The Eling Second Factory occupies a printing works built on Goose Ridge in the Yuzhong peninsula in the 1930s, which at one point produced currency paper for the republican government. It went out of use, and from around 2015 the workshops were converted into a cultural quarter: studios, small galleries, design shops, cafes, bars and restaurants, arranged over terraces on the slope. Because Goose Ridge is one of the highest points in the old city, the conversion has produced something Chongqing does better than almost anywhere - a district with views.
What is there
The old industrial buildings have been kept, with concrete frames, steel windows and the original workshop volumes left visible, and the new uses fitted inside them. It is a compact site, walkable in half an hour, but it is layered: stairs, bridges and platforms connect the levels, and each terrace has a different view - down to the Yangtze and the bridges, across to the Nan'an bank, or over the rooftops of Yuzhong. The galleries show local and national contemporary work, the cafes and bars are the sort that Chinese cities do well, and there are craft and design shops that are actually worth looking in rather than the usual souvenir stock.
The ridge above and around it
Immediately above the site is Eling Park, laid out on the ridge with trees, pavilions and a former villa, and with one of the classic city viewpoints over the Chongqing peninsula - particularly good at night, when the river bends and the tower lights come on. Below and around are ordinary neighbourhoods of the old city, with steep lanes, stairways, small noodle shops and the layered streets that make Chongqing disorienting in the best way. The whole area is best treated as an afternoon that ends with dinner and a night view.
Practical notes
The district is free to enter and open at all hours, though individual venues keep their own hours and most cafes close late. It is a short taxi ride or a steep walk from the nearest subway stations in Yuzhong. Because it is built on a slope, expect stairs everywhere; there is wheelchair access to some levels but not all of them. Weekday afternoons are quiet, weekends are busy, and the light and the views are best in the two hours before and after sunset, which is also when the restaurants fill.
