Chongqing Ming and Qing Inn: exploring the charm of the ancient city 600 years ago in the modern metropolis

Next to Chongqing East Water Gate (with 600 years’ history), there is a quadrangle dwelling with the shape of the Chinese character ‘日’. The dwelling was built 300 years ago, and it was once used as a school. Nowadays, the dwelling has become a BNB, which is named as Chongqing Ming and Qing Inn.

Caption: The outdoor scene of Ming and Qing Inn [Photo by Chen Yingye]

The structure of the ancient building has been reserved here. The stairs, handrails, windows and doors here are still made of wood. The old water vat at the hallway, the 12 horse posts, and three mirrors of 300-year history hung on the wall have maintained the charm of the old days.

Caption: The indoor scene of Ming and Qing Inn [Photo by Chen Yingye]

The inn only has six rooms, all upstairs. Because the inn was once used as a school, the manager now names the rooms with five Confucian classics. At the door of each room, there is a copy of each classical book. In the room named Shangshu, one of the classics, there is a bathtub, and the window of the bathroom is facing toward the well-known Yangtze River Cableway. Lying in the tub and looking through the hollowed-out woodcarving window, one can see cable cars passing through the skyscrapers.

Caption: The indoor scene of the book bar of the inn [Photo by Chen Yingye]

The front hall downstairs is the tearoom, and the back hall is used as a book bar. There are a number of copies of ancient books in the book bar, and many of them are about Chongqing. In addition, there are also books in different languages. When one orders a cup of tea and reads the books about Chongqing while sitting in the book bar once used as the school classroom, he or she will even have an illusion of traveling back in time.

The staff in the inn often wear traditional Chinese clothing. This is because the manager hopes that the tourists here will feel the charm of traditional Chinese culture.