Yangtze River Cable Car (长江索道)

The 5-minute cable car ride that crosses the Yangtze 40 meters above the water

The Yangtze River Cable Car (长江索道 Chángjiāng Suǒdào) is a 1,166-meter aerial tramway that has crossed the Yangtze River in central Chongqing since 1987. The 5-minute ride lifts you 40 meters above the river, with the north terminal in the dense Yuzhong district and the south terminal in the older Nan’an district. From the cabin windows, you can see the Yangtze and Jialing rivers converging below, the 11-story stilted houses of Hongya Cave to the north, and the stacked bridges and skyscrapers of Chongqing’s vertical city in every direction.

It is the single best value experience in Chongqing: ¥20 one-way or ¥30 round-trip. The ride is short, the queues can be long, but the view is the kind you cannot get from any bridge, boat, or building in the city.

What the foreigner experience looks like in 2026

The Yangtze Cable Car is one of the most foreigner-friendly experiences in Chongqing. Tickets are sold at the same counter to locals and foreigners; no passport check, no guided tour, no special booking. You walk up, buy a ticket, queue, and board.

The main thing to know is timing. The cable car runs 07:30-21:30, but the queues from 10:00-17:00 can be 1-2 hours on weekends and 3+ hours during Chinese national holidays (May 1-3, Oct 1-7, Chinese New Year week). Two strategies work:

• Go at 09:00 opening (smallest queue of the day, soft morning light)
• Go at 19:00 (queues thin out, and the city lights are turning on — you see the Hongya Cave light show begin from the cabin)

Most foreign visitors combine the cable car with a Hongya Cave evening visit. The north terminal is 5 min walk to Hongya Cave, so the natural flow is: cable car at 17:00-18:00 → metro back from the south terminal → walk to Hongya Cave by 19:00 → light show from Qiansimen Bridge.

The 1987 commuter line, not a tourist trap

The Yangtze Cable Car was built in 1987, when Chongqing had only one bridge across the Yangtze (the Qiansimen Bridge, also built that year) and the population was growing faster than the road infrastructure. The cable car was a commuter line for workers crossing between Yuzhong and Nan’an — a 5-minute ride that avoided a 30-minute bus trip through the narrow streets and across the bridges.

The original cabins were small (8 people each, no doors), and the line carried 10,000+ commuters per day. As more bridges opened in the 2000s (Huangjueping, Caiyuanba, Yuzhou, Dafosi), commuter use dropped, and the cable car shifted to a tourism and sightseeing role. In 2018, the system was upgraded with larger, enclosed cabins (15-20 people, air-conditioned) and self-service ticket kiosks. The 2020s saw the line promoted heavily as a cultural icon — it appears on Chongqing metro cards, postage stamps, and the city’s official tourism branding.

Today, the cable car carries about 5,000-8,000 passengers per day — split roughly 60% tourists and 40% locals who still use it to skip traffic.

The two terminals: Yuzhong vs Nan’an

The two terminals are in completely different parts of Chongqing. Picking which one to start at changes the whole experience.

North terminal (Yuzhong district, 新华路): The busier, more central terminal. It is 5 min walk from Hongya Cave, 5 min walk from Xiaoshizi metro station, and a 10-min walk from Jiefangbei shopping. If you only have time for one direction, start here.

South terminal (Nan’an district, 双柏路): The quieter, more local terminal. It is in the older Nan’an district, with the Nan’an Old Street (南滨路) and the Nanshan Buddhist Temple (南山) a 20-min Didi away. Most tourists ride one-way (north → south) and take a Didi or metro back, instead of queuing again for the return cable car ride.

The route between the two terminals crosses the Yangtze at a 40-meter altitude, with the Jialing River confluence visible 1 km to the west. The cabin moves at about 6 meters per second — slow enough to see the river, fast enough to feel the height.

What to see from the cabin

The 5-minute ride is short, but there is a lot to see if you know where to look:

• Right side, going north → south: The view of Hongya Cave and the Qiansimen Bridge, with the Jialing River curving away. This is the iconic shot — most travel photos are taken from this angle.
• Left side, going north → south: The Nan’an mountainside with old apartment buildings stacked 20+ stories up the cliff. The vertical-city feel is most extreme here.
• Right side, going south → north: The Yuzhong skyline at sunset, with the skyscrapers of Jiefangbei and the Raffles Chongqing tower. The light at 18:00 in autumn is golden.
• Left side, going south → north: The Chaotianmen dock area (朝天门码头) where the Yangtze and Jialing rivers meet, with the massive Chaotianmen Bridge arching overhead.

Final tip

Buy a one-way ticket (¥20), not a round-trip (¥30). Ride north → south, then take the metro (Line 6, 10 min) or a Didi (¥15-20, 15 min) back. The return cable car ride gives you the same view from the opposite side — but you have already seen it, and the 1-hour queue for the return is not worth the ¥10 savings. Use the time saved for a slow walk through Nan’an’s old streets, or to get to Hongya Cave by 19:00 for the light show.