Jiefangbei to Raffles City Walking Guide 2026: Chaotianmen Route for Foreign Visitors

For a 2026 Jiefangbei to Raffles City walk, plan 2-3 hours and use Linjiangmen, Xiaoshizi or Chaotianmen as metro anchors. The route stays inside Yuzhong's 23 km² peninsula, where the city's riverside notice measures the Hongya Cave to Huguang Guild Hall waterfront at 2.4 km. Sequence: monument, Bayi Road, Xiaoshizi, Raffles City, riverfront.

This walk looks simple on a map because the places sit close together in Yuzhong. Yuzhong District (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuzhong,_Chongqing) is only 23 km², a peninsula surrounded on three sides by the Jialing and Yangtze, and it held about 630,000 residents at roughly 27,000 people per km² in the 2010 census. Density that high is packed vertically: elevated roads, underground passages, steep connectors, wide commercial blocks, riverfront stairs, and exits that send you to different heights. That is why the route below is written as a decision guide, not a landmark checklist.

Blue-hour Chongqing riverfront walk near Jiefangbei, Raffles City and Chaotianmen

## Quick Decision: Should You Do This Walk?

Good for: first-time visitors staying in central Yuzhong, photographers who want city layers, travelers who prefer metro plus walking, and anyone pairing Jiefangbei with Chaotianmen instead of taking short taxis between nearby places.

Skip if: your group has heavy luggage, knee trouble, very young children in a stroller, or less than 90 minutes. The route is not hard for a normal city walker, but it is not a flat shopping-street stroll either.

Local tip: start at Jiefangbei and move toward Chaotianmen if you want the route to feel more natural. Starting at the riverfront and climbing back into Jiefangbei works, but it is more tiring and easier to misread after dark.

Common mistake: asking a driver to take you from Jiefangbei to Raffles City during evening traffic. The distance is short, but the road system and pickup points can waste time. Use the metro or walk if your group can handle 2-3 km with breaks.

## The Route in One Line

Use this order: Jiefangbei People's Liberation Monument, Bayi Road snack street, Xiaoshizi, Raffles City Chongqing, Chaotianmen Square / riverfront, then decide whether to continue toward Hongya Cave.

The Chongqing government identifies Jiefangbei Pedestrian Street, Chaotianmen Square, Hongya Cave and Huguang Guild Hall as central visitor areas tied to old Chongqing city memory. A later government waterfront note (https://www.cq.gov.cn/ywdt/zwhd/bmdt/202512/t20251208_15218393.html) describes the Hongya Cave-Chaotianmen-Huguang Guild Hall riverside route as 2.4 km, with Chaotianmen Square using 7 entrances/exits connected to Raffles City and Binjiang Road plus 8 passages down to the riverside. The same note puts Xiaoshizi Station about a 10-minute walk away, which is the detail most first-time walkers actually need.

### The five stages, with the numbers attached

| Stage | What it is | Metro anchor | Number worth knowing |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1. Jiefangbei monument | Meeting point and orientation | Linjiangmen, Line 2 | 24 m tall, completed 1947, national key cultural relic since 2013 |
| 2. Bayi Road | Controlled snack stop | Walk from the monument | Part of a pedestrian district of about 36,000 m², free and open all day |
| 3. Xiaoshizi | Route hinge, weather cover | Xiaoshizi, Lines 1 and 6 | About 10 minutes on foot from Chaotianmen Square |
| 4. Raffles City | Toilets, reset, scale change | Chaotianmen, Line 1 | 8 towers on 9.2 ha; the Crystal skybridge is 300 m long |
| 5. Chaotianmen riverfront | Confluence view and exit | Chaotianmen, Line 1 | Square built 1998; 7 exits to Raffles City and Binjiang Road |

Time needed:

| Pace | Time | Use case |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Fast orientation | 90 minutes | Monument, quick snack street look, Raffles exterior, riverfront photo. |
| Comfortable walk | 2-3 hours | Normal first visit with food stop, photo pauses and riverfront loop. |
| Evening photo route | 3-4 hours | Dusk at Jiefangbei, blue hour at Chaotianmen, then Hongya Cave direction. |

## Stop 1: Jiefangbei as Your Navigation Anchor

Start at the People's Liberation Monument because it gives your group a shared meeting point. TravelChinaGuide (https://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/chongqing/jiefangbei-cbd.htm) describes Jiefangbei CBD / Pedestrian Street as covering about 36,000 sq m around the monument, including Minquan Road, Minzu Road and Zourong Road, with free entry and all-day access while the surrounding malls typically run 09:00-22:00.

The monument itself (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberation_Monument_in_Chongqing) is a 24 m octagonal column completed in 1947, renamed the Chongqing People's Liberation Monument in 1950, and listed as a national key cultural relic on 2013-03-05. Inside, a cantilevered spiral staircase of 140 steps runs up to the observation level. Knowing it is 24 m helps in practice: in a crowd it is tall enough to walk toward, but not tall enough to see from three blocks away.

For foreign visitors, the monument is less about history during this walk and more about orientation. If someone gets separated, "Jiefangbei monument" is easier to show on a map than a random mall entrance. It also sits near Linjiangmen Station on Line 2, which is useful if your hotel is outside Yuzhong.

Foreign visitors using Jiefangbei monument as a central Chongqing meeting point at dusk

Good for: group meetups, quick city-center photos, shopping breaks and evening street energy.

Skip if: you dislike commercial districts. In that case, use Jiefangbei for 15 minutes as a route anchor, then move toward Xiaoshizi and Chaotianmen.

Local tip: do not stand in the middle of the square to check every map detail. Step to the edge, confirm your next road, then walk. The crowd flows change quickly in the evening.

## Stop 2: Bayi Road for a Controlled Food Break

### Snack stop, not a food mission

Bayi Road is the easy food-street side loop before you go down toward Chaotianmen. The government source links Bayi Road Food Street to the wider Jiefangbei pedestrian-street development, and traveler discussions often put it naturally between Jiefangbei and the Raffles / Chaotianmen leg.

Use it as a snack stop, not a full food mission. If you are new to Chongqing spice, order one or two small items first. Fried snacks, skewers, fruit tea and mild noodles are easier than committing to a full hotpot meal before a long walk.

Evening Bayi Road snack street near Jiefangbei with foreign visitors checking food options

Estimated cost: small snacks vary by stall and change often, so I would not publish exact live prices. Treat it like a flexible small-cash / mobile-payment stop, and keep room for dinner later.

Common mistake: eating too much spicy food before walking downhill and taking photos. Chongqing humidity plus heavy spice can make the next hour feel longer.

Local tip: if a stall looks crowded, stand aside and watch the ordering pattern for 30 seconds. It is often easier than trying to translate a menu under pressure.

## Stop 3: Xiaoshizi and the Chaotianmen Approach

After Bayi Road, use Xiaoshizi as the route hinge. MetroMan (https://www.metroman.cn/cities/chongqing/stations) confirms Xiaoshizi on Line 1 and Line 6, Chaotianmen on Line 1, and Linjiangmen on Line 2, which is enough for route planning without guessing every exit number.

The Chongqing transport commission (https://jtysw.cq.gov.cn/sy_240/bmdt/202101/t20210104_8729143.html) says the Chaotianmen section of Line 1 began trial operation at 14:00 on 2020-12-31, with Chaotianmen station at the Xinhua Road and Xinyi Street intersection and 6 planned station entrances/exits, of which 2, 4 and 5 were open at the time of the report. It was also Chongqing's first station built with a one-island, two-side, three-platform layout. That matters because the station is not a tiny single-door stop; it connects into a layered commercial and riverfront area, and the exit you pick decides which level you arrive on.

Visitors approaching the Chaotianmen and Raffles City area from a metro-connected entrance

### Reading exits instead of streets

Good for: rainy days, tired groups, and travelers who want to avoid short ride-hailing confusion.

Skip if: your phone battery is low. This part is where map reading, indoor passages and exit choices matter. Charge before you leave Jiefangbei.

Local tip: if you feel lost underground, look for the large outside direction first, not the smallest shop name. In Chongqing, a correct general direction often matters more than a perfect indoor shortcut.

## Stop 4: Raffles City and Chaotianmen Riverfront

Raffles City works as the route's scale change. CapitaLand's official release (https://www.capitaland.com/en/about-capitaland/newsroom/news-releases/international/2020/jun/CapitaLand-opens-250-metre-high-glass-bottom-Exploration-Deck-at-RCCQ.html) lists Raffles City Chongqing at Chaotianmen, Yuzhong District, No. 8 Jiesheng Street, with 817,000 sq m of gross floor area excluding car park, a 235,000 sq m mall on five levels, 8 towers, and The Crystal sky bridge. The Exploration Deck is described as 250 m high, with The Crystal measuring 300 m long.

### What the scale means when you are standing there

Wikipedia's entry (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raffles_City_Chongqing) adds the framing numbers: 8 buildings on a 9.2-hectare site totalling 1.12 million sq m, tallest towers at 354.5 m, designed by Moshe Safdie, opened on 2019-09-06 at the tip of the peninsula where the Yangtze and Jialing meet — a confluence marked by Chaotianmen Square, built in 1998. In walking terms, a 9.2-hectare footprint means crossing the complex is itself a 10-minute leg, so treat "reach Raffles City" and "come out the right side of Raffles City" as two separate decisions.

You do not need to enter every attraction inside. For this walking route, the value is the transition: dense Jiefangbei, then the river-confluence edge. Use the mall for toilets, weather cover and a short reset, then step outside for the riverfront.

Chaotianmen riverfront near Raffles City with safe walking railings and Chongqing skyline layers

Good for: rainy weather backup, family bathroom breaks, blue-hour exterior photos and a clean pause before the riverfront.

Avoid if: you came for old-street texture. Raffles City is modern and large; pair it with Jiefangbei or Hongya Cave if you want contrast, or put Shibati and the mountain city trail (/en/2026/06/shibati-mountain-city-trail-guide-foreign-visitors) on a different half day for the opposite kind of walking.

Local tip: take your riverfront photos before you start hunting for a taxi. Once you move into road-level pickup logic, the mood changes from sightseeing to logistics.

## Continue Toward Hongya Cave, or Stop at the Riverfront

From Chaotianmen, you can continue in the Hongya Cave direction if your group still has energy. The government waterfront article describes a 2.4 km Hongya Cave-Chaotianmen-Huguang Guild Hall route and notes 8 channels that lead toward the riverfront, but it also mentions construction effects near the Hongya Cave section and a Mianhua Street detour. Check the current on-site route before committing.

Safe dusk riverfront path from Chaotianmen toward the Hongya Cave and Qiansimen direction

Good for: people who still want night views, bridge silhouettes and a longer riverside walk. If night photography is the real goal, the Chongqing night view route guide (/en/2026/05/chongqing-night-view-route-foreign-visitors) sequences the viewpoints better than tacking them onto the end of this walk.

Skip if: you already did Hongya Cave on another night, your group is hungry, or rain has made stairs slippery. Another clean way to end is to walk back to Xinhua Road and take the Yangtze River Cableway (/en/2026/05/yangtze-river-cableway-chongqing-guide) across to the south bank, which turns the return leg into the view instead of a taxi queue.

Local tip: Hongya Cave looks close from many riverfront angles, but the useful entrance may be on another level. If you are tired, stop at the safe viewpoint and save Hongya Cave for another route. The Hongya Cave guide (/en/2026/05/hongya-cave-foreign-visitor-guide) explains the entrance levels in more detail.

## Phrases to Save

Show these to a driver, hotel front desk, or passerby when English place names fail.

| Situation | Chinese phrase | Meaning |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Ask for Jiefangbei | 请带我到解放碑步行街。 | Please take me to Jiefangbei Pedestrian Street. |
| Ask for Bayi Road | 八一路好吃街怎么走？ | How do I get to Bayi Road snack street? |
| Ask for Xiaoshizi | 小什字站怎么走？ | How do I get to Xiaoshizi Station? |
| Ask for Raffles City | 请问来福士怎么走？ | How do I get to Raffles City? |
| Ask for Chaotianmen | 请带我到朝天门广场附近。 | Please take me near Chaotianmen Square. |
| Taxi exit | 请带我到方便打车的位置。 | Please take me to a spot where it is easy to get a taxi. |

## About This Guide

This guide was written on 2026-06-03 and rechecked on 2026-08-08. The August pass re-opened the Chongqing government waterfront note (https://www.cq.gov.cn/ywdt/zwhd/bmdt/202512/t20251208_15218393.html), the CapitaLand release (https://www.capitaland.com/en/about-capitaland/newsroom/news-releases/international/2020/jun/CapitaLand-opens-250-metre-high-glass-bottom-Exploration-Deck-at-RCCQ.html), TravelChinaGuide (https://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/chongqing/jiefangbei-cbd.htm) and MetroMan (https://www.metroman.cn/cities/chongqing/stations), and added three Wikipedia entity sources for the monument (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberation_Monument_in_Chongqing), Raffles City Chongqing (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raffles_City_Chongqing) and Yuzhong District (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuzhong,_Chongqing). The transport-commission link was moved to the jtysw.cq.gov.cn domain because the old jtj.cq.gov.cn address now serves only a migration notice. The guide still avoids exact live prices and last-train times because those can change and should be checked on the day.

All public images are original AI-generated images. Each prompt used a saved real-scene reference image from the internal research folder, then changed angle, lens distance, time of day, crowd placement and foreground. No third-party source image is republished in the public article.

Walling placement is `none` because this article is about a central walking route and attraction logistics, not hotel selection. For hotel-area decisions, use the where to stay guide (/en/2026/05/where-to-stay-chongqing-first-time-foreign-visitors).

## Frequently Asked Questions

**Q: Can I walk from Jiefangbei to Raffles City Chongqing?**
A: Yes. Plan 2-3 hours if you include Bayi Road, photos, a rest stop and Chaotianmen riverfront. Everything sits inside a 23 km² district, so the distance is not the hard part; the levels and exit choices are.

**Q: Which metro station should I use for this route?**
A: Linjiangmen is useful for Jiefangbei, Xiaoshizi is a good central hinge, and Chaotianmen works for the Raffles City / riverfront end. Xiaoshizi appears on Line 1 and Line 6.

**Q: Is this route better in the day or evening?**
A: Late afternoon into blue hour is practical. You can read streets in daylight, eat a small snack, then reach Chaotianmen when the riverfront lights begin to work.

**Q: Should I take a taxi between Jiefangbei and Raffles City?**
A: Usually no if you can walk. Short ride-hailing trips in central Yuzhong can lose time because pickup points, one-way roads and vertical levels are confusing.

**Q: Can I add Hongya Cave after this walk?**
A: You can, but add it only if your group still has energy. The riverfront direction is logical, yet Hongya Cave entrance levels and evening crowds can make the final section slower than it looks.