[Written at the beginning]

Chengdu and Chongqing are two cities that love and kill each other, two cities with many origins but have always had some "contradictions". There are many similarities but also many differences. As a "outsider" who has lived in Chongqing for 15 years and is currently settled in Chengdu, I have a deep affection for Chengdu and Chongqing. Many people ask me, do I like Chengdu more or love Chongqing more? I really want to say that I love both of them, not just the official insincerity, but the most genuine feeling in my heart. Both cities with a history of three thousand years have their own connotations and personalities. Now, Chengdu and Chongqing are famous internet famous cities. The word 'red' always gives people a sudden and short-lived feeling of popularity, but if you think about it carefully, the internet famous cities across the country are all cities with rich historical heritage, They became popular for a reason, not just due to one or two accidental events. Fortunately, I was able to experience these two 3000 year old "internet celebrities" up close and write so many travelogues about Chengdu, and also want to show everyone my Chongqing, my second hometown in my heart!

Regarding the author

Cat's Tea: A travel experience expert, a post-80s Aquarius woman who loves traveling and photography. She runs her own homestay in Chengdu. If you want to come and play in Chengdu, please feel free to come find me!

WeChat Maozhicha, Weibo: The Little Happiness of Cat Tea!

WeChat official account: cat can play (maohuiwan666)

Mountain City Air Bus - Yangtze River Cableway

Tips: The Yangtze River cableway runs to and from Xinhua Road in Yuzhong District (Xiaoshizi Station of rail transit, near Monument to the people's Liberation) and Shangxin Street in Nan'an District. It is recommended to take the light rail to Shangxin Street, and take the cableway from Shangxin Street to cross the river to Yuzhong District, because there will be a lot of people in Yuzhong District and the queue time is long, and Shangxin Street has a more beautiful view of Yuzhong Peninsula. Best shooting location: at the exit of the cableway on Shangxin Street. You can take photos at the exit first, and then take the cableway. The cableway box is crowded and not very suitable for taking photos.

Chongqing, a city surrounded by the Yangtze River and Jialing River, is a must visit place to appreciate the beauty of Chongqing, and that is the Yangtze Cableway. Chongqing is known as a mountain city with two rivers surrounding it. Nowadays, there are many cross river bridges and light rail and subway systems everywhere in Chongqing, which are very convenient. However, in the past, without these modern transportation tools, Chongqing's transportation was very inconvenient. Crossing the river could only be done by taking a boat. In the 1980s, the cross river cableway was introduced. Think about that era, taking the cableway to cross the river was not too fancy.

There used to be two cross river cableways in Chongqing, one was the Yangtze River cableway and the other was the Jialing River cableway. As the name suggests, one spans the Yangtze River and the other spans the Jialing River. The Jialing River Cableway was completed in January 1982 and is China's first passenger cableway. The Yangtze River Cableway, which was completed in October 1987, is also known as the first cross river passenger cableway on the ten thousand mile Yangtze River. Unfortunately, due to bridge repairs, the Jialing River Cableway was shut down and demolished in 2011, leaving only this Yangtze River Cableway now.

The Yangtze River Cableway is from Xinhua Road in Yuzhong District (close to Monument to the people's Liberation) to Shangxin Street in Nan'an District. Previously, the cableway was only used as a daily means of transportation for residents on both sides of the Yangtze River. With many movies and TV plays, especially the popular Crazy Stone, the Yangtze River Cableway has also become a popular tourist attraction and gradually become one of the must hit spots to travel to Chongqing.

On the slow-moving cableway, watching the towering buildings on both sides of the river, arranged in a staggered manner, Chongqing, surrounded by mountains and waters, displays a unique three-dimensional beauty, making it an excellent choice for night views.

Take the popular light rail ride and enjoy the river view and delicious food

If you were to ask me what locals in Chongqing enjoy doing during their free time at work, it would definitely be finding a riverside spot to drink tea, play cards, and eat hotpot. There are too many places like this in Chongqing, which can be found on various riverside roads or on the southern mountains. And now for friends who come to Chongqing, 100% of them want to see the legendary light rail that passes through buildings with their own eyes, and this magical light rail station is Liziba Station on Line 2.

Don't just leave after watching this amazing scenery. Take another stop at Fotu Pass Station, where there are still very interesting hidden places. For example, in the food industry, the three famous mythical beasts of Liziba, today we will go and experience one of them - the black fish flower. After leaving the station, climb up a curved path and pass by the hotpot restaurant featured in "Passing Through My World". However, it seems that the restaurant has closed during renovation and continues to climb. Now is the best time for you to experience life in Chongqing. You have to climb hills and obstacles every day. Do you know why Chongqing girls are so thin? Hahaha. When you are almost unable to climb, you will see an old house covered in various plants, with many cars parked at the entrance, indicating that you have arrived.

If I don't tell you, it's probably hard to find out that this is a restaurant. There are too many places in Chongqing where the environment is not very good but full. Chongqing people never pay attention to the environment when eating, as long as the taste is good, they will flock there. Although the internal environment of this place is not very good, the view of the river is definitely pleasant. Remember to choose a seat on the third floor with a view of the river. Of course, if you want to sit in this position, you can only occupy it very early.

The main dish here is sour soup with black fish flowers. The fish meat is very tender and the sour soup is very appetizing. It is considered one of the lighter dishes in Chongqing cuisine. Personally, I prefer sour soup fish. In addition to fish, fatty intestines and rabbits are also good. Remember, you must order enough dishes. There are no additional dishes here, and there is a waiter who has a bad temper. There is no other way but to be so stubborn.

A stone paved road, a millennium magnet mouth
A city with a history of 3000 years naturally has many ancient towns, and the most famous ancient town in Chongqing is naturally Ciqikou. Speaking of Ciqikou, it carries too many memories for me during my more than ten years in Chongqing. Although many people say that Ciqikou is too commercialized, we used to love going to the riverbank of Ciqikou to drink tea and play mahjong because we studied in Shapingba, which was very close to Ciqikou. As long as we had friends to invite us to drink tea and play cards, especially when the weather was good, Ciqikou was the first choice. However, this time when I returned to Ciqikou, I found that the riverbank was already surrounded and there was no place to drink tea. I felt a great loss in my heart. But after walking on this stone road that had been walked countless times, I still had a strong feeling.

Ciqikou was first built in the Song Dynasty and has a unique landscape of "one river, two streams, three mountains, and four streets". It is a natural harbor and an important water and land dock by the Jialing River. Once flourishing with the saying 'thousands of people bowing their hands during the day, and thousands of bright lights shining at night', a stone paved road and a millennium old magnet mouth are a microcosm and symbol of the ancient city of Chongqing, praised as the 'Little Chongqing'.

The earliest name of Ciqikou was Baiyanchang, which dates back to the Xianping period of Emperor Zhenzong of Song Dynasty (998-1003), and was named after the Baiyan Temple that once existed here. In the fourth year of the Jianwen reign of the Ming Dynasty, Emperor Jianwen Zhu Yunwen was usurped by his fourth uncle Zhu Di. After escaping from the palace, he shaved his head and became a monk. When he wandered to the Bayu area, he hid in Baolun Temple on Baiyan Mountain for four to five years. After the people learned about it, they renamed Baolun Temple as Longyin Temple and Baiyanchang as Longyin Town based on the fact that Emperor Zhenlong once lived here.

In the early years of the Qing Dynasty, porcelain became the main industry in Longyin Town for a long time. In 1918, local porcelain merchants raised funds to establish the "Shu Porcelain Factory" in Qingcaopo, Zhongzhen, which produced porcelain with new techniques and sold it outside of Sichuan. Later, the merchants in this area gradually changed their name and called it "Porcelain Mouth" because the word "porcelain" is connected to "magnetism", also known as "Ciqikou".

Now Ciqikou is most famous for its Fried Dough Twists and chicken offal. It seems that all the Fried Dough Twists on this ancient street are surnamed "Chen", but which one is the most authentic one has its own reasons, which makes it difficult to distinguish. Fortunately, each one can taste it first and buy it later. You can buy whatever you think is delicious.

The main street of the ancient town is often crowded with people, while the small streets and alleys are much quieter. Therefore, I don't want to have too many people at the entrance of Xianci. After all, it is a tourist attraction, and it is normal to have many people. If you like quietness, you can walk into the small alleys and naturally find the feeling you think of.

The earliest internet celebrity destination in Chongqing - Huangjueping

Chongqing is now known as an internet famous city, and in my impression, the earliest place in Chongqing that can be called an internet famous city is Huangjueping, a former urban-rural integration area that later became an important railway, port, and port freight distribution center in Jiulongpo District. It has the largest container terminal in the southwest region, Chongqing Power Plant and other large enterprises. Originally not very famous, but in 2006, at the suggestion of Luo Zhongli, the director of Sichuan Academy of Fine Arts, graffiti art was used to beautify the facades of street facing houses, injecting full of fashionable vitality into the old streets of Huangjueping and gradually making it a must visit place in Chongqing. The sentence is:.

Huangjueping Graffiti Art Street starts from Huangjueping Railway Hospital and ends at 501 Art Gallery, with a total length of 1.25 kilometers and a total area of about 50000 square meters. It is the largest graffiti art work in China and even the world today. More than 800 workers, students, and artists participated in the entire graffiti project, spending 12500 kilograms of various paints and nearly 30000 brushes and oil brushes. After 150 days of careful production, a total of 37 buildings were graffiti painted, 1.25 kilometers of roads were renovated and widened, approximately 9000 meters of underground pipelines were installed, 2700 square meters of dangerous buildings were demolished and rebuilt, and 18 sculptures were set up, which brought about a revolutionary change in the appearance of the entire Huangjueping block.

So, Huangjueping is a place full of contradictory elements, yet it appears very harmonious. In the graffiti filled houses on both sides of the street, the most authentic Chongqing people live. There are many trendy students walking on the road, and the noise of playing cards around piles is heard on both sides.

Don't miss out on the "Transportation Tea House" in Huangjueping. It has been officially open since 1987 and has been decorated for 30 years without renovation. It still features a herringbone roof, blue brick columns, wooden square tables and benches that have been polished with thick and shiny patina by decades of people. The roof has also been smoked with a beautiful burnt color. Huangjueping Street has undergone multiple renovations and changes, and the Transportation Tea House remains unchanged.

In the late 1990s, the Traffic Tea House, like most former state-owned enterprise affiliated units, fell into a business crisis and struggled to maintain its business. As a long-time tea customer of the tea house, Chen Anjian voluntarily proposed a monthly subsidy of 1000 yuan to the owner in order for the tea house to continue operating. To this day, in 2018, the prices here were still "3 yuan for Tuo tea, 4 yuan for rock sugar chrysanthemum, 7 yuan for bamboo leaf green", and "2 yuan for bringing your own tea". Therefore, this place is still the favorite gathering place for the people, filled with tea customers every day, brewing a cup of authentic Chongqing Tuo tea, chatting about ancient and modern times, family life, and leisure.

If you want to experience the "most Chongqing", you must visit a traffic tea house. Come and have a bowl of Chongqing's favorite Tuo tea, and listen to how Chongqing people "brag". You will love this city even more.

Ultimate internet celebrity, Hongyadong

When I was still in Chongqing, Hongya Cave was still a tourist attraction with few visitors. I never expected that within a few years of leaving Chongqing, Hongya Cave had become one of the hottest and most popular attractions in Chongqing. Before I went to Hongya Cave to take a Tiktok, I seemed embarrassed to tell my friends that I had been to Chongqing.

Once, Hongya Cave was one of the ancient gates of Chongqing, Hongya Gate. The stilt houses in Hongya Cave were a living fossil of the "dock culture" of old Chongqing. This place used to be a gathering place for the "powerful people" who lived in stilt houses, wore cloth clothes, and did manual labor. However, the so-called stilted buildings are no longer what they used to be, and the Hongya Tower that people see now is completely a scenic spot that was later rebuilt. Therefore, when it was first built, not many people came here, only a few lonely restaurants opened among them.

However, there is a reason why Hongyadong is so popular now. The night view here is indeed very beautiful, and the unique terrain of the mountain city makes the lighting here staggered and harmonious, with the backdrop of the river, which is truly magnificent. The Qiansimen Bridge next to it is not only very beautiful, but also the best location to enjoy the night view of Hongyadong. Every night, this bridge is crowded, so if you want to take a night view, be sure to go early and occupy a favorable position.

Essential hotpot

1. Shenjiahongcheng local old hotpot (Deyi restaurant)

When you arrive in Chongqing, eating is inevitable, and hotpot is even more indispensable. After all, Chongqing is the birthplace of hotpot, and the port culture of Chongqing has given birth to this dish that is now loved by people all over the country. Therefore, when you come to Chongqing, a hotpot meal is essential. You should know that there is nothing that cannot be solved by one hotpot meal. If it cannot be solved, then two meals are recommended.

This store is located on the first floor of the basement of the Happy World next to Monument to the people's Liberation, just above the Jiaochangkou Light Rail Station. The name of the store has the word "local products", which is also the biggest feature here. After eating hot pot for so many years, the first time we eat local eggs in the hot pot store, the waiter specially recommended to us that these eggs are real local eggs collected in the countryside. When the bottom of the pot boils, you can knock the eggs in gently. I thought it was only suitable for the clear soup pot, but I didn't expect that the red oil pot could not cover up its delicious taste.

In addition to eggs, there are also classic dishes such as preserved meat, sausages, and pork ribs that often appear on New Year's Eve dinner. One advantage is that they can be eaten directly or boiled in a pot for a while before consumption.

Next is the most classic dish of hotpot, the three essential dishes of hotpot - tripe, duck intestine, and yellow throat. This is also the best way to showcase and test the quality of a restaurant's dishes. For tripe and duck intestine, it is important to control the heat well. If there is only a short difference of a few seconds, you may miss out on the most delicious ones.

In the past, most hotpot dishes were beef liver, but I didn't expect pork liver to be quite good. Remember to dip it in a dry dish, it's really great

Meat dishes are followed by vegetable dishes. I recommend two vegetable dishes that I like very much in this store, duck blood and colorful potatoes. Duck blood can also be said to be a very classic dish in hot pot. If you add a bowl of egg Fried Rice, it will be a perfect match. Colorful potatoes are a very unexpected dish. When ordering, I thought it was fried potatoes. Unexpectedly, I cut the potatoes into thin pieces and put them in the shape of a potato flower. Cutting them into thin pieces is easier to mature and more delicious, which is my favorite.

Finally, another classic snack - crispy meat, would be perfect.