Quick answer
Hongya Cave costs nothing to enter and the last officially published opening time is 9:00 to 23:00. It sits at No. 88 Jialing River Riverside Road in Yuzhong District, about 500 metres from Linjiangmen station on Rail Transit Line 2. The facade lighting is the part worth planning around, and its schedule is changed several times a year, so the time you read in most travel articles is usually out of date.
- Free entry to the complex; shops and restaurants inside charge their own prices.
- Metro is easier than road access at night, when the riverfront gets congested.
- Check the current lighting notice for your dates rather than any fixed figure.
Hongya Cave opening hours and entry in 2026, and where each figure comes from
Every figure below is taken from a Chinese government source, with the publication date of that source shown so you can judge how current it is. All of them were re-checked on 12 August 2026. Where the most recent official figure predates 2026, we say so rather than presenting it as this year's number.
| Detail | Published figure | Source and date |
|---|---|---|
| Admission | Free (0 yuan, peak and off-peak) | Chongqing Culture and Tourism Commission register of graded scenic areas, published 6 January 2026 |
| Grade | National 4A scenic area, graded November 2007 | Same register |
| Address | No. 88 Jialing River Riverside Road, Yuzhong District | Chongqing municipal government attraction page, 5 September 2024 |
| Opening hours | 9:00–23:00 | Yuzhong district culture and tourism notice, 21 June 2023 |
| Facade lighting | No 2026 figure published on the open web — see below | Most recent change notice, 9 May 2025 |
| Managed by | Chongqing Hongya Cave Scenic Area Management Co., Ltd. · 023-63035505 | Scenic-area register |
The lighting times, and why we will not print a fixed number
Hongya Cave is famous for the golden light on its stilt houses, so nearly every visitor wants to know when the lights come on. There is no stable answer. The schedule is adjusted through the year and each adjustment is published as its own municipal notice: a June 2023 notice gave 19:30 to 23:30, a February 2025 notice gave 18:30 to 23:00, and a further change was announced in May 2025.
We looked specifically for a 2026 figure before publishing this page. There is not one on the open web. The 2026 municipal register of graded scenic areas has no opening-hours column at all; the Yuzhong district government's own Hongya Cave page, updated in April 2026, gives neither hours nor lighting times; and the most recent lighting notice, from May 2025, publishes its times inside an image rather than as text. The authority that actually announces changes is the official Hongya Cave WeChat account, which is not on the public web at all.
That is why a printed time in a guidebook or blog is usually wrong by the time you read it, and why we will not add another one. The reliable approach is to check the most recent notice for your own travel dates. If you are travelling with us, we confirm the current schedule locally when we build the evening and time the stop around it, along with the river viewpoints that work best on the same night.
Getting there
The municipal government attraction page lists two rail options and several buses. Rail Transit Line 2 to Linjiangmen station, then about 500 metres on foot to the northeast. Or Line 1 or Line 6 to Xiaoshizi station, leaving by Exit 6 or Exit 9. By bus, routes 111 and 112 on the outer loop stop at Hongyadong, while routes 105, 111 and 112 on the inner loop stop at Xiaoshizi, roughly 400 metres to the northwest. In the evening the riverside road around the complex becomes heavily congested, so rail is usually the faster arrival even if you are staying nearby. Our Chongqing metro guide covers how the network works if this is your first time using it.
How it fits into a Chongqing trip
Hongya Cave is a stop, not a day. Most travellers give it an hour or two in the evening and build the rest of the night around it, which is why we usually pair it with a river viewpoint and a hotpot or tea stop rather than treating it as a destination on its own. Our Chongqing night views guide sets out how the evening sequence works, and the two-day private tour shows where it lands in a short first visit. If you are deciding how long to stay in the city at all, the how many days in Chongqing guide is the better starting point.
Details like this change without warning
Anjia is based in Chongqing, so the lighting schedule, crowd management and any booking requirement are checked locally rather than copied from an article. During the trip, the local ground team can respond 24 hours to urgent questions, weather changes, hotel issues and route adjustments.
Want the evening built around it?
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FAQ
Yes. The Chongqing Municipal Culture and Tourism Development Commission's register of graded scenic areas, published on 6 January 2026, records Hongya Cave's peak and off-peak admission as 0 yuan. There is no entry ticket for the complex itself, though individual shops, restaurants and bars inside charge their own prices.
Re-checked in August 2026: a Chongqing municipal government notice published on 21 June 2023 gives the opening and closing time as 9:00 to 23:00, and no later official figure has replaced it. The Chongqing government's own attraction page from September 2024 does not restate opening hours, so treat 9:00–23:00 as the last published official figure rather than a guaranteed 2026 one, and check before a late visit.
There is no single fixed answer, and this is the detail most travel articles get wrong. The lighting schedule is changed several times a year and each change is announced separately by the Chongqing municipal government and the Yuzhong district culture and tourism authority. A June 2023 notice gave 19:30–23:30; a February 2025 notice gave 18:30–23:00; a further change was announced in May 2025, with the times published inside an image rather than as text. We looked specifically for a 2026 figure and there is not one on the open web: the 2026 municipal scenic-area register has no opening-hours column, and the Yuzhong district government's Hongya Cave page, updated April 2026, gives no times either. Changes are announced through the official Hongya Cave WeChat account, which is not on the public web. Check the latest notice for your travel dates rather than relying on any published figure, including this one.
The Chongqing municipal government attraction page gives two options. Take Chongqing Rail Transit Line 2 to Linjiangmen station, then walk about 500 metres northeast. Or take Line 1 or Line 6 to Xiaoshizi station and leave by Exit 6 or Exit 9. By bus, routes 111 and 112 outer loop stop at Hongyadong, and routes 105, 111 and 112 inner loop stop at Xiaoshizi, about 400 metres to the northwest.
No. 88 Jialing River Riverside Road, Yuzhong District, Chongqing, on the Jialing riverfront near where the Jialing meets the Yangtze. The municipal scenic-area register lists the same address in its short official form, Jiabin Road No. 88. It is a national 4A-graded scenic area, graded in November 2007, and is managed by Chongqing Hongya Cave Scenic Area Management Co., Ltd.
We cannot give a reliable current answer. A June 2023 municipal notice asked visitors to book ahead through the official Hongya Cave WeChat account, but the September 2024 government attraction page says nothing about booking. Requirements at Chinese attractions change, so confirm close to your travel date. If you travel with us, we check the current rule and handle any booking for you.