When visiting Chongqing, one must check out the ancient architectural complex located on the hillside

🏨 Huguang Guild Hall 📍Detailed address: No. 1 Ba Jiao Garden, Changbin Road, Chaotianmen Street, Yuzhong District, Chongqing City 🕙Opening hours: 9:00～18:00, entry stops at 17:00 Ticket price: ¥25 🌟Highlights: Walking along the eastern side of the peninsula where the old city of Chongqing is located, towards the direction of the Dongshuimen Yangtze River Bridge, not far away, you will see this very conspicuous group of buildings. This is the largest existing ancient guild hall complex in China, the Huguang Guild Hall. The buildings face the Yangtze River and are built along the river slope, including the Yuwang Palace, Guangdong Guild Hall, Qi'an Guild Hall, and four opera stages. ❤Recommended reason: After buying a ticket and entering the Huguang Guild Hall, you are immediately attracted by the architecture. The mountainous terrain provides the guild hall complex with a spatial beauty that is hard to achieve in flatland architecture. The decorations on the ridge, columns, beams, and windows are exquisitely detailed and worth savoring. 🗓Itinerary: Yuwang Palace—Carving Museum—Qi'an Guild Hall—Guangdong Guild Hall—Yuzhou Academy—Immigration Museum 👍Most recommended: 1. Distinctive architecture The guild hall mostly follows the layout of the courtyard houses from the Ming and Qing dynasties. The architecture not only inherits the typical styles from Guangdong, Guangxi, Hunan, Hubei, and the Jiangnan region but also integrates the traditional architectural features of Chongqing. 2. Carving techniques The guild hall's architectural relief and openwork carvings mainly feature stories of characters from Journey to the West, Romance of the West Chamber, Investiture of the Gods, and The Twenty-Four Filial Exemplars, as well as various animals and plants such as dragons and phoenixes. Especially the opera stage of the Qi'an Guild Hall, which is the most complete and exquisite opera stage in the Huguang Guild Hall complex. The carvings on the stage are of a very high artistic standard. 3. Immigrant culture The Huguang Guild Hall is a historical product of the 'Huguang Fills Sichuan' immigration wave. It was established based on the living conditions and psychological needs of the immigrants and serves as a hub for maintaining the sentiment among fellow townspeople. The use of elements from the hometown and the immigrant land in the architectural decoration shows an inclusive immigrant spirit. 4. Intangible cultural heritage performances If you like watching operas, in the afternoon, there are performances of 'Drunken Bayu', a cultural show rooted in Bayu culture with intangible cultural heritage as its core, on the most beautiful stage inside the guild hall. Photo spot sharing: The entrance of Yuwang Palace, the entrance of Qi'an Guild Hall, the interior stage is also great for photography, you can use red silk as a foreground! The entrance of the Guangdong Guild Hall, the long staircase to the left of Yuzhou Academy, where you can capture the distinctive rooftops and Dongshuimen Yangtze River Bridge in the same frame, Dongshuimen Yangtze River Bridge, where you can take a panoramic photo of the Huguang Guild Hall! 📝Tips: 1. If you want to take photos of the architecture or portraits, it is recommended to go in the morning when there are fewer people 2. It is recommended to tour in a clockwise direction 3. Turn left at the exit, take the elevator, and go up to the 5th floor where you can stand on the Dongshuimen Yangtze River Bridge and overlook the Huguang Guild Hall