China Hotel     China Train     China Flight     Countries     Blog     Home

Your Reliable Gateway Travel to Beijing China
200+ things to do in Beijing China. Book ahead - save time and money!
10 reasons to use a local travel Agency !

Home → China City Guide → Chongqing City Guide → Chongqing Shopping

Chongqing Shopping


As a broad sectons, Chongqing boasts rich natural resources and local specialties. Due to the factthat Chongqing is surrounded by mountains, there are many rare Chinese traditional herbal medicines in these parts including the rhizome of Chinese goldthread (huanglian), Gastrodia elata (tianma) and the bark of eucommia (duchong). The fertile land here is also ideal for the fruit growing, such as orange, pear, pomelo and persimmon.

Folk culture and traditional Chinese art compliment the modern offerings of Chongqing. Since the Southern Song Dynasty, Shu embroideries have been cited as one of the most famous embroideries in China and Chongqing's elaborate folding paper fans have been exported to foreign countries since the Qing Dynasty. The many various kinds of bamboo articles, brocade of Tujia minority and ink slabs from the Three Gorges also reflect the flavor of the local culture.

Specialitids

Shu Brocade
Shu brocade (also known as Sichuan brocade), soft in feel and flamboyantly colored, has a history of over two thousand years, and it is one of the four best and most famous brocades in China along with Nanjing Brocade, Suzhou Brocade and Guangxi Brocade. Developed over more than twenty centuries, over several hundred types have evolved and brocade has become an integral part of the women’s dress among the ethnic groups from southwestern China. However, handmade brocade has given way to modern textile industries and there is only one factory in the city that specializes in making Sichuan Brocade.

Three Gorge Inkstone
For travelers fascinated by Chinese calligraphy, Three Gorge Inkstone might be the best shopping item in Chongqing. Made from special stone excavated on the Libi Gorge section of Jialing River, the fine-shaped inkstone is delicately engraved with beautiful patterns.

Rongchang Paper Fans
It is almost 450 years since the first Rongchang paper fan was made. Since then, the fan has enjoyed unique renown domestically and internationally. It is hardly surprising then, that hundreds of years ago the fans were exported to India and Burma. At first only the nobility could afford to buy the elegantly made fans. The past several decades have witnessed rapid innovation utilizing different materials to make the fans and the original few styles have now expanded into 345 different types of fan.

Print Painting
With the rapid economic development, peasants in rural Chongqing have benefited from great improvement in their material wealth. This has led to a desire for more cultural activities in their spare time, and the art of print painting has become their beloved form of self-cultivation and self-relaxation. And there is no lack of artistic genius here: over a period of ten years 874 works have been exhibited in the US, Japan, UK, Canada and Italy and over 600 works have become part of personal collections.

Questions & Answers: