Baixiangju in Chongqing: How to Get There and Explore the Complex
Baixiangju is not a purpose-built tourist attraction. It is a residential complex made up of several apartment blocks connected by elevated walkways, with the tallest reaching 25 stories. What makes the complex unusual is that, despite having no elevators, it has street-level exits on the 1st, 10th, and 15th floors, each opening onto a road at a different elevation.
Getting there
Take Metro Line 1 or Line 6 to Xiaoshizi Station, use Exit 7, and walk for about eight minutes. In your map app, search for “白象居“.
I visited Baixiangju after Huguang Guild Hall. I would not recommend walking there directly along the riverside. That route brings you to Baixiangju’s 1st floor, so you would still need to climb the stairs to reach the main photo spots.
The easier route starts with the elevator just ahead and to the left of the Huguang Guild Hall exit. Take it up to Dongshuimen Bridge. From there, turn around to photograph a full view of Huguang Guild Hall, then set Baixiangju as your destination in your map app and walk over.
The walk takes about as long as the route from Xiaoshizi Station, but you arrive directly at the 15th-floor entrance and can make your way down through the complex from there.
How to explore Baixiangju
There is not much to explore at Baixiangju. The main reasons to visit are to experience Chongqing’s distinctive multi-level urban layout and take photos from a few representative angles around the complex.
I would recommend visiting Baixiangju as part of the same outing as the nearby Huguang Guild Hall, Raffles City Chongqing, and Chaotianmen Square. If you have already been to Kuixinglou and experienced a similar floor-to-street illusion, you may find Baixiangju easy to skip.
After entering on the 15th floor, you will pass small shops selling souvenirs and Chongqing specialties. There are also travel photography businesses offering makeup and hairstyling, along with photographers who accompany clients around the complex for photo shoots.
Despite these visitor-oriented businesses, Baixiangju is still a residential complex. It was once closed to visitors because large crowds, congested corridors, and noise were disrupting residents’ daily lives. It reopened only after the community worked out arrangements for visitor access. Please keep noise to a minimum and avoid blocking the passageways.
Follow the 15th-floor corridor until you reach the walkway connecting two apartment blocks. This is where you can photograph the Yangtze River Cableway and Dongshuimen Bridge in the same frame. It is also where most visitors stop, so there is no need to search for the spot. Just look for the crowd.
To catch a cable car in your shot, choose your angle and wait for a moment. When the cables begin to sway noticeably, a cabin is about to come into view.
From here, take the stairs shown in the photo below and continue down to the 10th floor. This is also a popular photo spot because Chinese singer and actor Karry Wang (Wang Junkai) once posed for photos here, and most of the people stopping to take pictures are his fans.
At this level, the apartment blocks on either side, the walkway overhead, and the road below form a natural frame for Raffles City Chongqing, Dongshuimen Bridge, and the Yangtze River Cableway. This spot is on a very narrow road, and vehicles pass from time to time, so watch for traffic while taking photos.
You can find plenty of other Baixiangju photo spots online, but I think the spots on the 15th and 10th floors are enough to capture what makes the complex distinctive. Around 20 minutes is enough.
If Huguang Guild Hall is your next stop, continue down to the 1st floor. From there, it is only a few minutes away on foot. If you are taking the metro elsewhere, retrace your route from the 10th floor to the 15th-floor entrance.
