In my opinion, Chongqing Liberation Square by itself isn’t really a must-visit destination in the municipality. With that being said, it’s so accessible and really easy to get to that you can pretty much drop by for a couple of minutes and still get a lot of value from your visit (this is also why I chose to stay at The Westin Chongqing Liberation Square Hotel which is located in this area. You can also check out my post about the amenities there like the gym, swimming pool, and sauna). In fact, you might actually find yourself here a lot of times because a lot of the really nice destinations can be accessed from here.
Chongqing Liberation Square: A Landmark Full of History
As you can see, this is the entirety of Chongqing Liberation Square. It’s literally just a public square that has an admittedly large monument in the center. What makes it significant other than its historical context though is that it’s essentially a hub where you can access some of the other noteworthy areas like Hongyadong or the Liziba Station where you can see the trains going through a building.
Smack dab in the center of the Liberation Square is this monument. From my research, I found that this was constructed shortly after China’s liberation from Japanese occupation during World War II. Initially I thought nothing of the monument but the more I looked at it, the more fitting it seemed to be here (from an aesthetic standpoint).
The monument was built by the KMT who still maintained control of much of China and Chongqing prior to 1949 (you can watch a play about this at Chongqing 1949 Grand Theatre). In Chinese, the monument is called Jiefangbei which is how the surrounding business district (Jiefangbei CBD) got its name from.
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I couldn’t find out much about who exactly designed the monument but it does look like it was influenced a lot by Western architecture (unlike Chongqing’s Chopstick Building). If you’ve seen my review of the Great Hall of the People, you’ll notice that that building had a lot more Chinese influence (the roof, columns, fixtures, etc…) than this monument even though they were made less than a decade apart.
Possibly one of the best features of the monument is the garden surrounding it. Chongqing is an urban jungle covered with skyscrapers and having this garden here provides some much needed contrast to the concrete and glass that you find almost anywhere you look.
Here’s a closer look at the inscription found on the plaque at the foot of the monument. If I’m not mistaken, it details how the monument is a national cultural relic and is protected. Additionally, the plaque talks about this being a victory monument dedicated to the war resistance and to the people’s liberation.
Chongqing Hotel Recommendations Based on My Own Stay
🔹 Ascott Raffles City Chongqing
🔹 Westin Chongqing Liberation Square
Top Activities in Chongqing
Wulong Tiansheng Three Bridges
Banquet in Ba Kingdom Royal Feast
This is the monument from another angle (I moved a couple of steps to the right from my position in the previous image). As you might have noticed from earlier pictures (as well as this one), the area has plenty of establishments which range from food to jewelry shops.
Something that you probably might not notice upon first seeing the monument is the watch near its top. I actually had a hard time noticing it just because of how small it was compared to the building. Now that I think about it, the monument is actually quite big. It’s just that everything else surrounding it is bigger.
If you look closely, you’ll see that there’s actually a door at the base of the People’s Liberation monument. That just goes to show that it’s fairly big or at least big enough to fit a person or two. Thinking about it now, this probably was one of the tallest buildings in Chongqing when it was constructed all those decades ago. Now, its backdrop shows skyscrapers left and right.
Have you ever been to Chongqing’s Liberation Square? Share your thoughts about this wonderful public square in Chongqing down in the comments section!
