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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
Show 7 more sections and the pocket cardHideGet around, See and do, Sleep, Phrase card, Etiquette, safety and scams, One and two days, Sources, Pocket card
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 (6.2 mi) westBus 108, Sichuan-Chongqing bus no. 1 or the Tongnan–Suining intercity bus, about 6.2 mi (10 km) 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.