重庆市

Why this place

Chongqing is built on steep hills where the Yangtze meets the Jialing, so the city stacks vertically — streets become stairs, buildings have entrances on several levels, and the monorail runs straight through an apartment block. It was China's wartime capital during the war with Japan, and it is the source of the numbingly hot, numbing-peppercorn hotpot that is now the country's most popular food.

What to see

• Hongya Cave at night — a layered stilt-building complex lit up over the Jialing, the city's signature image
• Liziba monorail station, where the train passes through a building
• The Ciqikou old town, and the Shanchenglane (mountain city lane) stair-streets
• The Three Gorges Museum, which explains both the gorges and the wartime capital period
• Yangtze River cable car and the two-river confluence at Chaotianmen
• Dazu rock carvings, 2 hours west — a UNESCO site with thousands of Buddhist, Taoist and Confucian figures

What to eat

• Chongqing hotpot — a cauldron of beef tallow, chilli and Sichuan peppercorn; the local standard
• Small noodles (xiaomian) — eaten for breakfast, with chilli oil and pickled vegetables
• Grilled fish and 'maocai', the street-level snack version of hotpot

How to plan

Three days: the city's vertical core one day, the museums and Ciqikou one day, Dazu one day.

Best time

March–May and October–November; Chongqing is one of China's 'furnace' cities in summer

Practical tips

• Navigation is genuinely confusing — use the metro and allow extra time; '200 metres away' can mean straight up
• Ask for mild (wei la) if you are not used to it, and even mild will be hot