# Hongyadong, Chongqing > Hongyadong (洪崖洞, Hongya Cave) is an 11-storey complex of stilt-style houses on a cliff above the Jialing River in central Chongqing, packed with food stalls and shops and lit gold after dark. Entry is free; the streets open roughly 9:00–23:00 and the lights run from dusk to 23:00. Allow 60–90 minutes. Web page: https://yesgo.io/china/chongqing/hongyadong - City: [Chongqing](https://yesgo.io/china/chongqing), China - YesGo score: 44/100 (Yes, if nearby) - Time on site: 1 h 30 min - With kids: Fine with kids - Entry: Free; only a couple of attractions inside charge - Lights: Dusk to 23:00 — about 18:00–18:30 in winter, 20:00 in summer; 18:00–23:00 officially over Spring Festival - Hours: Streets ≈ 9:00–23:00 daily; shops and cafés close around 22:00–22:30 - Closed: Never - Booking: Reportedly a free passport booking on WeChat at weekends and on holidays - Top entrance: Floor 11 — Cangbai Road (沧白路), at street level; closest to the metro and taxis - Bottom entrance: Floor 1 — Jiabin Road (嘉滨路) on the riverfront - Metro: Xiaoshizi (Lines 1 and 6), Exit 9, ≈ 6 min; Linjiangmen (Line 2), ≈ 10 min - Best view: Mid-span on Qiansimen Bridge, approached from the north bank (Grand Theatre, Line 6) - Time needed: 60–90 minutes; 2 hours with the bridge and riverside - Payment: Alipay or WeChat Pay with a foreign Visa/Mastercard, or cash in yuan - Coordinates: 29.56478, 106.57422 - Facts checked: 04.11.2026 ## Key facts - **11** — storeys on the cliff: floor 1 opens onto the riverside road, floor 11 onto Cangbai Road (source: travelchina.org.cn (China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism); English and Chinese Wikipedia) - **Free** — entry to the complex; you only pay for food and a couple of ticketed halls (source: Hongyadong's official holiday notice; travelchina.org.cn) - **23:00** — lights out; they come on at dusk, at a time that shifts with the season (source: Hongyadong's official notice; chinafortravelers; Chongqing Bendibao) - **29 Sep 2006** — the present complex opened, built in diaojiaolou stilt-house style (source: Chinese Wikipedia; Wanderin China) - **4A** — national tourist attraction grade (source: English and Chinese Wikipedia) - **Jialing** — the river below; it joins the Yangtze a short way downstream (source: English Wikipedia; travelchina.org.cn) - **Hongya Dripping Green** — the cliff waterfall once counted among the classic Bayu scenes — the source of the name (source: Chinese Wikipedia; travelchina.org.cn) - **2015** — Qiansimen Bridge opened: road on top, Metro Line 6 on the lower deck (source: Chinese Wikipedia, 千厮门嘉陵江大桥) - **16,014** — people at once — the capacity limit in the official holiday notice (source: Hongyadong's official Spring Festival notice) - **Hongya Gate** — a Ming-era city gate once stood by this cliff (source: English and Chinese Wikipedia) > **Key tip: arrive before dusk and start from the top** Hongyadong is **free**, but evenings get packed: the official notice names 19:00–21:00 as the peak and says entry may be slowed or paused when it's full. Get there half an hour before the lights. Enter **from the top, floor 11** (Cangbai Road, near Xiaoshizi metro) and walk down to the river — evening lift queues reportedly reach 1–2 hours. ## What is Hongyadong? **Hongyadong** — often sold as Hongya Cave — is an **11-storey complex of stilt-style houses** (diaojiaolou) clinging to the cliff on the south bank of the Jialing River, a short walk from Jiefangbei. Inside are lanes of snack stalls, souvenir shops, teahouses, bars and hotels; outside is a cascade of eaves and lanterns that turns gold after dark. Despite the name, there's no cave to explore. The name comes from Hongya cliff, whose waterfall — 'Hongya Dripping Green' — was counted among the classic scenes of the Bayu region, and the Ming-era Hongya Gate in the city wall stood nearby. The current complex is modern: it opened on **29 September 2006**, replacing the old riverside stilt houses with a new building in the traditional style. People constantly compare the lit-up facade to the bathhouse in *Spirited Away*, and you'll see why from the bridge — but it's a coincidence of style, not a film location. YesGo's take: **from outside at night, Hongyadong is one of the great urban views in China**; inside, it's a crowded tourist mall with mark-ups. Spend your effort on where you stand to look at it, and keep the walk through the floors to under an hour. ## Is Hongyadong free? Hours and booking Yes, **entry is free** — both Hongyadong's own holiday notice and China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism say so. A couple of things inside charge: the 1980s retro quarter on floor 5 (outer lanes free, the inner zone reportedly about ¥39) and a light-projection hall on floor 6. The streets are open roughly **9:00–23:00** every day, with shops starting to close around 22:00–22:30 (chinafortravelers, Chinatripedia); Wanderin China describes the walkways as open 24 hours. There's no closing day. Booking is the grey area. chinafortravelers and Chinese guides say that at **weekends and on public holidays** you need a free real-name booking in the 洪崖洞 WeChat mini-program, with a staffed lane for people who can't use it — show your passport there. Whether the mini-program takes foreign passports is unconfirmed, and the official holiday notice mentions only the 16,014-person capacity limit. Weekdays are walk-in. Carry your passport either way. Paying for food: foreign Visa and Mastercard work once linked to Alipay or WeChat Pay with your passport; many stalls are QR-only. Keep some small yuan notes as a fallback. ## Hongyadong light times The lights come on **at dusk and go off at 23:00**. There's no published year-round timetable. The only official times are from the Spring Festival notice — **18:00–23:00** — and the Ministry's travel site gives 'around 19:00–23:00, adjusted by season'. Unofficially, chinafortravelers and Chongqing Bendibao put switch-on at about **18:00–18:30 in winter**, around 19:30 in spring and autumn, and about **20:00 in summer**. In late autumn and winter, plan on 18:00–19:00 and get to your viewpoint by five or six. Qiansimen Bridge's own lights switch off before the building's, so shoot the bridge-and-facade frame in the first hour. On holidays the lights sometimes stay on later, but don't count on it. ## How to get to Hongyadong 1. From **Jiefangbei**: about 800 m and 10 minutes on foot, downhill towards the Jialing River. Follow the 洪崖洞 signs to **Cangbai Road** (沧白路) — that's the floor-11 entrance. 2. By metro: **Line 1 or Line 6** to **Xiaoshizi** (小什字), **Exit 9**, then about 450 m on the flat — roughly 6 minutes to the top entrance. Chongqing Bendibao suggests Exit 6 and 10 minutes; both work, Exit 9 is shorter. 3. By monorail: **Line 2** to **Linjiangmen** (临江门), then about 10 minutes' walk, passing Kuixing Building on the way. 4. Straight to the best view: **Line 6** across the river to **Grand Theatre** (大剧院). Exit 3 leads to Qiansimen Bridge, Exit 4 to the reflecting pool on the riverfront. 5. From Jiangbei Airport (CKG): **Line 10** to **Hongtudi**, change to **Line 6** for **Xiaoshizi** — about an hour, ¥5–8. 6. By taxi or DiDi, ask for the **Cangbai Road entrance** — show 洪崖洞 沧白路. Taxis are almost impossible to hail on the riverside road at night, so leave from the top or from Jiefangbei. DiDi runs inside Alipay in English. ## What to see floor by floor - **Floor 11** — Cangbai Road and the free City Balcony terrace, looking over the Jialing and Qiansimen Bridge. The natural starting point. - **Upper floors** — hotels and restaurants with river windows; window tables go early in the evening. - **Floor 6** — a ticketed light-and-projection hall themed on the twelve Bayu scenes. - **Floor 5** — 'Reunion 1980', a retro old-Chongqing quarter; the outer lanes are free, the inner zone is ticketed. - **Floor 4** — an open gallery with the best close-up angles of the facade, and food: English Wikipedia singles it out for mala spice stalls. - **Lower floors** — souvenirs, tea and sweets, plus a free lift bank from floor 11 down to the riverside. - **Floor 1** — the exit onto Jiabin Road; take the underpass to the river for a full-height view from below. ## Where's the best view of Hongyadong? The postcard shot is from **mid-span on Qiansimen Bridge** (千厮门大桥), which opened in 2015 with a road and footpaths on top and Metro Line 6 underneath. Approach **from the north bank** — Grand Theatre station, Exit 3. Unofficially, the south bridgehead next to Hongyadong is currently a construction site, and on big holidays police run the bridge one-way. Second choice: **the north-bank riverfront by the Grand Theatre** — the reflecting pool at Exit 4, then a 15-minute walk along the river to the pebble beach in Jiangbeizui Riverside Park, where the facade doubles in the water. Wear shoes with grip. Third: **street level on Jiabin Road**, opposite the floor-1 exit — close and dramatic, but the most crowded spot of all. Fourth: the **Daijiaxiang cliff walkway** about 400 m west, which looks down on the complex without the crush. About 700 m west is **Kuixing Building** (魁星楼), an office tower whose street-level plaza is on the 22nd floor — another dose of Chongqing's stacked '8D city' geography, free and on the way to Linjiangmen station. ## Hongyadong vs other Chongqing views | Place | Cost | When to go | What you get | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Hongyadong | Free | Evening, lights dusk to 23:00 | The night facade, food, 11 levels to wander | | [Yangtze River Cableway](https://yesgo.io/china/chongqing/yangtze-river-cableway) | ¥30 one way, ¥50 return | Until 22:00 March–November, 21:00 in winter | A ride over the river; north station about 600 m away | | [Liziba Station](https://yesgo.io/china/chongqing/liziba-station) | ¥2 fare, platform free | Early morning, 7:00–9:00 | Monorail through an apartment block; under reconstruction | Prices and hours are unofficial figures from travel guides (chinafortravelers, Chinatripedia) — check before you go. ## Before your evening at Hongyadong - [ ] Arriving by five or six, before the lights - [ ] Passport on me, in case of weekend booking - [ ] Alipay or WeChat Pay set up with a foreign card, plus small yuan notes - [ ] 洪崖洞 沧白路 saved for the taxi driver - [ ] Comfortable shoes — stairs, ramps and a pebble beach - [ ] Offline map downloaded — Google Maps doesn't work in China without a VPN or roaming ## Is Hongyadong worth visiting? At night, yes — it's Chongqing's signature view and it costs nothing. The value is in the **view**, not the shopping: inside it's a standard tourist street, and more than an hour there is plenty. By day the facade looks flat without the lights, so if you pass at noon, step out on the City Balcony and come back after sunset. Avoid public holidays and Golden Week if you can: entry can be capped and the bridge turned one-way. If your Chongqing evenings fall on a weekend, pick a weekday for Hongyadong — fewer people and, reportedly, no booking. ## Chongqing after dark: compare and choose Evening spots in Chongqing rated by YesGo. - [Jiefangbei](https://yesgo.io/china/chongqing/jiefangbei) — YesGo score 45/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 30 min · Free, open 24 hours - [Hongyadong](https://yesgo.io/china/chongqing/hongyadong) — YesGo score 44/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h 30 min · Free - [Shibati](https://yesgo.io/china/chongqing/shibati) — YesGo score 43/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h · Free - [Liziba Station](https://yesgo.io/china/chongqing/liziba-station) — YesGo score 42/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 30 min · Free; metro ride ≈ ¥2 - [Eling Park](https://yesgo.io/china/chongqing/eling-park) — YesGo score 38/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h 15 min · Free; tower ¥0–10 - [Yangtze River Cableway](https://yesgo.io/china/chongqing/yangtze-river-cableway) — YesGo score 38/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 45 min · ¥30 one way, ¥50 return ## Central Chongqing into the evening Old stairway streets and Jiefangbei in the afternoon, the Yangtze River Cableway around sunset, then Hongyadong once it's dark. Add them to your route — YesGo fits in the timing and transfers. 1. [Shibati](https://yesgo.io/china/chongqing/shibati) — YesGo score 43/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h · Free 2. [Jiefangbei](https://yesgo.io/china/chongqing/jiefangbei) — YesGo score 45/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 30 min · Free, open 24 hours 3. [Yangtze River Cableway](https://yesgo.io/china/chongqing/yangtze-river-cableway) — YesGo score 38/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 45 min · ¥30 one way, ¥50 return 4. [Hongyadong](https://yesgo.io/china/chongqing/hongyadong) — YesGo score 44/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h 30 min · Free ## Don't mix it up Hongyadong (洪崖洞) is the cliffside complex on the Jialing River in central Chongqing — not a cave site. For carvings in rock, go to [Dazu](https://yesgo.io/china/chongqing/dazu-rock-carvings); for karst caves and natural bridges, go to [Wulong](https://yesgo.io/china/chongqing/wulong-karst). ## Tips - Enter from floor 11 on Cangbai Road and walk down — you'll skip the lift queues entirely. - Shoot the bridge-and-facade frame in the first hour after switch-on: the bridge lights go off first. - Walk onto Qiansimen Bridge from the north bank — Grand Theatre station, Exit 3. - Leave from the top or from Jiefangbei; taxis don't stop on the riverside road at night. - Keep your passport handy at weekends in case booking is enforced. - Eat elsewhere in Yuzhong: hotpot and noodles a few streets away cost less than inside the complex. - With energy left, walk 700 m west to Kuixing Building, where the street meets the 22nd floor. ## Questions ### Is Hongyadong free? Yes, entry is free. Only a couple of attractions inside charge, such as the retro quarter on floor 5 and the projection hall on floor 6. ### What time do the Hongyadong lights turn on? At dusk, and they go off at 23:00. Roughly 18:00–18:30 in winter and 20:00 in summer (unofficial); officially 18:00–23:00 over Spring Festival. ### What are Hongyadong's opening hours? The streets are open about 9:00–23:00 daily and shops close around 22:00–22:30. Some guides say the walkways never close. ### How do I get to Hongyadong by metro? Line 1 or 6 to Xiaoshizi, Exit 9, then about 6 minutes on foot to the floor-11 entrance. From Line 2, use Linjiangmen, about 10 minutes away. ### Which floor should I enter from? Floor 11, at street level on Cangbai Road near the metro and Jiefangbei. Floor 1 opens onto Jiabin Road by the river. ### Where is the best place to photograph Hongyadong? Mid-span on Qiansimen Bridge, walking on from the north bank at Grand Theatre station (Line 6). The Grand Theatre riverfront and Jiabin Road are good alternatives. ### Do I need to book Hongyadong? Not on weekdays. At weekends and on holidays a free real-name booking via the 洪崖洞 WeChat mini-program is reportedly required; a staffed lane accepts passports. ### How long do you need at Hongyadong? 60–90 minutes for the floors and terrace; about two hours with the bridge and riverside. ### Is Hongyadong worth visiting? Yes, after dark, for the view. By day it's an ordinary shopping street, and the inside isn't worth more than an hour. ### Is Hongyadong a real cave? No. The name comes from Hongya cliff and its old waterfall; the complex itself is a modern building in stilt-house style, opened in 2006. ## How we checked Free entry is confirmed by Hongyadong's own notice and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism's travel site, so it carries the official badge, as does the entrance layout (floor 11 at street level, floor 1 by the river). Light times disagree: the only official figure is the Spring Festival 18:00–23:00, the Ministry says about 19:00–23:00, guides range from 18:00 in winter to 20:00 in summer, and Bendibao gives 20:00–23:00 — we show the range and mark it checking. Street hours: 9:00–23:00 per chinafortravelers and Chinatripedia, 24 hours per Wanderin China. Weekend booking comes from chinafortravelers and Chinese guides; the official notice doesn't mention it, so it's checking. Metro exit: 9 per chinafortravelers and Chinatripedia, 6 per Bendibao — we give both. Sources disagree on floor area (46,000 vs 53,000 m²) and only one gives a height, so we leave those out. The floor-5 ticket price comes from a single guide. The English core comes from search results and related questions. ## Sources - Hongyadong's official Spring Festival notice (carried by Guangming / Hualong): free entry, lights 18:00–23:00, capacity 16,014 at once, 19:00–21:00 peak, entry may be paused - travelchina.org.cn (China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism): free entry, 11 storeys, floor 11 at street level and floor 1 by the river, entrances on floors 11, 2 and 1, lights around 19:00–23:00 - Chinese Wikipedia: 洪崖洞民俗风貌区 — opened 29 Sep 2006, Hongya Dripping Green, Hongya Gate, 4A grade, gold lighting - English Wikipedia: Hongyadong — 11 storeys, diaojiaolou style, food on floor 4, top-floor viewing platform; Wikidata Q32171478 - Chinese Wikipedia: 千厮门嘉陵江大桥 — opened 2015, road deck above, Line 6 below - chinafortravelers, Hongyadong night view: hours, seasonal light times, floors, Xiaoshizi Exit 9, Grand Theatre exits, Kuixing Building, weekend booking - Chinatripedia, Hongyadong: free entry, 9:00–23:00, entrances on floors 1 and 11, Exit 9, photo spots - Chongqing Bendibao (重庆本地宝): lights around 20:00–23:00, Xiaoshizi Exit 6, photo spots - Wanderin China, Hongyadong: walkways open 24 hours, shops about 10:00–22:00 - YesGo's China and Chongqing notes: payment, DiDi, airport metro, cableway, Liziba --- This is the Markdown version of a YesGo page for AI assistants. Quote the web page link above, not this file.