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around, and its schedule is changed several times a year, so the time you read in most travel articles is usually out of date.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, published 26 August 2026 |
| Opening hours | 9:00–23:00 | Yuzhong district culture and tourism notice, 21 June 2023 |
| Facade lighting | 19:30–23:00 since 3 September 2026 | Yuzhong district notice, 3 September 2026 (repost); earlier notice, 9 May 2025 |
| Managed by | Chongqing Hongya Cave Scenic Area Management Co., Ltd. · 023-63035505 | Scenic-area register |
The lighting times, and why they keep changing
Hongya Cave is famous for the golden light on its stilt houses, so nearly every visitor wants to know when the lights come on. Since 3 September 2026, the lights are on from 19:30 to 23:00, according to the Yuzhong district’s official accounts. The schedule is adjusted through the year and each change is announced separately. In 2026 the lights moved to 19:30–23:00 on 15 April, came on later in summer, and went back to 19:30–23:00 on 3 September. Earlier notices gave 19:30 to 23:30 (June 2023) and 18:30 to 23:00 (February 2025).
The 2026 notices were posted on the Yuzhong district’s official WeChat accounts and reposted by news sites. We have not found them on a government web page: the 2026 municipal register of graded scenic areas has no opening-hours column, and the Yuzhong district government’s own Hongya Cave page, updated in April 2026, gives no times. Changes are also posted on the official Hongya Cave WeChat account.
That is why a time printed in a guidebook or blog is often out of date by the time you read it. The schedule follows a pattern: the published times track dusk through the year — each notice above sits within half an hour of its season’s sunset — and switch-off has been 23:00 in recent notices (23:30 in an older one). Our own on-the-ground check in August 2026 matched the pattern: on at 20:00, off at 23:00. As a rough planning guide that means around 20:00 in high summer, 18:30–19:30 in spring and autumn, and around 18:00 in midwinter — an observed pattern, not an official schedule; the Hongya Cave WeChat account decides on the day.
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.
Where is the best place to see the whole of Hongya Cave?
Not from inside it. Walk onto Qiansimen Bridge, or go to the far bank of the Jialing River, and the whole lit-up front of stilted houses is in view. Inside the complex you are under the lights, not looking at them. Walk through it once by day, then see it from across the water after dark.
- Qiansimen Bridge: the classic full-front view of Hongya Cave. Give it 20 to 30 minutes once the lights are on. Crowds on the bridge build quickly after sunset.
- The far bank of the Jialing River: the same front seen from across the water, from further back.
- From the river: the Two Rivers night cruise passes Hongya Cave and the bridges in 45 to 50 minutes. Boats leave one after another from 19:30 to 22:00, and the earlier ones are the better ones.
Our Chongqing night views guide puts these angles in order with Nanbin Road, the cableway and dinner, so you are not crossing the river twice in one evening.
When is Hongya Cave most crowded, and can a car get to the door?
Early evening to late night is the busiest time, and public holidays are the peak. On public holidays the roads around Hongya Cave come under temporary traffic control from 16:00 as crowds build, so do not count on a car reaching the entrance. The Hongya Cave WeChat account shows live crowd levels, and when the site is full it limits entry on the spot.
Yuzhong traffic police expect peak traffic around Hongya Cave, Shibati and the Jiefangbei area from 13:00 to midnight (forecast for the 2026 May Day holiday); ordinary days follow the same pattern at a lower level. On 2 October 2025 visitor numbers passed the site’s maximum instant capacity just after 17:30, crowd limits were brought in, and numbers did not ease until 23:00. On those evenings the metro is the way in: Linjiangmen on Line 2, or Xiaoshizi on Lines 1 and 6, as above. Our tickets and booking guide gives the holiday picture for the other main sights. Checked October 2026.
What is Hongya Cave, and when was it built?
Hongya Cave takes its name from Hongya Gate, one of the gates of old Chongqing. The present complex was built in 2006, funded by the municipal government at 385 million yuan, in the traditional Ba-Yu stilt-house style, and it is graded a national 4A scenic area. Checked October 2026.
The Chongqing municipal government’s page on Hongya Cave, published 26 August 2026, describes it as a stilt-house complex built up the cliff, drawing on the folk, dockside and hillside-dwelling traditions of the region, with dining and entertainment at its core and retail as the supplement. It also records that Chinese and foreign media have called it a “city in the sky” to rival the scenes of the Japanese animated film Spirited Away. That is a comparison the press made after it opened, not the basis of the design. The 4A grade dates from November 2007 (see the table above).
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.
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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 October 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, published on 26 August 2026, 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.
Since 3 September 2026, from 19:30 to 23:00, according to the Yuzhong district’s official accounts. The schedule changes several times a year and each change is announced separately. In summer 2026 the lights came on at 20:00; earlier notices gave 19:30–23:30 (June 2023) and 18:30–23:00 (February 2025). Check the latest notice for your travel dates before you go.
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 government attraction page published on 26 August 2026 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.
No. The complex was built in 2006 in the traditional stilt-house style of the Chongqing region, and takes its name from Hongya Gate, one of the gates of old Chongqing. The Chongqing municipal government's page on it, published 26 August 2026, says Chinese and foreign media have praised it as a "city in the sky" to rival the scenes of Spirited Away. That is a comparison made by the press after it opened, not the basis of the design.
Early evening to late night, and above all on public holidays, when the roads around it come under temporary traffic control from 16:00 as crowds build, and the site limits entry when it is full. Walk through it by day, then watch it lit up from Qiansimen Bridge or the far bank of the Jialing River after dark, and arrive by metro rather than by car.