Baker Gu
China Travel Specialist, CTS Tours NZ
How to find, ride, and photograph Liziba Monorail Station — the famous Chongqing metro line that runs straight through a residential apartment building. NZ traveller guide with timing, exits, photo spots, and how it fits into a Chongqing itinerary.
Quick answer: Liziba Monorail Station (李子坝站) is on Chongqing Rail Transit Line 2 and is famous for one reason — the train line passes straight through the 6th-8th floors of a 19-storey residential apartment building. The best way to experience it is to (1) ride through it on Line 2 (any direction), then (2) exit the station, cross the road, and walk to the dedicated Light Rail Viewing Platform to watch the trains pass through the building from the outside. Allow 60-90 minutes for the full experience. Free to visit, NZD $0.50-1.00 per train ride, open daily, and an easy 10-minute taxi from central Jiefangbei. NZ travellers can enter China visa-free for up to 30 days through 31 December 2026.
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I'm Baker Gu, CTS Tours NZ's China travel specialist. The Liziba monorail-through-a-building is the #1 photo request I get from Kiwi travellers heading to Chongqing — usually after they've seen the viral videos and want to know "is this real, and can I actually see it?" Short answer: yes, it's real, it's a working metro station, and you can visit any day of the week. Here's exactly how.
If you're still deciding whether Chongqing is for you, my earlier post Chongqing vs Chengdu helps you decide between the two Sichuan-region anchor cities. And How Many Days in Chongqing covers the broader Chongqing itinerary. This post focuses just on Liziba.
The first thing to understand is that Liziba is not a tourist attraction. It's a working commuter station on Chongqing Rail Transit Line 2 — built in 2004 — used by thousands of locals every day to get to work. The "through-the-building" design wasn't built for tourism. It was an engineering necessity because the residential apartment building was already there when the line was planned, and Chongqing's mountainous terrain meant the line had to pass through that specific elevation to connect adjacent stations.
The building is 19 storeys tall. The metro line passes through floors 6, 7, and 8. Above the metro: 11 storeys of normal residential apartments where people genuinely live. Below the metro: 5 storeys also residential. The platform itself is INSIDE the building — when you arrive at Liziba on Line 2, you're standing inside a partially soundproofed concrete shell embedded in someone's apartment block.
Once you understand that, the surreal photo opportunities make more sense — and frankly, it's more impressive in person than in the viral videos.
Option 1 — Metro (recommended): Take Line 2 from any central station (Linjiangmen, Jiaochangkou). Liziba is between Fotuguan and Niujiaotuo stations. Travel time from Jiefangbei (central business district) is about 8-12 minutes. Fare: equivalent of NZD $0.50-1.00. Use Alipay or WeChat Pay at the gate, or buy a single-ride ticket at the vending machine (cash or QR).
Option 2 — Taxi or DiDi (faster, only marginally more expensive): 10-15 minutes from Jiefangbei, NZD $4-6. Useful if you're carrying luggage or it's very hot. Show the driver "李子坝轻轨站" or just say "Liziba" — every Chongqing driver knows the spot.
Option 3 — Walk + metro combo: If you're already at Hongyadong, you can walk 15-20 minutes through the riverside park and central streets to nearby Linjiangmen Station, then Line 2 one stop to Liziba.
Get on Line 2 in either direction. Sit in the first or last carriage for the best view — you can see the daylight at both ends of the through-building section. The train enters the building, the windows briefly show daylight on both sides as you pass through the apartment block, and you exit on the other side. The whole sequence takes about 8-10 seconds. Have your phone ready in video mode if you want to capture it from inside.
Exit at Liziba Station. Cross the main road to the opposite side. Walk about 100 metres to the Liziba Light Rail Viewing Platform (轻轨观景平台) — a small dedicated terrace built by the city specifically for the photo crowd. There are bench seats and posted train timetables.
Best photo angles:
- From the viewing platform directly: the classic "side-on" shot showing the train emerging from the building
- From 30 metres to the left of the platform: gives a tighter framing with the apartment balconies visible
- From the small alley to the right: gives a "looking up" angle with the train appearing higher in the frame
Best light:
- 9-11am: morning sun on the building face, lowest crowds
- 4-6pm: golden hour, slightly more people but cinematic light
- Avoid midday in summer: harsh overhead sun flattens the depth
Trains run every 4-8 minutes depending on time of day — you won't wait long.
| Goal | Time needed |
|---|---|
| Just ride through once | 15-20 min including travel |
| Ride through + photo from viewing platform | 45-60 min |
| Full experience: ride, multiple photo angles, café break | 90 min |
| Combine with Hongyadong | Half day |
| Combine with Hongyadong + Jiefangbei | Full day |
Most CTS Tours NZ Chongqing itineraries slot Liziba into a half-day morning circuit: Liziba (60 min) → Hongyadong (90 min) → Jiefangbei lunch + afternoon (3 hours) → hotpot dinner (2 hours).
Liziba is in the same central district as several of Chongqing's headline sights. A logical morning circuit:
1. Start at Liziba (8-9am) — early light, no crowds
2. Walk or short taxi to Hongyadong (10am) — explore the multi-level cliff complex
3. Lunch in Jiefangbei pedestrian area (12pm) — any of the small noodle shops on the side lanes
4. Afternoon at Three Gorges Museum (1:30pm) — free entry, good context for the next day's Yangtze cruise
5. Sunset at Eling Park (5pm) — panoramic city view, mountains meeting river
This 6-7 hour circuit covers most of central Chongqing's "must see in one day" list. If you only have 2 days in Chongqing, this is Day 1.
Most Kiwi travellers visit Liziba as part of a multi-city China holiday. The typical CTS Tours NZ structure:
Total flying time from Auckland (return): approximately 26-28 hours including one stop each way. CTS Tours' Best of China and China tour packages from New Zealand include variants of this route. The Yangtze River cruise from Chongqing post covers the cruise component in detail.
NZ ordinary passport holders can enter mainland China visa-free for up to 30 days per visit, valid through 31 December 2026. Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport (CKG) accepts visa-free arrivals. You need:
If you're travelling on a non-NZ passport, the China visa guide for New Zealand residents covers other passport scenarios.
Liziba is one of those rare tourist sights that genuinely lives up to its viral video reputation. It's free, it's easy to find, it photographs beautifully, and it gives you a real taste of how Chongqing solves the "mountain city + dense urban planning" puzzle. Most Kiwi travellers come away with not just the famous photo but a better appreciation of what makes Chongqing fundamentally different from any other Chinese city they've seen.
If you want to talk through how to slot Liziba into a wider Chongqing or full China itinerary, the CTS Tours team is in Auckland and happy to help. China Travel Service has been arranging China tours globally since 1928 — our NZ team has been running Kiwi-focused trips through Chongqing for 25 years.
Pack a phone with charged battery, head to Line 2, and enjoy one of the few "must see" sights in China that's actually a working piece of public infrastructure.
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