Discover Chongqing
Eling Park
鹅岭公园
An 1890s private garden on the narrowest ridge of the Yuzhong peninsula, with the Kanshenglou tower looking down on both the Yangtze and the Jialing at once. It is the oldest park in the city and still mostly full of locals.
The story
What makes this place special
Eling Park occupies the highest ground on the Yuzhong peninsula, at about 380 metres. It began in 1909 as a private garden built by the merchant Li Yaoting and his family — known as Yiyuan and then more commonly as Liyuan — and was later reworked and opened as a public park, reportedly in 1958. The tower at the summit, Kanshenglou, is a little over 41 metres high and sits on the peninsula's high point.
What you’ll discover
An old, shaded, slightly worn hill park of banyans, rockwork, ponds and pavilions, with local people playing cards and practising music rather than tourists. The point of coming is the summit: from Kanshenglou you look down the length of the peninsula with the Yangtze on one side and the Jialing on the other, and can see the two rivers meet at Chaotianmen. A footbridge and cliff walkway on the park's edge give the same view without the tower climb.
A little local insight
Good to know before you go
- This is the best view in the city centre and it is far quieter than Nanshan. Most foreign visitors never come here at all.
- Climb Kanshenglou for the full two-rivers view; the garden at ground level is pleasant but gives you no panorama.
- Get there around an hour before sunset and claim a position on the tower's upper level. At dusk every angle is taken.
- Access is from Liziba station on Line 2, one stop from the monorail-through-a-building viewing platform, so the two go together in one trip.
- Entry may require advance registration through a WeChat mini-programme, and weekend queues can be long — check on the day rather than turning up at the gate on a holiday.
When to come
The hour before sunset through to full dark, for the river junction and then the lit city. Autumn gives the clearest air.
Getting around
Mixed. The park's main paths are paved and some sections are reasonably level, but it is a hill park with slopes and steps between areas. Kanshenglou is climbed by internal stairs with no lift, so the summit view is out of reach for a wheelchair user and hard on a bad knee. The cliff walkway and footbridge on the park edge give a comparable view with much less climbing and are the better target if stairs are a problem.
Worth knowing before you go
Pay the ¥5 for the tower - it is the only place in the city where you can see both rivers and the whole peninsula in one view. The adjacent Eling Erchang (Printing Factory 2) arts complex is free and worth half an hour.
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