Liziba Station Chongqing: The Complete Guide to the Monorail Through a Building

Liziba Station is real. This is the first thing most people need to confirm when they see photographs of it — a commuter train passing directly through the floors of a 19-storey residential building in central Chongqing. It is not a tourist installation. It is not a special attraction. It is a functioning metro station on Line 2 of the Chongqing Rail Transit system, and the building surrounding it is full of apartments and offices where people live and work.

Here is everything you need to know before visiting.

What It Is

Liziba Station (李子坝站) is a straddle-type monorail station on Chongqing Rail Transit Line 2 (the "Light Rail" line). The station occupies floors 6 to 8 of a 19-storey mixed-use building in Yuzhong District: floors 1–5 are commercial space, floors 9–19 are residential apartments.

The station and the building were constructed simultaneously, beginning in 2004, using a structural method that separated the station platform from the building's residential load-bearing frame. Construction was completed in March 2004; the station opened for service on 18 June 2005. It was the first station of this type in China.

The trains are rubber-tyred monorail, which significantly reduces noise and vibration compared to steel-wheel systems. Residents above the station report the noise as barely perceptible — roughly equivalent to a domestic appliance. This is the engineering solution that made the co-construction possible.

Why It Exists

Chongqing's topography made conventional metro construction extremely difficult. The city is built on steep limestone mountains above two rivers; the terrain leaves almost no flat ground for surface-level rail infrastructure. The urban density made underground-only solutions insufficient. The result is a transit system that integrates with buildings, bridges, and existing urban structures in ways that have no precedent in flat-terrain cities.

Liziba is the most extreme example of this integration, which is why it became famous — but it is one of several points along Line 2 where the train travels at building-height levels through or adjacent to the urban fabric.

How to Visit

By Metro: Take Chongqing Rail Transit Line 2 to Liziba Station. Ride through the building from either adjacent station (Jiayuwan or Zengjiayan) to experience the inside view. Trains run every 5–10 minutes during peak hours.

For the famous photograph: Exit the station and walk to the street-level plaza below the building. The best viewing angle is from across the road, slightly to the west, looking up at the point where the track enters and exits the building. The framing you've seen in photographs is from approximately this position.

Timing: The station is active from approximately 6:30am to 10:30pm. Trains run frequently enough that you won't wait more than 10 minutes for a pass-through view. Morning light comes from the east; afternoon light from the west — adjust depending on what you're photographing.

Allow: 30–60 minutes. Most visitors find themselves watching multiple trains pass before feeling satisfied they've understood what they're seeing.

What to Do Nearby

Ciqikou Ancient Town is a 10-minute walk from Liziba — a Song Dynasty market street with flagstone lanes, teahouses, and Sichuan street food. The combination of ancient commercial architecture and the futuristic train overhead is one of Chongqing's best sensory contrasts, and the two together fill a comfortable afternoon.

On a CTS Tour

CTS Tours' Fire & Fuzz itinerary (Chongqing × Chengdu, 10 days) includes Liziba Station on Day 3, combined with the Huguang Guild Hall in the morning and Ciqikou in the late afternoon. The tour departs Auckland on 1 November 2026, from NZD $2,999 per person (twin share).

View the full itinerary →