This is the photo taken at the Shibati Traditional Scenic Area, Yuzhong District on September 30 (Panoramic photos taken by drone).

Shanguo (Virtue Fruit) Night Lamps. (Photographed by Wang Huan)

Sedan Affairs

CHONGQING (CQNEWS) -- “Where are you going?” “Shibati!” From CRT Jiaochangkou Station to Shibati along the way, this similar dialogue was heard by the reporter from Chongqing Daily no less than five times.

After nearly five years of iterative upgrading, the Shibati Traditional Scenic Area has officially opened to the public, with a new look for the general public and tourists. Stepping on the winding green stone roads, reliving the fun of climbing up the slope, the authentic experience of the core area of Chongqing has been around the whole neighborhood, only to find that the old photo engraved in mind has not yet faded.

The Shibati is a stone path that connects the bustling commercial district in the upper half of the city with the old riverside downtown in the lower half. It is a “white moonlight” that shines from classical Chongqing to modern Chongqing, and it is also full of the living vitality of the residents and passers-by of Chongqing for thousands of years.

For native-born old Chongqing citizens, the biggest concern is that it would be changed without the atmosphere of the old Chongqing.

“It’s much better than I imagined!” Liu Xieyu, 72 years old, is an old Yuzhong citizen, and the Shibati accompanied him throughout his student years. On the day of the opening, he specifically climbed up the steps from Huajiezi to retrace the Shibati.

“I came here to help my former classmates ‘explore’ here this time.” Liu Xieyu said, he attended the elementary school and middle school both near the Shibati, many students also live here, and they would chase and play with their friends every day. “During my school years, the Shibati was a playground for us kids, where we could play ‘catch the cat’ all afternoon.”

On his way at the Shibati, Liu Xieyu walked very slowly, stopping every few steps to take pictures and look at the changes around, trying to find the traces in his memory. It took him an hour to walk from Huajiezi to the Jiaochangkou entrance/exit of the Shibati.

The green stone road under his feet and the stores along the street evoked more memories. “It does have the feeling of old Chongqing. I remember the Shibati was very lively, there were many small stores on both sides, and much more people would come here for markets on weekends. It’s just that these stores have become better.” Liu Xieyu said. He will send these photos to his classmates when he goes back, so that everyone will come together to relive the fun of climbing up the hill.

At 10:30 in the morning, the sun was shining, and the weather was getting hot. Many citizens sat under three yellow kudzu trees near the Shibati platform to enjoy the cool, and the sun was imprinted on the bluestone through the branches, forming a beautiful painting.

These three trees were planted by Zhao Huaming, an old resident of the Shibati, 50 years ago. On that day, 66-year-old Zhao also came back to visit his three “children”. Caressing the thick trunk with his hand, looking at the overhead branches and leaves, Zhao’s impression of the Shibati and reality reunited together, with the fragments of memory unfolding slowly.

“Our predecessors planted trees, while future generations enjoyed the cool. As an old resident here, seeing that the flowers, trees and slate roads of the past were still there, the feeling in my mind was called out all at once.” Zhao said that after opening to the public, he would often come to the Shibati to see his “tree sons” and recall the authentic taste of the core area of Chongqing. (Translated by Wang Junli, Fathom Language Limited)