Serica Journeys Day journeys in China
Southwest China · 重庆

Chongqing

A city built vertically, and the rock carvings beyond it.

Typical day
6–10 hours
Party size
1–6 guests
Guiding
English
Pick-up
Chongqing city hotels

Chongqing is stacked rather than laid out — streets that are also roofs, a monorail through an apartment block, rivers meeting below a peninsula of towers. It is the most physically strange large city in China and it repays a guide who knows which staircase goes where.

Two hours west, the Dazu carvings are among the finest Buddhist rock sculpture anywhere and receive a fraction of the visitors of the northern grottoes.

Journeys

2 private day journeys in Chongqing.

Prices are quoted per party once we know your dates and numbers. Every itinerary below can be adjusted — they are how we run the day by default, not a fixed menu.

9 hours Private departureEnglish guide

The Dazu Rock Carvings

Baodingshan · Beishan · Village lunch

Itinerary
08:00
Pick-up. West about two hours.
10:15
Baodingshan: the horseshoe cliff, in narrative order.
12:30
Lunch nearby.
14:00
Beishan grottoes.
15:30
Return to Chongqing.
17:30
Back at your hotel.
Highlights
  • Tens of thousands of figures cut between the ninth and thirteenth centuries
  • The reclining Buddha and the Wheel of Life at Baoding Mountain
  • Beishan's narrower, earlier niches, which most day trips omit
  • Buddhist, Confucian and Daoist figures in one programme — unusual, and explained
Included
  • Private vehicle and driver
  • English-speaking guide
  • Both site entries
  • Lunch
  • Bottled water
Not included
  • Personal spending
  • Gratuities

Know before you go. Both sites involve stairs and sloping paths. Baodingshan has a shuttle from the gate.

6 hours Private departureEnglish guide

Vertical Chongqing and a Hotpot Evening

Ciqikou · Hongyadong · Monorail · Hotpot

Itinerary
14:00
Pick-up. Ciqikou lanes and the riverside.
16:00
Liziba monorail, then the Yangtze cableway.
17:30
Hongyadong and the confluence as the lights come up.
19:00
Hotpot. Two broths, so you can calibrate.
20:30
Back at your hotel.
Highlights
  • The old Ciqikou port town before the evening crowds
  • The monorail station built through a residential tower — from inside
  • The rivers meeting, from the peninsula tip at dusk
  • Real Chongqing hotpot, ordered for you, at a heat you choose
Included
  • Private vehicle and driver
  • English-speaking guide
  • Monorail and cableway fares
  • Hotpot dinner
  • Bottled water
Not included
  • Alcohol
  • Gratuities

Know before you go. Chongqing hotpot is genuinely hot. We always order a split pot so there is a route out.

Other cities
Beijing
Shanghai
Xi'an
Chengdu
Hangzhou
Guilin & Yangshuo