Subterranean Shelters: Tracing Chongqing’s Wartime Redoubt

Walk along the sandstone cliffs of Chongqing (重庆, Chóngqìng) and you will notice dark, arched openings cut directly into the red rock. Some are sealed with iron gates. Others hum with the sound of exhaust fans, emitting steam, the smell of boiling tallow, or the glare of white LED lights. These are the Fangkongdong (防空洞, fángkōngdòng)—a network of air-raid shelters carved into the mountainside when this fog-bound city served as China’s wartime capital.

Between 1938 and 1943, Chongqing was the most bombed city on earth. As Japanese warplanes flew up the Yangtze valley, the Nationalist government fled to these rugged cliffs. The city’s geography became its shield. Locals armed with hand drills, dynamite, and wicker baskets hollowed out the dense sandstone beneath the city streets, creating over a million square meters of underground tunnels. When the sirens wailed, entire neighborhoods descended into the damp, dark earth to wait out the raids.

Decades after the war, these underground chambers remain a vital part of Chongqing's urban layout. Because the sandstone tunnels remain at a constant twenty degrees Celsius year-round, they offer a cool refuge from the city's notoriously humid summer heat.

The most popular repurposing is the underground Chongqing Hot Pot (重庆火锅, Chóngqìng huǒguō) restaurant. Squeeze into a narrow cave tunnel where the walls are damp and cool to the touch. The steam from the boiling red chili broth rises toward the low, arched stone ceiling, creating a dense, fragrant mist. You are dining inside the very rock that protected the city's grandfathers.

But hot pot is only one aspect of this subterranean world. Walk through the Yuzhong district and you will find active gas stations built inside massive cave openings, subterranean car washes, vegetable markets, and cool wine cellars. In the summer, elderly residents bring folding chairs and flasks of green tea into the public shelters to play mahjong and escape the stifling humidity above.

To trace the political and military history of this wartime era, start at the Stilwell Museum (史迪威博物馆, Shǐdíwēi Bówùguǎn). Set inside a handsome, grey stone villa overlooking the Jialing River, the museum was the wartime home of General Joseph Stilwell, the commander of US forces in the China-Burma-India theater. Entry costs 15 RMB, and it is open from 09:00 to 17:00. To reach it, ride Metro Line 2 to Liziba Station (李子坝站, Lǐzǐbà Zhàn) and walk up the winding cliff roads. Inside, the rooms are preserved with Stilwell’s original desk, maps, and photographs documenting the grueling logistics of the Hump airlift and the building of the Ledo Road.

A short taxi ride downriver leads to the Red Rock Revolutionary History Museum (红岩革命纪念馆, Hóngyán Gémìng Jìniànguǎn), where admission is free. Tucked into a quiet, wooded valley, this complex was the wartime headquarters of the Communist Party's southern bureau, led by Zhou Enlai. The modest wood-and-brick buildings stand under a canopy of broad-leafed trees, offering a quiet space to contemplate the uneasy, tense wartime alliance between the Nationalists and Communists.

These historic sites, combined with the active life of the modern caves, show how a city built on rock managed to survive by carving its life directly into the cliffs.

Practical Beats

• Stilwell Museum Logistics: The museum is open daily from 09:00 to 17:00. The entrance ticket is 15 RMB. Take Metro Line 2 to Liziba Station. Take the exit toward the main road and prepare for a steep, fifteen-minute uphill walk along Jialing Xin Road (嘉陵新路, Jiālíng Xīnlù).
• Red Rock Museum Access: Admission to the Red Rock Revolutionary History Museum is free, but you must register with your passport or national ID at the gate. It is open from 09:00 to 17:00 (no entry after 16:30).
• Cave Dining: If you want to dine in a bomb shelter hot pot, look for names like 'Cave Hot Pot' (洞子火锅, Dòngzi huǒguō) in the Yuzhong or Shapingba districts. Wear lightweight layers, as the combination of a cool cave environment and bubbling chili broth can make temperatures fluctuate rapidly.