Believed to have been founded as the capital of the shadowy State of Ba in 1000 BC, this port is situated on a peninsula at the junction of the Yangzi and Jialing rivers. Also known as Shan Cheng (Mountain City), due to the hills covering the peninsula, it is one of the Yangzi valley’s “three furnaces” owing to its stifling summer humidity. The main reason to visit Chongqing, a lively, rapidly modernizing city with few historic sights, is to catch a Yangzi ferry downstream through the Three Gorges. In 1997, Chongqing became the administrative center of the new city-province of Chongqing Shi, which stretches 500 km east to Hubei.

Chaotian Men

Chaotian Men (Gate Facing Heaven) is Chongqing’s wharf district right at the tip of the peninsula, where cruise boats line the muddy banks, readying themselves for their journey into Eastern China. A viewing platform overlooking the river junction was built in 2000, and offers splendid views on a windy day, though often visibility is impaired by the fogs.

Luohan Si

This Ming-era temple is famed for its hall crowded with luohan (those freed from the cycle of rebirth). The Indian Buddhist pantheon has just 18 luohan, but the Chinese have added hundreds of their own, including Buddhist figures, folk heroes, and even Daoists. The hall has 524 life-sized statues; some sit serenely, while others have grotesque faces. The most easily identifiable figure is Ji Gong, a comic peasant hero near the exit.

Hongyan Cun

This group of whitewashed buildings was the base of the Nationalist-Communist “United Front” government during World War II. Among the prominent people based here were the Communist leader Zhou Enlai and his wife, Deng Yingchao. Chairman Mao briefly visited Hongyan Cun (Red Crag Village) after Japan surrendered in 1945, to attend the US-sponsored talks with the Kuomintang forces led by Chiang Kai Shek. The buildings now house a collection of sparsely-captioned wartime photographs. More appealing is the hilly parkland surrounding the site.

Ciqi Kou

Founded 1,700 years ago on the banks of Jialing Jiang, Ciqi Kou (Porcelain Port) was a famous porcelain production center during the Ming era, and is something of a museum piece. Its riverfront lanes, preserved in their original flagstone state, are flanked by old timber, adobe, and split-stone buildings with carved stonework, latticed windows, and gray-tiled roofs. Teahouses are the city’s main feature, and there are about 100 to choose from. A couple of the more traditional ones overlook the river and occasionally host opera performances. Porcelain isn’t made here any more, but Ciqi Kou has become the haunt of painters in both modern and traditional styles.