Let's Meet 200
As China draws growing global attention, media outlets around the world have noticed a unique city in the country’s southwest. Vast in scale and surreal in its vertical landscape, it is a city of strong industry and exceptional connectivity. It has become a magnet for online influencers and a rising destination for global investment. This city is Chongqing. Over the past two months, we collected 410 reports on Chongqing from 185 media outlets across 64 countries and regions. In this episode, we will take a closer look at how — and why — this city has moved from relative obscurity to growing global attention through the lens of the international media.
From "Magic Metropolis" to "Future City"
In recent years, Chongqing has suddenly become a regular in the global spotlight, serving as a new window for the world to observe China. Oliver Wainwright, an architecture critic for The Guardian, once asked: "Why is Chongqing my wonder of the world?" This is also a common question for those who are just getting to know Chongqing. Wainwright provided an excellent summary in his article: "Built across a series of impossibly steep mountainsides and vertiginous valleys at the dramatic confluence of the Yangtze and Jialing Rivers, it is an astonishing urban phenomenon to behold – a vertically sprawling city that can only be understood in three dimensions."
The first reason Chongqing has captured the global media's imagination is its unique topography. Yet if it only relied on unique topography, the buzz surrounding Chongqing wouldn't last. What truly keeps the world talking are deeper questions: How do you support a city of this magnitude on such rugged terrain? How do you keep a metropolis of 32 million people running in an orderly fashion? Through this megacity, the media has caught a glimpse of the future. In today’s episode, we have invited Denis Rogatyuk from El Ciudadano with us to unpack the story of Chongqing.
The Warmth of Daily Life and the City’s Spirit
When we turn our lens from skyscrapers and 3D transit to the depths of the backstreets, the global media discovers another Chongqing. Here, the rising steam comes not just from delicious hotpots, but also from scenes of daily life. CNN quoted Matthew Blair, an expat who has lived in Chongqing for 15 years, to paint a more specific picture: an abundance of street food, late-night BBQ, and hotpot restaurants still open at 2:00 AM. "The locals are resilient and as spicy as their food. They are generous, loud, and alive."
What’s even more noteworthy is that as more influencers walk into Chongqing’s streets, old Western stereotypes about China are being shattered. As The New Yorker put it, TikTok has shown millions of Americans hospitable farmers, funny neon-sign hawkers, and friends dressing up for hotpot. It even suggests that the most compelling way to present a place is through the ordinary moments of everyday life.
From "Viral Wonder" to "Top Destination"
As global eyes converge on Chongqing, a new trend has caught the attention of foreign media in 2025: Chongqing is becoming a top destination for young travelers from Southeast Asia. Thailand’s The Nation pointed out that Chongqing is the most popular destination and now the most-visited city by Thai tourists, driven by tourism campaigns, viral social media landmarks, and stunning night views.
Newsweek believes that as travelers increasingly seek novel experiences, Chongqing's blend of scale, innovation, and visual drama could turn this lesser-known megacity into a top-tier global destination. America’s TTW called it a technological marvel, offering an immersive 3D animation experience that seemed more like something out of CGI than reality. In the eyes of Brazil’s O Globo, drones and fireworks form a core part of Chongqing's cyberpunk aesthetic. But the reason Chongqing leaves a deeper memory isn't just because it's "new."
From the visual impact of its surreal topography to the heartwarming narratives of its tourism and culture, Chongqing's image in global media continues to grow richer. If the city's unique landscape turned the first page of discovering Chongqing, then its tourism and culture have just opened the prelude to understanding this city. In the next episode, we will follow the lens of global media to focus on another side of Chongqing, exploring the deeper reasons why more and more international media point to Chongqing as the answer when the world seeks to understand the upgrading of China's manufacturing industry, the restructuring of global supply chains, and the new logic of inland opening-up.
