Yangtze River Cableway (长江索道)

Attraction · Chongqing. A 1,166 m cable car over the Yangtze, now a short sightseeing ride between two riverbanks.

Source: https://chinafootnotes.com/places/yangtze-river-cableway · Data checked 2026-10-08 · Rendered for 2026-10-09 (Asia/Shanghai). Facts carry their status; "not found yet" means we searched and found no reliable source.

Why go

The Yangtze River Cableway (长江索道) crosses the river between the Yuzhong peninsula and Nan'an in about four to five minutes. It opened in 1987 as commuter transport and now runs as a short sightseeing ride over the river, the bridges and the dense hillside skyline. The ride is brief, so the planning is really about the queue number, which station to board at, and what to do on the other bank.

What to do

• Ride one-way across the Yangtze. The span is 1,166 m long and one crossing takes about four to five minutes. Buy a single ticket for the station you will board at, then spend the saved time on the other bank.
• Plan around your queue number. Tickets come with a queue number or time window. Track the progress in the operator's WeChat account and return to the station when your range is close.
• Fill the wait with a nearby stop. At the north station, Chongqing Box is a free stop in former office space; on the south bank, Longmenhao Old Street and Xiahaoli are a short walk away.
• Use the free viewing platforms as a back-up. The operator says it has upgraded free riverside platforms on both banks, and Baixiangju and the Dongshuimen bridge deck are popular free spots for watching the cabins cross.

• Don't miss: Tickets are station-specific: a north-station ticket cannot be used to board at the south station, and a return ticket needs a second queue number.

• Best time: Just after opening, or near sunset
• Skip if: The queue is long, it is foggy, or you only want a skyline photo; the free platforms near Baixiangju photograph the cabins without a wait.

Practical details

• Hours: 08:00–22:00 daily; winter 08:00–21:00
• Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, Sat, Sun: 08:00–22:00, last entry 21:30
• Mar–Nov (03-01 to 11-30), Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, Sat, Sun: 08:00–22:00, last entry 21:30
• Dec–Feb (12-01 to 02-29), Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, Sat, Sun: 08:00–21:00, last entry 20:30
• Mar–Nov 08:00–22:00; Dec–end Feb 08:00–21:00. The last boarding check is 30 minutes before closing.
• On statutory holidays the operator's static page lists 07:30–23:00 (Mar–Nov) and 07:30–22:30 (winter); recent holiday notices have all used 07:30–22:30.
• The cableway usually closes for one full weekday a month for maintenance (sometimes only an afternoon, occasionally two days in a row), announced on the operator's WeChat account a few days ahead.
• Admission: Ticketed · ¥30 one-way / ¥50 return
• Adult one-way: ¥30 (All year)
• Adult return: ¥50 (All year)
• One-way plus audio guide (bundle price): ¥40
• One-way plus souvenir ticket (bundle price): ¥45.9
• One-way plus Cloud Eye viewing deck (bundle price): ¥98
• Free: Children under 1.3 m with a paying adult (one free child per paying adult) (Height under 1.3 m; one free child per paying adult (authorised reseller and local guide))
• The Chongqing development and reform commission set ¥30 one-way and ¥50 return as ceilings from 2025-01-01; any reductions are left to the operator.
• Children under 1.3 m ride free with a paying adult, one free child per paying adult (the authorised reseller's page and Bendibao, Apr 2025); the operator's visitor notice only says children under 1.3 m need a guardian, and China for Travelers gives 1.2 m instead.
• No senior or student discount is listed (Bendibao, Apr 2025). One agency site claims half price for students and seniors, which no operator or government page confirms.
• No separate public-holiday fare was found on the commission notice or operator pages.
• Booking: Timed tickets up to two days ahead; same day also possible
• Yangtze River Cableway (WeChat) (长江索道（微信公众号）) — WeChat → search 长江索道 → 购票取号
• Visitor centre windows and self-service machines (景区游客中心窗口与自助机)
• Ctrip / Tongcheng (authorised) (携程、同程（授权）)
• Passport accepted: unknown — No operator page states which ID types the WeChat flow, windows or machines accept. A Xiaohongshu account named after the cableway (Dec 2025) says visitors without mainland ID can enter a passport number online, and Ava, a Chinese visitor travelling with foreign friends (Jan 2026), found such an entry in the mini-program; a Taiwan permit holder could not find it. This is not confirmed by an operator page.
• The operator's WeChat account sells same-day tickets from 07:45 (07:15 on statutory holidays). Ctrip and Tongcheng are the authorised online resellers; tickets bought there need a queue number collected on the day, on the account's e-commerce number screen or at the visitor centre.
• Bendibao (Apr 2026) says the operator's account sells timed tickets up to two days ahead, and Ctrip or Tongcheng the same; an account named after the cableway on Xiaohongshu (Dec 2025) says the same and adds that a ticket for a booked date cannot be refunded after 07:00 on the day, while a same-day ticket cannot be refunded or changed. The operator's own website page still describes same-day sales only.
• Tickets can sell out in peak season and on holidays; the operator promises to post a notice when that happens, so buy on the account as soon as sales open.
• Buying is by real name: the English guide Neon Chongqing describes an online real-name booking flow with a fallback to the staffed windows.
• Whether a passport or any ID is checked at boarding is not stated by the operator. The e-commerce number screen asks for a phone number and a Chinese ID number (Bendibao, Apr 2026), so a passport holder who bought on an authorised reseller collects the number at the visitor centre.
• Last admission: Last boarding check 30 min before close
• Time to allow: 45–90 min with queue
• Getting there: Xiaoshizi exit 5 (north) · Shangxinjie exit 2 (south)
• Metro Line 1/6 to Xiaoshizi (小什字), Exit 5, about 1 min walk
• Metro Line 6 to Shangxinjie (上新街), Exit 2, about 8 min walk
• Show a taxi driver: 长江索道北站，渝中区新华路151号（南站：南岸区上新街4号）
• Line 6 stops at both Xiaoshizi and Shangxinjie, so the metro links the two stations. North station: 151 Xinhua Road, Yuzhong; south station: 4 Shangxin Street, Nan'an.
• Our estimate: about 8 minutes on foot from Shangxinjie exit 2 to the south station (one guide quotes 634 m, another 10–15 min).
• Buses 153, 262, 401 and 476 stop at Xinhua Road or Xiaoshizi; 304, 318 and 320 stop at Longmenhao on the south bank.
• Foreign visitors: Windows sell tickets; a WeChat passport entry is reported

Not found yet

• booking.passport.accepted: No operator page states which IDs the WeChat flow, windows or machines accept. (searched: operator website, government notices, English guide sites, authorised reseller page (Ctrip), Xiaohongshu)
• foreignVisitors: No operator page states passport, overseas-phone or foreign-card rules. (searched: operator website, government notices, English guide sites, Xiaohongshu)

Traveler tips

• Check for the monthly maintenance closure. The cableway shuts for a full day roughly once a month for maintenance, usually midweek; some months it closes for an afternoon only or for two days in a row. The operator posts the notice on its WeChat account only a few days ahead, and the Chongqing government site repeats it, so check again the day before. No ticket works on a closure day, and service resumes at 08:00 the next morning. Caveat: 2026 notices on record: Feb (14:00–21:00 only), Mar, Apr, May, Jul and Sep; April 2025 was two days in a row. The operator gives no yearly schedule. China for Travelers carries affiliate links (commercial source). source
• Buy a timed ticket on the WeChat account; evening slots go first. The operator's WeChat official account (search 长江索道) sells tickets by time slot, up to two days ahead and on the day from 07:45 (07:15 on statutory holidays). The flow is Buy ticket, then ticket type, date, station and time slot, traveller details, pay. The queue number, a letter plus digits, comes with the purchase, so there is no separate step at the station. Pick the station you will board at, because a north-station ticket cannot be used at the south station. Late-afternoon and evening slots sell out first, so book before you set out. The app shows your number, and numbers are called in batches. Caveat: The interface is in Chinese. Bendibao (Apr 2026) says tickets can be bought two days ahead; an operator web page still describes same-day sales only, so follow the date options the account shows. Ava (2 Jan 2026) tried to buy at 16:10 and only the 17:00-17:59 slot was left, with a number in the 400s; she boarded just before 18:00 and estimates about 50 numbers called every five minutes. 柒月 (4 Apr 2026) got a number in the 300s and arrived 30 minutes before the end of the slot with little waiting; LOVEQQ (8 Aug 2026) bought around 17:00, received a number above 4000 when the line was at about 2000, and would have waited until about 21:00. A Tongcheng ticket page notice read on 9 Oct 2026 describes a random waiting number made of a letter and digits. Numbers and speeds are single reports. (3 travelers) source
• Foreign visitors: try the passport entry, then the staffed window. One Chinese visitor travelling with foreign friends (Jan 2026) found a foreign-visitor entry at the bottom of the WeChat mini-program that takes a passport number, at the same price; a Xiaohongshu account named after the cableway announced the same in Dec 2025. If it does not work, use the staffed ticket windows or the self-service machines at the visitor centre with your original passport. Set up and test mobile payment before you reach the station. Caveat: The operator's own pages list windows, self-service machines, the WeChat account and Ctrip or Tongcheng as channels but do not state which ID types or payment cards each accepts, and it could not be confirmed that the Xiaohongshu account is an enterprise-verified operator account. A reply (anonymous) from a Taiwan permit holder could not find the passport option. 灯花笑 (Jul 2025) wrote that there was no passport function then, and a Singapore agency (commercial, Dec 2025) still says foreign passports cannot buy online; both predate or contradict the Dec 2025 post. Guides carrying the original passport advice include an agency and China for Travelers (commercial). (2 travelers) source
• Queue numbers, paper numbers and tokens. Whatever channel you buy through, you ride in queue-number order. Tickets bought on the operator's account carry the number; tickets bought on Ctrip or Tongcheng need a number collected on the day, either at a self-service machine on site or through the account's e-commerce number function. That screen asks for a phone number and a Chinese ID number, so with a passport collect the number at the self-service machines or the visitor-centre window. At the entrance some visitors are also handed a paper queue number or a coloured plastic token and are called in by colour and number; keep it with you. If you miss your number, show your ticket to the staff at the entrance. Reports differ on whether you rejoin automatically or need a new number, so check the live progress in the account and stay close when your number is near. Caveat: The queue rules are from the operator's holiday notice republished by the Chongqing government (2024), a 2025 government notice that sends OTA buyers to the visitor centre, and a 2026 Bendibao guide; no operator page says that a passport is accepted at the machines or window, which comes from guide sites. Before the timed-ticket system of December 2025, the operator's 2024 holiday notice said a missed number needs a new one, while 没有在划水 and 灯花笑 (both Jul 2025) say a missed number was re-queued automatically; no current rule was found. Sue (30 Oct 2025) says a paper number is needed even if you bought online; a poster with a default account name (25 Sep 2025, north station) took a paper number from a staff member before going up by lift; 手捧星的月 (10 Apr 2025) received coloured tokens. Anonymous replies (Oct 2025) say none was needed on a quiet day. China for Travelers carries affiliate links (commercial source). Practice varies by day and ticket source. (5 travelers) source
• Buy one-way and return by metro. A return ticket does not keep your place for the trip back: on the far bank you take a new queue number and wait again. Ride one way, spend time on the other bank, and return on Metro Line 6, which stops at both Xiaoshizi (north) and Shangxinjie (south). The fare is ¥30 one-way against ¥50 return. Caveat: A Bendibao article says a return ticket need not be used straight away; the point here is the second queue, which the operator's own notice confirms. China for Travelers carries affiliate links (commercial source). source
• Be in the queue 30 minutes before closing. The last boarding check is 30 minutes before the closing time, so with a 22:00 summer close you need to be through by about 21:30, and with a 21:00 winter close by about 20:30. On busy evenings the number you hold matters more than the clock, so buy early in the day. Caveat: The 30-minute rule is stated in the operator's 2024 holiday notice and repeated in 2026 guides; the operator's current website gives opening hours but no last-entry line. China for Travelers carries affiliate links (commercial source). source
• Expect standing-only, crowded cabins at summer peaks. The cabins have no seats and are rated for 65 passengers plus one staff member. In summer 2026 riders complained about crowded, hot cabins with no air conditioning and a wait of up to half an hour for a three-to-five-minute crossing. The operator said it had begun reducing the number of people per cabin, guiding people into a single file to board and rotating passengers toward the windows mid-ride, and that it plans to cut online sales on very hot days. Caveat: Load figures and the operator's response come from a July 2026 news report quoting two visitors; they describe summer peaks, not every day. A Reddit commenter (Aug 2026) adds that going late without a pre-booked ticket meant about two hours in line, a single personal account. The operator's plan to cut online sales on hot days is a stated direction, not a confirmed rule. China for Travelers carries affiliate links (commercial source). Crowded cabins are also described by 每天都要喝美式 (Mar 2025), 没有答案 (Oct 2025) and 包包不包包包 (May 2025). (4 travelers) source
• Fill the wait nearby. Your queue number lets you leave and come back. At the north station, Chongqing Box opened in former office space as a free stop with local products, food and viewing areas. On the south bank, the old streets around Longmenhao and Xiahaoli are close to the station. Return as your number range approaches; a missed number means a new one. Caveat: Chongqing Box and the south-bank streets are described by a 2026 local guide site; opening hours of those venues were not checked. source
• Try boarding at the south station. Several guides prefer starting from the Nan'an side (Shangxinjie Station, Line 6, Exit 2), because the crossing ends with the dense Yuzhong skyline and you avoid returning to the same bank. Reports on which side is quieter disagree, so judge by the live queue progress. Caveat: Claims about shorter south-side queues come from guide sites, one of them a travel agency; the operator publishes no queue data by station. Waits reported: 40 minutes at the south station on a Friday afternoon in May 2025 (包包不包包包), 37 minutes there on a July afternoon (没有在划水), about half an hour at the north station in low season (手捧星的月, Apr 2025). 绮景是氟西汀 (Sep 2026) calls the south side quieter and says north-station tour groups queue two hours or more; 净春日记 (Aug 2026) arrived at the south station at 07:30 and walked to the front of the crowd to ride the first car almost alone; 没有答案 (Oct 2025) found the north quieter in the evening and the south crowded. Queues change by day and hour. (6 travelers) source
• Know the refund cut-offs before you buy. The operator's refund notice has three windows. Tickets bought on the day can be refunded without loss online or offline from 07:45 to 16:00, only at the visitor centre from 16:00 to 20:00, and not at all after 20:00. Tickets pre-bought on an authorised online platform can be refunded without loss only before 07:00 on the ride day. Part-refunds, consumption refunds and late refunds are not offered. Caveat: The refund notice is an image on the operator's website; the 2024 holiday notice on the government site gave the same visitor-centre cut-off at 20:00. Three sources conflict: a December 2025 post on a Xiaohongshu account named after the cableway says same-day tickets cannot be refunded or changed and tickets for a booked date cannot be refunded after 07:00 on the day; a Tongcheng ticket-page notice (read 9 Oct 2026) says tickets can be refunded online in full before the end of operating hours; the refund image above gives three windows. Check the refund terms on the purchase screen. source
• Skip the bundles unless you want the extras. The ticket menu, on the operator's service account and the WeChat mini-program 胖丁旅行, lists one-way plus audio guide at ¥40, one-way plus a souvenir ticket at ¥45.9, and one-way plus the Cloud Eye viewing deck at ¥98. The Cloud Eye bundle is the sum of its parts rather than a discount, so it saves a transaction, not money. Caveat: Bundle prices are from a 2026 Bendibao guide and a 2026 guide site; they sit on the booking account and can change. Buy through the operator's accounts or its authorised resellers. China for Travelers carries affiliate links (commercial source). source
• Watch the cabins free from the platforms. If the line is long or the ride is closed, the operator says it has upgraded free riverside viewing platforms on both banks, and Baixiangju and the Dongshuimen bridge deck are places to watch the cabins cross. Baixiangju is a real residential building, so keep noise down and stay out of private areas. Caveat: The upgraded platforms are described in the operator's July 2026 response to the news site; access rules at Baixiangju can change. China for Travelers carries affiliate links (commercial source). 绮景是氟西汀 (23 Sep 2026) lists five free angles: the south-station viewing deck, Dongshuimen Bridge (a long lens helps), the Longmenhao old-street star platform, the riverside roads (Xiawangmen bus stop at dusk) and a corridor at Baixiangju; the post suggests the south bank in the morning and the north-bank roads in the afternoon for front light. source
• Winter evenings close an hour earlier. From December to the end of February the cableway runs 08:00 to 21:00 instead of 08:00 to 22:00, so the last boarding check is around 20:30. Fog is common from January to March, and heavy fog or storms can stop the service without notice. Caveat: Winter hours are on the operator's page; the fog and storm remarks are from a 2026 guide site. China for Travelers carries affiliate links (commercial source). The operator's Xiaohongshu post of 14 Dec 2025 repeats 08:00-21:00 for 1 Dec 2025 to 28 Feb 2026, with 07:30-22:30 on statutory holidays. source
• South for photos, north for commentary. If you want the photo of the cabins, ride from the north station to the south, because the south station has the clearer viewpoint. The north station has an audio commentary the south does not, and the Cloud Eye viewing platform (云端之眼) is opposite the north-station exit; its full lighting comes on after about 19:30. Caveat: 蒋昕瑶姐姐 (16 Nov 2025) is the only source; a reply (anonymous, Apr 2026) says the north-station photo advice was unclear. Commentary and lighting times are not published by the operator. source

Sources

• 重庆市客运索道有限公司
• 重庆市客运索道有限公司
• 重庆市客运索道有限公司
• 重庆市客运索道有限公司
• 重庆市客运索道有限公司
• 重庆市客运索道有限公司
• 重庆市客运索道有限公司 (published 2026-06-18)
• 重庆市客运索道有限公司 (published 2025-12-29)
• 重庆市客运索道有限公司
• 重庆市发展和改革委员会 (published 2025-03-24)
• 重庆市人民政府网 (published 2026-07-27)
• 重庆市人民政府网 (published 2024-09-13)
• 重庆市人民政府网 (published 2025-04-18)
• 华龙网（光明网转载） (published 2026-09-23)
• 川渝本地消息（搜狐号） (published 2026-09-19)
• 华龙网 (published 2026-02-06)
• 重庆本地宝 (published 2026-04-21)
• 奥一网 (published 2026-07-31)
• China for Travelers (published 2026-08-16)
• Neon Chongqing (published 2026-08-20)
• Chinatour101 (published 2025-09-22)
• 240 Hours in China (published 2025-10-28)
• 重庆本地宝 (published 2026-04-21)
• 重庆本地宝 (published 2025-04-01)
• 携程
• KKday
• 人民网重庆（上游新闻转载） (published 2026-09-29)
• 重庆本地宝 (published 2026-09-24)
• Historical-Pound-314 (published 2026-08-19)
• 重庆长江索道（小红书账号，认证状态未确认） (published 2025-12-14)
• Ava (published 2026-01-02)
• 没有在划水（划水专用号） (published 2025-07-13)
• 灯花笑 (published 2025-07-23)
• 绮景是氟西汀 (published 2026-09-23)
• 蒋昕瑶姐姐 (published 2025-11-16)
• 净春日记 (published 2026-08-22)
• 包包不包包包 (published 2025-05-10)
• 手捧星的月 (published 2025-04-10)
• 没有答案 (published 2025-10-19)
• 每天都要喝美式 (published 2025-03-20)
• 柒月 (published 2026-04-04)
• LOVEQQ (published 2026-08-08)
• Sue (published 2025-10-30)
• 小红薯🍠 (published 2025-09-25)
• 重庆本地宝 (published 2026-04-21)

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