a tune of the Huadeng(colored lantern) opera, is well- known throughout the world.

The Autumn Gathering Festival is a festival of the Miao people in the border regions of Chongqing, Guizhou and hunan. On the day of Beginning of Autumn, Miao people will go out with their family and friends in their colorful national costumes and gather on the threshing ground for a variety of festivities. Amidst loud music of drums and gongs and cheerful songs, people often have a swing, climb the ladder made of swards, play the lion dance and the dragon dance and have song competitions. Miao people in Nanchuan County celebrate their "Treading on Mountain Festival" from the first to the fifteenth day of the first month. Young men dance to the music of the reed pipes while girls sing songs. Boys and girls will play the reed pipe to express their admiration to each other, and find their dates. On every festival day, people of different ethnic groups will gather for their celebrations with songs and dances and enjoy themselves. Besides, there are other festivals and special customs and practices of the local people, such as the Sheep and Horse Festival, the Torch Festival, the bride crying at her wedding, and jumping at the funeral. These colorful activities have become a great attraction in Chongqing to tourists from home and abroad.

Rising Tourist Activities in the City

The city of Chongqing is rich in tourist attractions, such as its unique features of a mountain city, famous historical sites of the revolution, a variety of cultural relics of the War of Resistance Against Japan, gardens and parks and other scenic spots, and natural reserves. The city is a good place for the tourist to visit for sightseeing, relaxation, conferences, exhibitions, holiday making, shopping, and for enjoying the delicious food. It is a great attraction with special charms to tourists from China and abroad. The "Charming Chongqing ~ One-day Travel" emerged from January 1,2002. It includes 4 itineries: "Great Changes in Ba-Yu", "Memory of Red Rock and Ancient Towns", "New Municipality and Green South Mountain", "West Municipality ~ Mountain City ~ Nightless City".

Chongqing at night is a good scene to see. Besides, there are the Jiefangbei Shopping Center, Chongqing People's Auditorium, the jointing point of the Yangtze and the Jialing rivers at Chaotianmen, the ancient Ba and Shu Cultural Center, the Hongyan Revolutionary Museum, 50 Zengjiayan Street, official residence of President Chiang Kaishek on Huangshan Mountain, residence of Lin Sen, former chairman of the national government, Revolutionary Martyrs' Cemetery at Geleshan, KMT prisons at Baigongguan and Zhazidong, and the Luohansi Buddhist Temple. Chongqing at night presents a marvelous view, with a million lights of the mountain city and stars in the sky reflected on rivers, like a milky way on earth. It is a great sight indeed.

Delicious Foodod

Chongqing food belongs to the Sichuan cuisine of the 4 major cuisines (Sichuan, Guangdong, Beijing and Suzhou cuisines) of Chinese food and has its special position in the history of Chinese cooking. Sichuan cuisine originated from the cooking ways of ancient states of Ba and Shu, paying special attention to the color, fragrance, taste, and shape of the dish, especially the taste of the food. The food may have a variety of tastes, and may be cooked in dozens of ways, such as stir-frying, steaming, stewing, etc. Favorite dishes popular in Chongqing in recent years include the red pepper chicken, the quanshui chicken, the koushui chicken, maoxuewang blood curd, the tender bean-curd fish, the hot pepper fish, and the Youting fish. Other favorite food may include the guoqiao meat dumplings, the dandan noodles, the sweet dumplings with chicken fat, and the laozao rice wine that often go with the sweet dumplings. The Bayi Road in Yuzhong District has become a street of restaurants. One can have a taste of the strong-flavored, heavily spiced food that Chongqing people are so fond of, and better understand their bold and open character. Chongqing hot pot is characteristic of Chongqing food, which has spread to other parts of China, and has become a gold name card of Chongqing.

Among Chongqing dishes there are also some not so heavily spiced. One can enjoy dishes to his own taste in Chongqing, such as the salty food, the homemade-style food, the sweet-fish flavored food, the sweet and sour food, the ginger-flavored food, and many others. In Chongqing foodstuffs there are quite a number of local specialties, including the Hechuan sliced rice cake with nut meat, the Jiangjin crisp sweet rice cake, the Yongchuan preserved egg, the Yongchuan fermented soya beans, the Zhongxian- fermented bean curd, and the Fuling mustard tuber. They are all welcomed in the domestic and international markets.