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Voykit pocket guide · China
Tongnan
潼南
Give Tongnan one full day from Chongqing for the 18 m Big Buddha and Shuangjiang old town; sleep here only if you want a slow second morning.
Tongnan is a Chongqing district about 108 km northwest of the city centre, reached by frequent train or a 1.5–2 h bus. Two sights carry the trip: the Song–Yuan Dafo Temple with its 18 m rock-cut Buddha, and Shuangjiang, a Ming–Qing old town 10 km west that was home to Yang Angong and Yang Shangkun. Everything else is parks, tea hills and spring rapeseed fields. It is a day trip, not a base.
- Country
- China
- Local name
- 潼南
- Best months
- Mar–Apr (rapeseed bloom), Oct–Nov
- Avoid
- Jul–Aug (hot, humid, heaviest rain)
- Stay
- 1 night
Checked 2026-09. Prices, hours and rules change; anything marked (check) is not confirmed.
Essentials
- Currency
- CNY
- Money
- Alipay and WeChat Pay accept Visa, Mastercard, JCB and Amex cards; single payments over ¥200 carry a fee of about 3% on a foreign card (smaller ones are free), and per-payment and yearly caps apply — check the app. Keep a second way to pay.
- Daily spend
- Budget ¥150–250 excl. bed · Mid ¥250–450 excl. bed · High ¥450+ excl. bed (estimate; check)
- SIM and data
- A roaming eSIM from outside China routes traffic through its home network, so Google, WhatsApp and Instagram work without a VPN — the simplest setup.
- Emergency
- Police 110 · Fire 119 · Ambulance 120
- Plugs
- Types A, C, I · 220 V · 50 Hz · Many sockets take flat two-pin (A), round two-pin (C) and angled three-pin (I) plugs; UK plugs need an adapter.
- Tipping
- Restaurants: No tip; upmarket hotels add 10–15% service.; Taxis and DiDi: No tip.; Tour guides and drivers: Expected on organised tours: about ¥100–200 a day for a guide, ¥50–100 for a driver.; Hotel porters: Not expected; ¥10–20 in luxury hotels.
- Water
- Not for drinking from the tap; bottled water ¥2–5, and kettles and free bottles in hotel rooms. Restaurants serve hot water or tea.
- Toilets
- Public toilets are frequent and free; squat toilets outside hotels and malls. Carry tissues — many have no paper.
What things cost
| Item | Price |
|---|---|
| Bowl of noodles or cold jelly | ¥8–20 |
| Chuanchuanxiang skewers meal | ¥50–100 |
| Tai'an fish, shared | ¥55–60 per person |
| Tea in an old-town teahouse | ¥8–15 |
| Local bus ride | ¥2 |
| Taxi across town | ¥10–25 |
| Chongkan flower field entry | ¥30 |
Desk estimates, checked 2026-09; check locally.
Get in
By air
- CKG · Chongqing Jiangbei International
- Main gateway; metro and rail link to central Chongqing, then train or bus to Tongnan
Typical fares
- Chongqing → Tongnan, train
- frequent services from Tongnan Railway Station, roughly 1–1.5 h
- Chongqing Chen Jiaping → Tongnan, bus
- 1.5–2 h
- Taxi, bus station → tourist information centre
- 5–10 min
Get around
Local buses cover the urban area and the main sights (no. 101 or 107 to the Dafo Temple, 108 or the intercity bus to Shuangjiang); signs are in Chinese. Metered taxis and Didi are cheap for short hops. Shared bikes exist but are fewer than in central Chongqing.
See and do
Known for
- Dafo Temple and its 18 m rock-cut Buddha
- Shuangjiang old town and the Yang family residences
- Tongnan Museum's Mamenchisaurus skeleton
- Spring rapeseed flower fields at Chongkan
Day trips
| Where | How | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Dafo Temple | Bus no. 101 or 107 from the centre, about 30 min | About 1 h each way |
| Shuangjiang old town | Bus 108, Sichuan-Chongqing bus no. 1 or the Tongnan–Suining intercity bus, about 10 km westBus 108, Sichuan-Chongqing bus no. 1 or the Tongnan–Suining intercity bus, about 6.2 mi west | About 30–40 min |
| Chongkan flower fields | Flower-sea tourist bus or taxi from the centre | About 1 h |
| Dazu | Bus or train towards Chongqing, then onward road transfer | 2.5–3 h |
Sleep
- Guilin Street / Longxin area
- Around the railway station and Bayu Avenue; business hotels, malls and the tourist information centre within walking distance.
- Zitong / riverside
- Older central streets near the Fujiang river and Dafo Road; closest to the Dafo Temple and museum.
- Shuangjiang
- Small guesthouses in the old town; quiet nights, thin English, best if you want the town at dawn.
Phrase card
| English | Say or show |
|---|---|
| Hello | 你好nǐ hǎo |
| Thank you | 谢谢xiè xie |
| How much is it? | 多少钱？duō shao qián |
| Where is the toilet? | 洗手间在哪里？xǐ shǒu jiān zài nǎ lǐ |
| I don't want it spicy | 不要辣bú yào là |
| Please take me to this address | 请带我去这个地址qǐng dài wǒ qù zhè ge dì zhǐ |
Etiquette, safety and scams
Etiquette
- Greeting: Handshake and a nod; use surnames with a title; avoid: Hugs and cheek kisses
- Face: Disagree privately and indirectly; avoid: Correcting or embarrassing someone in front of others
- Gifts: Give with two hands; expect the gift to be refused once or twice and opened later; avoid: Clocks, umbrellas, white flowers, sets of four
- Business cards: Present and receive with both hands, read it, keep it on the table; avoid: Writing on it or pocketing it at once
- Queues and crowds: Hold your ground politely in scrums at buses and lifts; avoid: Taking pushing personally
- Temples: Walk clockwise around Tibetan stupas and prayer wheels; remove hats; avoid: Touching statues or photographing where signs forbid
- Politics: Listen; follow your host's lead; avoid: Raising Tibet, Taiwan, Xinjiang, 1989 or the party leadership
- Numbers and colour: Red and 8 are lucky; red envelopes carry money gifts; avoid: Writing names in red; the number 4
Scams and watch-outs
- Bus and shop signs are Chinese-only; have your hotel name and destination written in characters.
- The Dafo Temple is about 30 min from the centre along the river — allow travel time each way.
- Rapeseed fields peak for roughly two to three weeks in spring; outside the bloom, Chongkan is mostly fields.
- Museum and temple hours can shift on public holidays: check before you go.
Low street crime; the real risks are summer heat and humidity, riverside paths after heavy rain, and unlit old-town lanes at night. Carry your passport, keep the hotel address in Chinese, and use 110/120 in an emergency.
One and two days
No timed day plan for Tongnan yet. Suggested stay: 1 night. Build a day from the list below, mornings for the big sight.
- Dafo Temple and its 18 m rock-cut Buddha
- Shuangjiang old town and the Yang family residences
- Tongnan Museum's Mamenchisaurus skeleton
- Spring rapeseed flower fields at Chongkan
Sources
Written by Voykit; facts cross-checked against these sources, last desk check 2026-09. Prices, hours and rules change: check on the day.
- Wikivoyage: Tongnan, revision 5247456 (CC BY-SA 4.0): en.wikivoyage.org/w/index.php?oldid=5247456
Pocket card
Cut along the border and keep it in your wallet. Show the local-script lines to a driver.
Tongnan潼南
请带我去这个地址
Please take me to this address
My hotel (write the name and address in the local script)
Your country's embassy or consulate is in central Chongqing or Beijing; keep the number saved before you leave the city.
Show the Chinese characters for your hotel and destination to drivers.
Voykit · checked 2026-09
Printed from Voykit (/tongnan). Written by Voykit; checked 2026-09. Estimates only: confirm prices, hours and entry rules on the day.