China Guide
Sichuan and Chongqing
Ciqi Kou
Address: Bus #808 from Hongyan
Though well within the modern city's boundaries, the village distrit of CIQI KOU, a former porcelain production centre and port, incredibly retains a handful of flagstoned, one-hundred-year-old streets and wooden buildings, and offers an idea what the rest of Chongqing might once have looked like. Zhongjia Yuan is a well-restored siheyuan, or courtyard house, built by a Qing official. The English-speaking caretaker provides knowledgeable accounts of the organization of a Chinese household of the time, and the relevance of the antique furniture, clothing and carvings in each room. This is Ciqi Kou's most interesting single structure, but you can spend an enjoyable hour roaming the half-kilometre-long main street and adjacent lanes, thronged with touristy crafts shops (selling local embroideries and romantic paintings of Ciqi Kou), old-style teahouses featuring traditional music recitals, and small restaurants.