Chongqing Part 2

The following morning we set off to visit Liziba station on line 2 of the

Chongqing Rail Transit System opened in 2005. Line2 together with line 3 are the longest monorail sytem in the world, carrying up to 637,000 passengers per day.

The system utilizes heavy monorail technology, which is capable of navigating steep grades and tight curves, making it suitable for Chongqing’s mountainous terrain.

Map of the metro system. Our hotel is at the start of Line 1 near the centre of the map. We changed to Line 2 (green) and rode 6 stops to Liziba.

The station is unique in that it is located on the sixth to eighth floors of a 19-story residential building, with the monorail trains going through the middle of the building. It uses specialized noise reduction equipment to isolate station noise from the surrounding residence. 

The station and building were actually constructed together as one whole structure, and the monorail was not retrofitted through the middle of an existing structure as some people think.

Photo courtesy of David290 – Wikipedia

The station is quite famous and the city has built a viewing platform beside the street below to cater for the many thousands of visitors. Plenty of street vendors here selling souvenirs, drinks, fridge magnets, ice creams etc.

Another of the way to get around the city and cross the river is the Yangtze River cableway.

The Yangtze River Cableway, which has been operating since 1984, is the major means of public transportation for people crossing the Yangtze River from Yuzhong district to Nan’an.

Although only half a mile from the hotel is was all uphill and quite a slog!

The Cableway, stretching 1,166m, with a one-way trip taking 5 to 6 minutes, is a tourist spot rather than public transportation nowadays. 

The ticket office looking great in the spring sunshine.

With Gary at the cableway station on the far bank.

The usual shopping street with plenty of food choice.

Down by the river was an area of restaurants and souvenir shops, our hotel in the background.

It was soon time to cool off.

After relaxing for a while we headed back to our hotel and decided to go up to the 53rd floor, which is reached by a lift from the basement floor of the shopping mall beneath the hotel.

I was feeling quite giddy at the entrance, let alone on the 53rd floor!

Great views from up there, this is looking back to where we had just come from on the other side of the Yangtze river.

Standing on the edge and looking through the glass floor it looked a long way down!

Holding my breath and not looking down seemed the best option and I was soon on the far side of the glass floor, holdng on tightly to the hand rail.

Diane soon joined me, as did Gary.

I was feeling quite brave and there was a Chinese guy too frightened to walk on the glass floor but I led him forward and he finally made it and was very grateful to me for helping him.

Some nice photo spots up there.

Photos by Sadie Architects who designed the Raffles City Complex.

There is also a swing but fortunately this was closed for maintenance!

Walking along the roof is also an option but we all felt it was a bit too windy up there for us.

We looked around and found a simulator ride with VR headsets but the operator said we were too old, had to be younger that 60! Bloomin cheek!

Part 3 of Chongqing will come later and I hope you enjoyed today’s post.

TTFN

Bibbley