Villagers and tourists line up to take cable cars in Fuling District, southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, Feb. 9, 2021. (Xinhua/Liu Chan)
CHONGQING, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- With China's tourism market on a steady recovery, southwest China's Chongqing, a city that once captivated internet users with its hilly landscape, is now witnessing a large influx of tourists keen to experience this city's unique transportation methods.
Zhang Xiaonan, a 20-year-old college student from north China's Shanxi Province, just got off a cableway running across the Yangtze River.
She planned a 5-day trip to Chongqing, which is themed on local transportation methods unseen in other cities.
"The cableway I just took was so amazing that I could see the green river flowing under my feet," said Zhang.
The cable car, put into service in 1987, was initially used as a transportation tool for local people to cross the river. Now it has become a favorable choice for travelers keen to have a better view of the mountainous metropolis, said Zhou Yanhong, a tour guide working for the cableway company.
Since the cableway resumed its operation on Jan. 9, 2023, after a 5-month maintenance break, average daily visits have reached over 11,000, up 144 percent year on year. Zhou added that in order to provide a better experience for tourists, the company has also upgraded related services, like providing a coffee house in the shape of a cable car, as well as creative and cultural products.
In fact, the cable car is just one of the transportation-turned-attraction sites in Chongqing. Other similar sites include the Crown Escalator, which was built in 1996 and has a length of 112 meters and a slope of 30 degrees, and a train running through a 19-story residential building on Liziba Station, and more.
After getting off the cable car, Zhang went to check out the next transportation site, the Liziba Station of Chongqing Rail Transit Line 2.
Recently, thousands of people have gone daily to the viewing platform built especially for tourists under the railway -- posing with different gestures of interaction with the train, such as opening their mouths to "eat the train."
"Maybe it is nothing unusual for local people, because it was put into service in 2004. However, for a person who lives in a flat city, I feel it's so fresh and thrilling. I must take a photo here," said Zhang.
Tourists stacked on the platform have also sparked new businesses opportunities, such as chartered taxis and street photography.
With the Chongqing tourism market rebounding, Li Ze, a 21-year-old student, grasped the opportunity to make some spare money by providing souvenir pictures for tourists at a price of 60 yuan (about 9 U.S. dollars) for a photo.
Li added that earning money in this way was not what pleased her most, because what she found more important was the opportunity to experience the recovering bustle and hustle of the city. "It's so great to see this city alive again."
According to reports released by different online tourism apps, Chongqing has a high ranking on the list of popular destinations during the 2023 Chinese Spring Festival. ■