Chongqing is the largest and most populous of the People's Republic of China's four provincial-level municipalities, and the only one in central and western region of China.Chongqing covers a large area crisscrossed by rivers and mountains. The whole area slopes down from north and south towards the Yangtze valley, with sharp rises and falls. The area is featured by mountain and hills, with large sloping areas at different heights. Typical karst landscape is common in this area, and stone forests, forests of peaks, limestone caves and valleys can be found in many places.

The Yangtze River runs through the whole area from west to east, covering a course of 665 kilometers, cutting through the Wushan Mountains at three places and forming the well-known Three Gorges: the Qutang, the Wuxia and the Xiling gorges. Coming from northwest and running through "the Jialing Lesser Three Gorges" of Libi, Wentang and Guanyin, the Jialing River joins the Yangtze in Chongqing.

In addition to the magnificent gorges, Mother Nature has also favored the city with other gifts: the rich natural resources in Jinfo Mountain in Nanchuan, known as a natural bank of genes, and in Simian Mountain in Jiangjin, the largest primitive forest on the same latitude in the world; the scenery along valleys on the Wujing River, Jialing River and the Daning River; and the beautiful lakes of Changshou, Xiaonanhai, and Qinglong.Chongqing, as a famous historic city in China and the cradle of Ba Ethnic culture enjoys a great cultural heritage. It is a component part of the Chinese culture that maintains unique regional features of cultural pattern.Chongqing is particularly rich in human landscape as well as in cultural relics and historic sites.There are now 49 national, provincial and municipal preservation places of treasured historical relics.In 1999, the UNESCO listed The Dazu Stone Sculptures on World Register of Culture Heritage.