Liziba Monorail Station

Liziba Station (李子坝站) is the single image that sums up Chongqing's reputation as China's "magic 8D city". Here a light-rail train on Metro Line 2 runs straight through the middle of a 19-storey residential tower, entering one side of the building on the sixth-to-eighth floors and emerging out the other a moment later. It looks like a glitch in the laws of city planning, and it has turned an ordinary commuter stop into one of Chongqing's most photographed landmarks.

Why the train goes through a building

The story is less of an accident than visitors imagine. When the line was planned in the early 2000s, the steep terrain left no room for a conventional station, so engineers and the developer designed the tower and the rail line together: the train hall occupies floors 6–8, fully isolated for noise and vibration, while families live in the apartments above and below. It is a neat illustration of how Chongqing, hemmed in by mountains and rivers, has learned to stack its infrastructure vertically.

How to watch and photograph it

Most visitors come to watch the train slide through the building from the outside. The city built a dedicated viewing platform and small park at the foot of the tower, directly below the tracks, with marked photo spots and signboards explaining the engineering. Trains pass every few minutes, so you won't wait long for a shot. For the classic head-on photo of the train emerging from the concrete, arrive a little before the platform fills up, and use a fast shutter to freeze the carriage.

Riding through yourself

You can also experience it from inside: just ride Line 2 and get off (or stay on) at Liziba. From the platform you look straight out over the Jialing River, an oddly dramatic view for a metro stop. Riding through is free with a normal metro fare; only the outside viewing platform draws the crowds.

Practical tips

The viewing platform is free and open all day, busiest from late morning to sunset. It sits on Line 2 itself, so the easiest approach is simply to ride the metro to Liziba. Combine it with the nearby Eling Park for skyline views, or with a wider "8D Chongqing" walking route taking in Hongya Cave and the cableway. Plan about thirty to forty-five minutes here unless you want to linger for photos.