CHONGQING · JIEFANGBEI ROUTE

Jiefangbei Route

From Jiaochangkou to the Liberation Monument, the core street of hotpot and noodles. Open with the red pot of beef tallow, graze Bayi Food Street's hot-and-sour noodles, wontons and mini tangyuan, and go on to pea noodles and jianghu chili chicken — Chongqing's heat and numbness, each plate tied to its shop.

🚇 Rail Transit Lines 1/2, Jiaochangkou🚶 ~150 min on foot🍽 6 dishes

What Jiefangbei is

The Liberation Monument stands at the centre of Chongqing's old city (the Yuzhong peninsula); its full name is the "People's Liberation Monument." Once a tower raised in the war years, it is now surrounded by department stores and office towers and stands as shorthand for the city's busiest district. A pedestrian zone opens around the monument, and in one corner is Bayi Food Street — a hundred-odd metres packed with small eats, the heart of the food walk. Chongqing is called the "mountain city" for good reason: even around Jiefangbei, what looks flat turns to steep slopes and level-changes a lane back. The map distances are short, but the ups and downs make it more walking than you expect, so wear good shoes. This route starts at Jiaochangkou, where the metro lines meet, cuts through the food street and climbs to the monument.

Chongqing's heat and numbness — hotpot and noodles

What runs through Chongqing's food is the "la" (heat) of chili and the "ma" (numbness) of Sichuan pepper. Together as "mala," they are the core of the city's taste. Its peak is Chongqing hotpot — a scarlet broth heavy with beef tallow, thicker and fiercer than Chengdu's. Tripe and duck intestine are dipped for mere seconds and softened in an oil dish before eating. The other lead is xiaomian, the noodle: springy alkaline strands charged with chili oil and Sichuan pepper, the emblem of a Chongqing breakfast, most typically the wanza bowl of peas and pork sauce. Hotpot is the seated "occasion"; xiaomian is the standing "everyday." Know these two and the food of Jiefangbei comes into focus.

How to walk this route

Start at Jiaochangkou on Rail Transit Lines 1 and 2. First, at nearby Peijie, take on the red pot of Chongqing hotpot. It is popular and often means a wait, so arrive at opening or go off-peak. After the pot, enter Bayi Food Street and graze — Haoyoulai's hot-and-sour noodles, laoma wontons, mini tangyuan, a little at a time. To settle your stomach with pea noodles, detour to Huashi on Qingnian Road. When the heat piles up, cool your mouth with liangxia or tangyuan, and gather a table for jianghu chili chicken. Finish by climbing to the monument for the view over the busy district. Hotpot and jianghu dishes sitting down, noodles, hot-and-sour and sweets as you walk — that is the trick. Reckon two to three hours on foot; the heat is adjustable at each shop, so order to your own limit.

Route map

Jiaochangkou → Bayi Food St → Liberation Monument (hotpot & noodle core)　·　numbers match the dishes below

The dishes on this route (6)

Tap through to each shop and dish

肉1MeatPeijie Old Hotpot×Chongqing hotpot (tripe)A pot of beef tallow, chili and Sichuan pepper cooked scarlet arrives the moment you sit. The centre of the nine-grid runs hottest; hold the tripe with chopsticks, dip it about seven seconds, and lift it the instant it curls. A drop into the oil dish (sesame oil and garlic) takes the edge off the heat. This is a pot you eat sweating, and you set the spice level when you order.Nearest Jiaochangkou StnPrice 100–150 CNY p.p. 肉2MeatJianghu-style Chili Chicken×Laziji (chicken in dried chilies)Bone-in chicken chopped small, deep-fried, then stir-fried with a mountain of dried chilies and Sichuan pepper. The plate looks almost entirely of chilies, and you fish the little pieces of chicken out with chopsticks — a treasure hunt of a dish. The chicken is fragrant outside, tender within; the chilies are mostly for aroma, not for chewing. It calls for beer and a table of several — Chongqing's "jianghu" home cooking.Nearest Jiefangbei StnPrice 58–78 CNY a plate 麺3NoodlesHuashi Wanza Noodles×Pea & pork noodles (wanza mian)A kind of Chongqing xiaomian: springy alkaline noodles topped with stewed-soft peas and a fried pork-and-bean sauce (zajiang). Stir it all together at the table first. Choose soupy (tangmian) or dry (ganliu); dry lets the chili oil and Sichuan pepper hit straight. Ask for mild, medium or hot, and add greens if you like. Many people eat it for breakfast.Nearest Jiaochangkou StnPrice 12–18 CNY a bowl 麺4NoodlesHaoyoulai Hot & Sour Noodles×Hot and sour sweet-potato noodlesTranslucent thick noodles of sweet-potato starch, eaten in a red broth sharp with vinegar and chili oil. The noodles are slippery and snap cleanly, scattered with crushed fried peanuts, soybeans and coriander. As the name says, sour and hot rise together; add more vinegar at the end if you like it sharp. It has several branches on Bayi Food Street, all with queues, served in a paper bowl you can carry as you walk.Nearest Jiaochangkou StnPrice 10–15 CNY a bowl 包5DumplingsLaoma Wonton×Numbing wontons (laoma chaoshou)Chaoshou are the Sichuan-Chongqing wonton — thin skins around a pork filling, served in a "laoma" broth heavy with Sichuan pepper. The first sip numbs the tongue, and the heat catches up a beat later. The numbing is set by the amount of pepper: light, medium or heavy. The skins are thin and slippery, the filling small. Lighter than noodles, it sits well before or after hotpot.Nearest Jiaochangkou StnPrice 15–22 CNY a bowl 甘6SweetsShancheng Mini Tangyuan×Mini tangyuan (black sesame)Glutinous-rice balls the size of a thumb-tip, floated in a sweet broth. Each holds a black-sesame filling that runs when you bite. Smaller than ordinary tangyuan, they slip down several at a time. They make a fine reset after a run of spicy things, and on Bayi Food Street many order a bowl to close out their hot-and-sour noodles or wontons. Eat them warm, scooped with a porcelain spoon.Nearest Jiaochangkou StnPrice 8–12 CNY a bowl

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