Zhongshan Ancient Town lies in the Jiangjin district in the southwest of Chongqing municipality, on a river in the foothills of the Simian range. It has existed as a market town for around a thousand years, growing up where a river crossing met the roads into the hills, and it is remarkable for one thing in particular: its buildings are largely timber houses built out over the riverbank on very tall stilts.
The town
The historic core is basically a single long lane, paved in stone, following the river along the top of the bank. On the landward side the lane is lined with houses and shops, and on the river side the buildings stand on stilts that descend as much as twenty metres to the water or to the rocks below. The effect is a continuous timber facade supported on a forest of posts, with galleries and balconies overhanging the stream. Many of the houses are still lived in, and the lane functions as an ordinary shopping street with butchers, grocers, ironmongers and tea houses alongside the visitor stalls.
What to eat and see
Zhongshan is known locally for its food: smoked and cured pork, tofu prepared in several ways, a local type of rice wine, and a sweet made from glutinous rice. Small restaurants along the lane serve these with noodles and simple stir-fries, sitting you on a balcony over the river. There are also temples at either end of the town, a small museum in one of the old houses, and a stone bridge upstream. The surrounding hills have forest, terraced fields and a plateau known for its stone carvings, which gives the district its other name.
A note on safety and access
Because many buildings stand on high timber posts over the river, parts of the town have been assessed as structurally vulnerable, and some structures have been repaired, reinforced or closed. Visitors should stay on the main lane and use only the balconies that are clearly open to customers rather than climbing onto unoccupied galleries. In the rainy season the river can rise fast, and the lower levels of the stilt foundations are then in the water.
Practical notes
Zhongshan is in Jiangjin, roughly two hours by road from central Chongqing, and is usually visited as a day trip or as a stop on the way to the Simian Mountain area. It is small - the lane takes about half an hour to walk - so it combines well with the surrounding countryside. Weekends and holidays are busy with visitors from Chongqing, and weekdays are quiet. There is no entrance fee for the town itself; individual temples and museums charge small amounts.
