I’m a Chongqinger living in Montreal. When I went back home this summer, I spent a couple of days following a rather unusual route through the city — looking for buildings and historical sites connected to the French presence in Chongqing during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

📍 Places I visited

Yuzhong / 渝中

• 中英联络处旧址（真原堂遗存） — Former Sino-British Liaison Office （part of former Zhenyuan Catholic Church)
• 若瑟堂 — St. Joseph’s Church
• 仁爱堂 — Ren’ai Tang (French Charity Church)
• 法国领事馆旧址 — Former French Consulate

Nan’an / 南岸

• 慈母山修院 — Cimu Mountain Seminary
• 法国大使馆旧址 — Former French Embassy
• 法国水师兵营 — French Navy Barracks
• 永兴洋行高管住宅旧址 — Former Residence of Olivier et Cie Executives

I ended up documenting the route and the history behind these places in a YouTube video. I thought I’d share it here, especially for anyone planning a trip to Chongqing and looking for places beyond the usual tourist sights. All of these places can be visited, and together they make for a pretty interesting alternative way to explore the city.

https://youtu.be/lAxPBhqv1nU

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I’m planning to visit 816 Project on the 3rd Sep 2026, but all the options I found are taking a bit too long with multiple stops (I found a shuttle service from fuling N to 816 project site and back, which requires a min. of 2 persons booking and my travel partner does not want to join). I’m basically hoping to split the cab fare with anyone, from Fuling N to the site, and back. The cab fair on Didi, one way is ~¥110.

Let me know if anyone’s interested. travel time is on 3rd Sep, 2026 (day after tomorrow), in the morning hours. Thanks

Hi! I’m trying to book a flight at iFLY in Jihua Park for my wife (on the photo), who has several years of experience in indoor skydiving, using the sports rate.

I found their phone number (+86 23 8115 1111), but there’s no WeChat linked to it, and I can’t call because I don’t speak Chinese 😅

Does anyone know the WeChat contact or Mini Program where I can book or arrange the sports rate?

Any help would be much appreciated! 🙏

Travelling alone seems a little lonely. See if anyone want to grab a drink together. Any gender any age.

hello, I’m from Canada and visiting. I wanted to hit an Internet cafe but been to about 3 and none will take my canadian passport or anything. I’m in jiefangbei and ideally was hoping one around here. if anyone knows anyone nearby I’d appreciate it!

Hello everyone,
I’m currently travelling solo through China and will be staying in Chongqing for four days.
I really like the country so far and I am impressed by how friendly and polite people are.
At the same time, I find it a difficult to connect with people because of the language barrier.
I’ve travelled to quite a few places around the world and usually found it pretty easy to meet new people, but here I feel like a complete foreigner.
Ideally, I would love to meet a local who could show me a few interesting corners of Chongqing, grab a drink or some food, or just hang out.
I only know 200 words of mandarin so far, but I am fluent in English.

I was planning to go to an expat event, but unfortunately it got cancelled at the last minute.
So now I’m wondering what my alternatives are. I was thinking about:

- Going to hostel bars in Chongqing
- Checking out some craft beer shops/bars
- Going to 交通茶馆 in Huangjueping to play mahjong

Do you think these are good options for meeting people, especially locals?
Or are there better ways to meet people and make some friends while I’m here?
Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you 🙏

i feel like it could either be this bridge near Longmenhao or this bridge near the Hongyadong? Planning a trip to Chongqing and this is a photo place i must visit with my camera 🥺

Im a solo foreign traveler in Chongqing currently, for tonight I was thinking of going to a bar/nightclub, more specifically Orangutan Bunker since I heard it caters to young people and students. Any advice for a solo traveler with little to no Mandarin knowledge?

Hello everyone. Can someone recommend a nice camera/ lenses rapair shop in Chongqing? One of my lenses have some focus errors and I would need to repair it as fast as possible cuz I am here just for one week and continue my travel in Vietnam after. Maybe not something extremely expensive 🥹🫶🏻
Thank you all!

I'm a fan of golfing, but curious what the scene is here.. Is there top golf type places, mini golf, or big resorts and what are the people like? Will I find other cool Gen Z types or is it all boomer'd out and stuffy? I love what the US has done with golf making it more accessible and cool now...

Hey! 👋

So I'm a local from Chongqing and I've always been obsessed with the city's hidden history — especially the 袍哥 (Paoge), which was basically a secret mutual-aid society that ran the city's underground network for centuries.

I always thought the history was fascinating but hard to share with people in a fun way. So I spent some time making a little online game about it — not for money, not selling anything, literally just because I thought it'd be cool to let people experience this side of Chongqing culture.

It's called "Inside the Paoge" (袍哥入堂), based on a true story from 1939:

Chongqing was running out of food. A Paoge leader promised to get grain into the city in 3 days — and pulled it off through a network of trust, secret tea house codes, and reputation. No contracts, just people.

In the game, you play as members of a Paoge hall trying to solve the grain crisis. You find grain sources, choose routes, and decide who gets what — while keeping your reputation intact. It's cooperative, about 20-30 min.

How to play: There are 6 roles in the game. You only need 2 people to start — the rest are played by AI. But if you can get more friends to join, even better! More real players = more fun.

This is not a product, not a business, nothing for sale. I just love my city's weird history and wanted to make something fun that lets people experience it. All I want is to hear your honest thoughts after playing — what worked, what didn't, was it fun? That's it 😄

It's bilingual (English + Chinese), plays in your browser, no download. If you're curious about Chinese culture beyond the usual tourist stuff, come try it! DM me and I'll send you the link.

Hello! I'm moving to Chongqing from Italy for a few years in October and I wanted to get an idea of what to expect beforehand. I know there are many spa facilities in the city, but which ones would you recommend as far as amenities and pricing. Also, are there any wellness/vitamin/skincare stores around, and if so, which ones seem to have the best quality and customer retention.

Sidenote: I'm also open to any places that sell TCM products, however, I want to avoid brands and stores that pander more to tourists. If possible, I'd like to integrate local practices into my routine as much as I can during my stay and even after if I find something that really sticks.

Thank you!!!

(Sidenote #2: I hope this is posted in the proper thread as I'll be in the city for 3+ years so I wouldn't consider myself a tourist. That said, if it violates any guidelines, I will absolutely move it to the appropriate area to stay respectful.)

So I just had a lousy cheeseburger from Sam's club and I'm a bit America-sick now, would like to meet someone from the states and have some of your best home food ( hopefully you know the places because honestly I'm clueless).

Anyways I haven't got much chance to meet people who speak English (let alone Americans) ever since I'm back in Chongqing. I have a pretty good understanding of the U.S. culture, so if anyone's interested in grabbing coffee or hanging out feel free to dm me. Also, any wechat group recommendations to find foreigners? I literally have no idea.

Appreciated!

I just got to Chongqing for the first time (from Wales) and I'm keen to meet a few people.

If anyone wants to grab a coffee or whatever and hang out to do some cool stuff, hit me up!

Or failing that, any advice on places to hang out to socialise - I'm all ears!

Cheers in advance

Location: Chaotianmen/Raffles City

I’ve been putting together a personal photo book about Chongqing, and this is one of the frames I’m considering for it.

Hi everyone,

I’m trying to get some honest opinions from foreigners currently living in Chongqing.

A local Chinese friend and I are thinking about organizing some small, informal cultural-exchange events for foreigners and local Chinese people.

The basic idea would be something like:

Around 10–20 people per event
Foreigners + local Chinese participants
Go to a small local restaurant together
Eat traditional/local Chinese food
Meet new people and exchange ideas
Practice Chinese/English
Learn about each other’s cultures
Keep the atmosphere relaxed and social rather than formal

For a first dinner event, we’re thinking of keeping the price around ¥60–¥100 per person, depending on the restaurant and what is included.

But the bigger idea isn’t just restaurants.

If people are interested, we’d eventually like to organize small trips outside the city — things like hiking, visiting villages, making tea, spending time with local farmers, experiencing local food, sightseeing, camping, BBQs, traditional activities, etc.

Basically, experiences where you can actually interact with local people and experience parts of Chongqing that you probably wouldn’t encounter as a normal tourist.

We’re still at the planning stage, so I’m genuinely curious:

Would you actually be interested in something like this?

And if so:

What kind of activities would you want to do?

Would you prefer dinners, day trips, hiking, village experiences, cultural activities, etc.?

What would you consider a reasonable price for a dinner event?

What would you consider a reasonable price for a one-day trip?

Would you prefer a small group of 10–15 people, or something larger?

What would make you actually want to come back to a second event?

I’m not trying to sell anything here. I’m just trying to understand what foreigners living in Chongqing would actually be interested in before we put time and money into organizing it.