Chongqing is one of southwest China’s most bustling emerging economies, pulsating with new life and purpose. It offers the leisure and professional visitor an exciting array of shopping, dining and entertainment options, and the best way to sample these experiential delicacies is from a Chongqing serviced apartment located in the heart of the city. The Somerset JieFangBei Chongqing offers world class Chongqing hotel apartments situated right in the heart of Chongqing’s cultural nerve centre, where the entertainment and attractions never sleep. For a glimpse into the region’s impressive cultural legacy, visit the Dazu rock carvings, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that dates back to the 7th century AD that is a beautiful tribute to the country’s Buddhist, Confucian and Taoist heritage. The site comprises up to 75 protected areas which boast 50,000 statues and over 100,000 Chinese characters that form inscriptions and epigraphs. The highlights of the rich range of statues are found on Mounts Baoding and Beishan. Although the earliest carvings began in 650 AD, the height of creativity began in the late 9th century, when the prefect of Changzhou, Wei Junjing, started the carvings on Mt. Beishan, and his creative example was followed by the local populace after the collapse of the Tang Dynasty. During the Song Dynasty in the 12th century, a Bddhist monk named Zhao Zhifeng dedicated 70 years of his life carving the elaborate sculptures on Mt. Baoding. The rock carvings are an amazing sight to behold, and they represent the harmonious fusion of Buddhist, Taoist and Confucian beliefs.
Angela Fernando is an impassioned travel writer who composes pieces under the pen name Sumaira Narayan. She loves writing about new and exciting places around the world and intends to visit them all someday.
