The Crystal Opens Its Viewing Deck 250 Metres Above Chongqing

The Exploration Deck at Raffles City Chongqing opened to the public on 9 June 2020. It is the public part of The Crystal, a glass and steel tube nearly 300 metres long that lies horizontally across the tops of four towers, 250 metres above the point where the Jialing River flows into the Yangtze. The deck is the highest of its kind in western China.

The building

Raffles City Chongqing was designed by Moshe Safdie, the architect of Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, for the Singapore developer CapitaLand. It occupies Chaotianmen, the tip of the peninsula on which the old city of Chongqing stands and its historic river gate. The complex has eight curved towers, the two tallest of 350 metres, which Safdie compared to the sails of the ships that once crowded the confluence. It covers 1.12 million square metres, cost 24 billion yuan and took seven years to build.

The Crystal rests on four of the towers and is linked by bridges to two more. Its steel frame weighs 12,000 tonnes and is enclosed by some 3,000 panes of glass and 5,000 aluminium panels. Sections were assembled on the ground and lifted into place. It is often called a horizontal skyscraper, and it is longer than the towers of the complex are tall.

What is inside

The Exploration Deck is at the prow of the tube, facing the meeting of the rivers. An open-air platform with a floor of clear glass projects beyond the towers, and visitors look straight down to the water and the wharves. On a clear day the difference in colour between the two rivers is visible: the Yangtze brown with silt, the Jialing green. Inside there is an observation hall and an exhibition on exploration.

The rest of The Crystal holds a garden with full-grown trees, restaurants and bars, the lobby of the hotel and a private club with an infinity pool. Below, the podium is a shopping centre of 235,000 square metres, with a park on its roof at the level of the old city gate.

The hotel

The InterContinental occupies the upper floors of one tower, with its reception in The Crystal; see our report on its opening. Across the Jialing, Regent Chongqing has the view of the towers and the confluence from the opposite bank.

Visiting

Chongqing is a city of extreme topography, built on cliffs between two rivers, with roads and railways stacked at many levels, and it has become one of the most visited cities in China for exactly that reason. The deck gives the clearest reading of its layout. Go late in the afternoon and stay for the lights; the city is frequently hazy, and after rain is the best time. Tickets are timed and sold online. Chaotianmen is the end of metro Line 1, and Hongya Cave and the Yangtze cable car are within walking distance.