Brief information on Ciqikou Old Town  

Located in the suburb of Chongqing City, covering an area of 1.18 square kilometers, Ciqikou Old Town is a historic Chinese old town with traditional style buildings and local flavor food. The old town was built in 998 during the Song Dynasty. Legend has it that one emperor of the Ming Dynasty was once compelled to take up the monk’s habit in Baolun Temple in Chongqing. People called the emperor ‘the dragon’ in ancient times, as the emperor once inhabited here, and then the temple changed its name into Longyin Temple. Then the name of the town changed from Baiyan Town to Longyin Town. At the start of the Qing Dynasty, the town was famous for its porcelain making and transportation as a port, hence its name Ciqikou, which means ‘porcelain port’ in Chinese.

As a crucial dock and transportation hub that connects land and water transport along the Jialing River, the affluent and simple local traditions and conventions here have persisted for 1,800 years, for which it is renowned as the symbol and epitome of Chongqing City, and is thus called Little Chongqing.

Being steeped in culture and tradition for so many years, there are still various cultures that remain, each with their own characteristics, such as Bayu Culture, Shaci Culture, Red Rock Culture, and the Religious Culture. The old town boasts locally flavored food, especially the fried twists of dough. Made by hand with carefully selected materials and traditional techniques, the fried twists of dough are both crunchy and tasty.

*You can download the bilingual note to show it to a taxi driver or someone else to find your way to Ciqikou Old Town if you plan to visit Ciqikou Old Town and have language problems.

Chinese Pinyin: Ci Qi Kou
Location: 14km away from Chongqing
How to Get to: Buses: 202, 220, 237, 467, 503, 808, 843