Wuhan - Chongqing

As part of the family reunion in 2025, I accompanied my mom to travel to Wuhan and Chongqing for a couple of days and had some interesting experiences.

Sep 7, 2025
Wuhan

The overnight train arrived at Hankou Station in the early morning, perfect for starting a day's sightseeing. Before heading into town, we had the Wuhan specialty hot dry noodles at a fast-food restaurant near the exit of the train station.

After dropping our bags at the hotel, we started to explore the city. The most famous sight of Wuhan is the Yellow Crane Tower, reconstructed in 1983. When we reached the west gate, we were offered a combined ticket that included a boat trip on East Lake and one-way transportation from Yellow Crane Tower to East Lake, which we accepted. Such a ticket can only be bought on an app, which is common practice in China. The staff were helpful in using the app.

There were many tourists at the Yellow Crane Tower. While my mom used the elevator (free for seniors) to get to the top, I climbed the five-story tower using the stairs, giving me an opportunity to explore each floor, which illustrates the history of the tower, etc. There are good views of the city and the Yangtze River from the top floor.

The free one-way transfer to East Lake departs from the East Gate of the Yellow Crane Tower at fixed times several times a day. We decided to take the boat trip on the lake mainly because of my mom, who prefers not to walk too long. The boat trip was nothing special but still relaxing. There were various stops where people could get off for further activities such as hiking. I also saw many people cycling in the park, which could be fun, I imagine.

In the mid-afternoon, we had a walk inside Wuhan University. Wuhan University is famous for its cherry blossoms in spring, but the campus is also quite beautiful any time of the year. And the old library building shouldn't be missed either (some climbing is required).

The last "sight" we checked out for the day was the Optics Valley Monorail, China’s first suspended aerial rail ("hanging monorail") line. It's more like a tourist attraction than a means of commute for the local people, as it's not part of the metro system and you need to buy an expensive ticket to "experience" it.

Optics Valley Monorail

Sep 8, 2025
Wuhan to Chongqing

Wuhan is made up of three areas: Wuchang, Hankou, and Hanyang. Since we already explored some of the major sights in Wuchang, we decided to check out a few old buildings in Hankou across the Yangtze River. We took a public ferry (super cheap) across the Yangtze River to the Jianghan Customs House, the old Customs House from the Republic of China era. The building looks grand. We then took a bus to see Gude Temple, a Buddhist temple that doesn't look like a traditional Chinese Buddhist temple as it blends Western and Muslim influences.

In the early afternoon, we took a five-hour high-speed train to Chongqing. In the second half of the journey, the train was in tunnels most of the time—amazing engineering—but there were no hot meals served on the train, only expensive snacks available.

Gude Temple

Sep 9, 2025
Three Natural Bridges

We stayed at a hotel in the South Square area of Chongqing North Railway Station as it’s a convenient location to travel around Chongqing. We allocated three full days in the Chongqing area, and the first day was for the Three Natural Bridges, a famous karst landscape in Wulong, near Chongqing.

A morning train from Chongqing North Station took a little over two hours to reach Wulong Station. There were big coaches ferrying passengers to the Fairy Mountain Visitor Center, where you can buy tickets for three sights in the area—the Three Natural Bridges is definitely the most popular.

The ticket includes another bus inside the park to take you to the actual sight. After entry, there is a long walk with some good karst landscape. But the real activity is to take an elevator down, then walk three kilometers passing the three "natural bridges." To me, only the first one looks like a bridge, and the other two look more like arches. Nevertheless, it was a nice walk, and each of the three "bridges" has its own character.

A late afternoon train took us back to Chongqing North Station.

One of the "Three Natural Bridges"

Sep 10, 2025
Chongqing

We spent most of the day exploring the city of Chongqing. We first went to Liziba Monorail Station. What makes this station famous is that it's inside a building complex. From the ground, you can watch the train going through the building. We then experienced the Crown Escalator (the longest indoor escalator in China) and the Yangtze River Cableway (now very touristy and expensive) and walked around the Jiefangbei (Liberation Square) area, the heart of Chongqing. The last stop of our exploration was Hongya Cave, where the Yangtze River Night Cruises depart. Hongya Cave is actually not a natural cave; it's an eleven-story stilted building complex built along a cliffside. You enter from the top floor on the street, and the lowest floor is at the river level where you take the cruises. The building complex is very commercialized, with plenty of shops, restaurants, and so on. Hongya Cave is best viewed from the river, especially at night from the Yangtze River Night Cruise. The cruise goes to the confluence of the Jialing River and the Yangtze River and back, with some entertainment on board.

Liberation Square

Sep 11, 2025
Dazu Rock Carvings

There are day tours from Chongqing North Station to Dazu Rock Carvings (a UNESCO site), but we figured taking public transportation would be cheaper. The bus station at the South Square of Chongqing North Station has buses to Dazu town, and from there it's easy to take a Didi to Baoding Mountain (the main attraction of Dazu Rock Carvings).

Almost all tourist sights in China require an ID (passport for foreigners) to buy an entry ticket (the same applies to taking trains and long-distance buses). Dazu Rock Carvings goes a step further by taking a photo of you when you buy the ticket. Then, at the entrance gate, if your face is recognized, you're let in.

Only certain sections of the rock carvings at Baoding Mountain are open to the public, but they are still quite impressive—vivid and detailed. It takes one to two hours to complete the well-defined route.

We bought the combined tickets that also include North Mountain, a few kilometers from Baoding Mountain (transportation between the two "mountains" is not included in the ticket). The rock carvings at North Mountain are much smaller but predate those at Baoding Mountain. These rock carvings are good supplements to those at Baoding Mountain (and day tours organized by travel agencies do visit North Mountain), but can be skipped if pressed for time.

Dazu Rock Carvings at Baoding Mountain

Overview

This trip to Wuhan and Chongqing was requested by my mom, but I have no regrets. Both cities are on the Yangtze River and offer river cruises. I'm glad I took a public ferry (super cheap) across the Yangtze River in Wuhan and rode the cableway (touristy and expensive) over the Yangtze River in Chongqing. I found the old buildings at Wuhan University and Hankou to be the best-kept secrets in Wuhan. Chongqing is built on mountains, and you don't see bicycles there, but other than that, the city is not much different from other Chinese cities, so take day trips from Chongqing and don't miss Dazu Rock Carvings.