Ciqikou is the piece of old Chongqing that survived everything else. Stone steps climbing from the Jialing River, low wooden eaves, teahouses where the ceiling fans barely move the air, and alleys that smell of frying peanuts. It is also one of the most visited places in the city, which is why timing your visit matters more than any list of sights.

What Ciqikou is

A former river port, about 1,000 years old, that grew rich on porcelain and salt. The name means "porcelain village." Today the core is a compact grid of stone-paved lanes on a hillside, with the main street running from the river gate up to the temple. You can walk the whole thing in two hours. Most people stay four, because the point is less the sights and more the grazing, the tea, and the river views at the bottom.

Getting there and timing

Line 1 metro to Ciqikou station, exit 1, and the entrance is a ten-minute walk. From Jiefangbei it takes about 40 minutes door to door. Entry is free.

Now the important part: come on a weekday morning. By 11am on weekends the main street is shoulder-to-shoulder and the charm drowns in the crowd. Arrive by 9am on any day and you get the lanes nearly to yourself, with locals doing their shopping and old men already installed at the teahouse. Late afternoon works too, roughly after 4:30pm, when the tour groups leave and the light comes low off the river.

What to actually do

• Walk the main street downhill, then escape sideways. The parallel lanes one street over are quieter and more photogenic than the main drag.
• Find a teahouse with a terrace over the river on the lower lanes. A pot of tea costs 20 to 40 yuan and buys you an hour of watching boats.
• Watch the shadow puppet show if the small theater is running. Short, traditional, and worth the small ticket.
• Walk out to the river gate at the bottom for the view across the Jialing, where fishing boats used to land porcelain.
• Visit Bao Lun Temple, built into a hillside cave, five minutes from the main street and almost always calm.

What to eat

• Chen Mahua: twisted fried dough, sold in giant braids in dozens of flavors. The original shop always has a queue; the flavor counters behind it are the same product.
• Qianzhang, the local pressed tofu, sliced and dressed with chili, sold from barrels along the lanes.
• Sichuan-style cold noodles and hot zongzi from the street counters.
• Hotpot if you must: there are places in the old town, but honestly, save hotpot for the city center, where the good ones are.

Honest warnings

Parts of Ciqikou are commercial. There is a stretch of souvenir stalls selling the same keychains as every old town in China, and I would skip it entirely. The value here is in the side lanes, the teahouses and the river. Also wear real shoes: the stone steps are polished by centuries of feet and turn slippery when it rains, which in Chongqing is often.

Photography tip: the best shots are in the first hour after opening, when mist sits on the river and the shopfronts are still shuttered. Bring a lens you like at 35mm or wider, because the lanes are narrow.

Pair it with something in the afternoon. Ciqikou takes a half day at most. The hillside paths above the town give you a view back over the rooftops if you have the legs for it, or head into Shapingba district nearby for cheap, excellent student-town food. By early evening, take the metro back toward the river center and ride the Yangtze cable car at dusk. Ciqikou by morning, Chongqing's neon by night: that contrast is the whole reason people fall for this city.

Originally published on 71Asia Tours blog.