Getting there:
Take the CRT subway to Jiaochankou or Xiaoshizi.
From Jiaochankou Exit 4: Cross the road and turn left. continue on the right side of the road until you come to the sign pictured below. Turn Right.
From Xiaoshizi Exit 5B: Turn left and walk southwest on Xinhua Road past the line for the cable car. Turn left on the 3rd street on the left side of the road, pictured below.
Turn left at this sign to find Xinlong Mansion and the bridge.
Ever the fan of random curiosities, when a translated article about a bizarrely high 13-storey pedestrian bridge in Chongqing began to make ripples in both the local Facebook pages and English groups on China’s WeChat, it was worth checking out. And when the article’s interviewee says, “You can take the elevator to the 13th floor and use the bridge to get to Xinhua Road directly. It’s faster to get to Jie Fang Bei (the city center area),” I needed to try myself.
The problem is that the named Xinhua Road is one of the most generic terms in China, a big place. And there are multiple Xinhua roads in Chongqing alone. After happening upon it one day, not far from the Xiaoshizi subway station, we decided to walk the bridge and get some pictures.
Our first look at the elusive bridge.
Looking down to the street below.
Continuing on to the building.
Despite the number of people coming and going from the apartment building, when we entered the doorless hallway, we were conspicuously out-of-place and decided against going further. And with rain starting upon us, it was time head back to the subway.
Close up of Xinglong Garden ( 兴隆花园) where the bridge connects.
That didn’t mean it was time to place a Chongqing Days map marker and move on, though. Being a city built on multiple levels, the whole reason for this oddity existing, there was more to see.
Exiting from Jiaochangkou station, I headed northeast toward the bridge but instead turned onto one of the side streets leading downhill from Xinhua Rd. Street maps are often a lousy way to navigate Chongqing, as they often run parallel on the map but are completely cut off from each other because of the hills. By luck, this street headed right where I wanted.
Finding the bridge on the first try this time.
At the base of the building, named Xinglong Garden ( 兴隆花园), you really get a sense of how high up this bridge is. I circled around Xinglong Garden to see it from a few angles and again noticed many people exiting and entering the building; many more than usually come and go from apartments in my area.
So, I followed inside.
A number of people were waiting for the single operational elevator, but non seemed to pay the stray foreigner any mind except for one small girl who stared and smiled. I said hello and she laughed and her mom encouraged her to say hello back.
The security guard smiles and came up to me. I told him I was going to Xinhua Road and showed my camera’s pictures of the bridge. He, completely uninterested, showed me a translation on his phone asking if I was American and indicated he wanted to take a picture with me. I smiled, obliged him, and made my way on to the crowded elevator.
Security guard loved me, but got attitude from the elevator.
Riding to the 13th floor.
Come floor 13, where the bridge connects to Xinhua Road, The remaining elevator passengers all seemed to look at me either expecting me to get off or willingly forcing me off. Even when I knowingly curved the wrong way into a hallway of depressingly grey and open-doored apartment rooms for a picture from a different perspective, the elevator crowd helpfully guided me to the exit.
One last look before moving on.
From there, it was impossible to get downward photos of the bridge, as the only vantage point nearby seemed to be a police station’s roof.
No thanks.
