The mindbending ‘cyberpunk city' in China that exists on so many levels

CNN

17 hours ago

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When visiting Chongqing for the first time last November, Joshua Guvi was worried that the city he'd seen on social media couldn't possibly be as cool in real life.
Located in a mountainous area of southwestern China, this sprawling metropolis is known for its complex, multilayered layout, prompting some to refer to it as China's '8D city.' Including its rural outer regions, the whole area is the size of Austria. Due to the city's unique landlocked geography and rapid growth, Chongqing has had nowhere to go but up, to the point where one building even has a train running through the middle of it.
For tourists — and even some locals — getting lost in serpentine, eye-popping Chongqing is part of the fun.
'It actually shot a lot over my expectations,' says Guvi, a travel content creator from Canada.
These moments were stitched together into a video on Guvi's YouTube channel. He wrote, 'Chongqing feels like peering into the future. The neon — soaked and alive with motion. This city has its own pulse.'
Word is clearly getting out. Guvi began his trip in Shanghai, but says he quickly wanted to experience a more authentically Chinese city.
'I had heard some people talk about it (Chongqing) in Shanghai… Shanghai is an amazing city, but I was curious to see more of the actual China, versus kind of the Shanghai where you can still get by on English.'
He isn't the only one who has been bypassing Beijing, Xi'an and other cities along the established Chinese tourist route in favor of Chongqing. Tourism in Chongqing has been skyrocketing since the country reopened post-pandemic.
Social media has become the main way younger travelers learn about the city. One viral post on Instagram showing a building where 'you think you're on the ground floor, but you're actually on the 12th' has racked up more than 17 million views.
According to data released by the Chongqing government, the city welcomed about 1.3 million inbound tourists in 2024, representing a year-on-year increase of 184%.
In the first two months of 2025, the number of foreign nationals entering through the city's ports increased by 60% year-on-year, according to the Chongqing Immigration Administration Bureau.
Li Tian, a manager at a local travel agency, says that the city's viral popularity has resulted in 'a 20 to 30% increase in foreign visitors.' She added: 'We host over 20,000 travelers annually, and international tourists now make up about 10%. The outlook for inbound tourism is very promising.'
In response to growing international demand, the agency has added English, Spanish, Thai, Japanese and Korean-language tours.
Li says that most foreign tourists typically stay in Chongqing for about five days.
Due to geographic proximity and affordable airfare, the majority of tourists come from Southeast Asia, Japan and South Korea — though visitors from Europe and Australia are also rising.
In fact, American tourists have seen the most notable increase. That's especially impressive considering there that the sole direct flight from the US to Chongqing is a once-a-week affair on Hainan Airlines.
'At the moment, the US is the number one country in terms of our client base, making up around 20% — that's several hundred people already,' said Chen Ming, founder of a private travel company established in the second half of last year.
Chen launched his boutique travel agency after noticing Chongqing's surging popularity overseas. His company specializes in customized full and half-day experiences for small groups of one to four people.
'In our first month, we only had a few orders. In the second, maybe a dozen,' Chen recalls. 'Now we receive several hundred bookings every month.' He explained that the tourist numbers fluctuate by season, among which, June tends to be moderate, but December and April — around Christmas and spring break — are much busier.
On Chen's website, some of the most popular offerings include walking tours of the city's old towns and scenic hiking trails, as well as a themed itinerary retracing the steps of popular American YouTuber IShowSpeed's viral trip through Chongqing this April.
Other featured destinations include a decommissioned nuclear military plant, the Dazu Rock Carvings and the Wulong Three Natural Bridges — famously featured in the movie 'Transformers 4'.
Defining the architecture of Chongqing can be a challenge, many dubbing it Cyberpunk, a genre of science fiction set in a lawless subculture of an oppressive society dominated by computer technology.
'Chongqing's architecture style is unique,' says Matthew Blair, 34, an American who moved to the city in 2009. 'The concrete and mountain terrain, with lots of industrial design, make it seem like a futuristic movie set — but at night, it lights up and elevates the city into a true cyberpunk dream.'
Wan Linxin, a 27-year-old Chongqing native who previously studied in the United States, has become a freelance tour guide. He recently led a team of 20 American university students through the city.
'When I found out they were college students, I pulled out my long-forgotten Luffy straw hat,' Wan says, referencing a popular anime character who wears a safari-style hat. 'Because it was a big group, I needed something for them to follow. When I held up the hat, they would call me 'Luffy' and trail behind.'
Wan took them on a tour that mirrored IShowSpeed's livestream adventure, including a hillside outdoor escalator, a towering 20-story overpass, and the internet-famous 'Kui Xing Building,' whose rooftop is a public plaza.
'They kept asking me questions,' Wan recalled. 'Why is the 8th floor of one building connected to the ground floor of another? Does the monorail passing through the building disturb the residents? Why are some windows covered in cages?'
In fact, Chongqing's unique multidimensional layout is not an aesthetic design, but a necessity.
Located at the confluence of the Jialing and Yangtze rivers in China, Chongqing is often referred to as the 'Mountain City.' Home to more than 32 million residents, the city stretches across gorges, hillsides, river valleys and a layered skyline, which experiences dramatic elevation changes — often spanning several hundred meters. The remarkably challenging geography makes traditional flatland urban planning nearly impossible in Chongqing.
Instead, urban functions are organized by height and stacked together — transportation systems, residential buildings, commercial areas, sky gardens and pedestrian plazas all layered into the terrain.
Buildings often feature entrances on multiple floors depending on the surrounding street level based on the terrain. As a result, a single high-rise might have entry-level access on the 1st, 12th, or even 20th floor — creating what people call the astonishing '8D Space.'
Wan led the group of 20 American university students to Liziba Monorail Station, one of the city's most iconic examples of Chongqing's unique architectural landscape where the monorail passes through a residential building constructed into the hillside, extending alongside the Yangtze River deep into the town.
'That's when I realized the most valuable reward of being a guide,' he added. 'It's getting to fall in love with your hometown all over again through the eyes of a traveler.'
Besides the dramatic geography and urban visuals, Blair, who is passionate about everything spicy, says the food has kept him in Chongqing for 15 years.
'Massive amounts of street food, late night BBQ, and 2 a.m. hotpot restaurants also make CQ stand out and [are] frankly delicious,' Blair said. 'The locals are resilient and as spicy as their food. They are generous, loud and alive — and they make you wanna be a part of the culture.'
Like Beijing and Shanghai, Chongqing is one of four provincial-level municipalities directly administered by China's central government.
And this lesser-known economic hub in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River has quietly held its place as China's fifth-largest economy for the past five years. Last year, it even surpassed Guangzhou to rank fourth nationwide, behind only Shanghai, Beijing and Shenzhen.
Due to its unique history and geography, the city has long been seen by the central government as a strategic stronghold for China's 'Go West' development campaign — a key inland hub linking east and west. During World War II, Chongqing served as the wartime capital thanks to its mountainous terrain and natural defenses. Today, remnants of wartime military sites and foreign embassies coexist with the city's daily life — you can now enjoy hotpot in underground bomb shelters restaurants.
As Chongqing has gone viral online, local authorities have invested heavily in both economic growth and cultural promotion.
In June this year, Chongqing unveiled its newest high-speed railway station, spanning a total area of 1.22 million square meters — roughly the size of 170 standard football fields. Built to accommodate a significantly larger volume of passengers, it may be the largest high-speed rail station in the world ever completed in a single phase.
As for Chongqing's dazzling nightscape, Chongqing native Zhao Wenjing, 41, says it's been decades in the making.
'The development of the night view in Chongqing started from when I was born - about 30 years ago,' she said, 'The nightscape development probably really picked up in recent years around 2019 when Chongqing started promoting tourism seriously, mainly about installing lighting factories, LED lights on buildings, and so on.'
A comprehensive lighting plan for Chongqing's central urban districts was implemented last year. The city is continuing to develop night-view observation points from multiple perspectives — both from above and below — and is adding illuminated outlines to landmark buildings across the skyline.
Independent tour guide Wan also noted that the Chongqing government has been highly proactive in promoting urban tourism, organizing regular drone shows, holiday light displays and fireworks shows.
During peak travel seasons, local residents even receive text messages from the government, kindly asking them to stay home to leave more room for tourists visiting.
'I truly believe more and more international travelers will come,' says Zhao. 'After all, Chongqing's vibe is something that can't be replaced anywhere else in the world.'
Meanwhile, China's recent wave of visa-free initiatives is part of a broader push to promote inbound travel.
Beginning in December 2023, China granted visa-free access to citizens of France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and Malaysia. As of June 2025, China has unilaterally implemented visa-free entry for citizens of 47 countries and offers visa on arrival or simplified entry policies for a total of 54 nations.
Data from the Chongqing immigration bureau shows that in the first two months of 2025, the number of foreign nationals entering through visa-free access increased by 245% year-on-year.
Guvi tells CNN that he would absolutely recommend the city his friends and followers.
'I wish we stayed longer,' he said.