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Wanzhou is the largest city on the Yangtze between central Chongqing and the Three Gorges, a hilly river port whose towers rise above the broad reservoir created by the Three Gorges Dam. Long known as Wanxian, it was a busy trading town for salt, tung oil and river cargo, and in the early twentieth century it was opened to foreign trade as a treaty port.
The rising reservoir transformed the city in the 2000s. Low riverside neighbourhoods were flooded, many residents moved uphill into new districts, and the Three Gorges Migration Memorial now tells that story. Bold bridges cross the river, including the Wanxian Yangtze River Bridge, once the longest concrete arch span in the world. Above town, the old Song-era fortress of Tianshengcheng and the cliffs of Taibai Rock offer wide views.
Many Yangtze cruises stop here, and the city is known across China for its spicy grilled fish. Beyond the centre, Wanzhou Grand Falls makes an easy countryside trip.
Opened in 1997, this road bridge leaps the Yangtze in a single concrete arch about 420 metres across, for many years the longest concrete arch span in the world. The arch is best seen from the water or the riverbank, where it frames the hills behind. Cruise passengers often spot it on the way in.
This suspension bridge crosses the reservoir close to the city centre, its tall white towers and draped cables forming one of the best-known outlines on the Wanzhou skyline. At night it is lit and mirrored in the water, so the opposite bank is a fine spot for photos.
Opened in 2019 and also called the Pailou Yangtze River Bridge, the newest road crossing in Wanzhou is a cable-stayed bridge with a main span of 730 metres. Its two towers, the taller nearly 250 metres high, glow red and gold after dark. The riverfront promenades give the best night views of it.
This pale steel truss arch carries the Yichang to Wanzhou railway across the Yangtze, linking the city with the line east toward Hubei. Its lattice of girders contrasts with the smooth concrete curve of the older Wanxian bridge, and from the river both fit in one frame. Watch for passing trains.
Crowning a steep flat-topped hill above the city, Tianshengcheng was fortified under the Southern Song dynasty as one of the mountain strongholds that resisted the Mongol advance into Sichuan. Stairways lead to old gates and walls on the cliff edge, with wide views over Wanzhou and the river.
This museum records how the Three Gorges Dam reshaped life along the river, when more than a million people across the region left towns and farms the reservoir would cover. Photographs, documents, household objects and models show the old waterfront and the new uphill city. Allow an hour or two.
This memorial recalls the Wanxian Incident of September 1926, when a dispute over river shipping ended with British gunboats shelling the city and killing many residents. The event fuelled Chinese nationalism in the 1920s. A short visit adds depth to Wanzhou's story as a contested river port.
Standing in Xishan Park above the river, this tall stone clock tower from the Republican era is one of Wanzhou's best-known symbols and one of the few older landmarks to survive the city's rebuilding. The park around it fills with locals at dawn and dusk, and its terraces look across the reservoir.
In the countryside of Wanzhou District, this broad waterfall pours over a long curved rock ledge into a green gorge, with walkways and viewing platforms around it. It is most powerful after the summer rains and thinner in the dry winter. Wear shoes with grip and allow most of a day with the drive.
The terraced promenades along the Yangtze in central Wanzhou come alive in the evening, when towers, bridges and docks light up and their colours ripple across the wide reservoir. Residents come to walk, dance and fish, and cruise boats tie up below. Stroll between the bridges after dinner.
The commercial heart of central Wanzhou, Gaosuntang is a busy square ringed by department stores, malls and lanes of clothing shops and snack stalls. It is the easiest place to try local street food and watch daily life, especially in the evening when families come out to shop, eat and meet friends.
Rising behind the city centre, Taibai Rock is a forested cliff park named after the Tang poet Li Bai, who by local tradition stayed here to read. Steps climb past carved inscriptions and small pavilions to lookouts over rooftops, bridges and the wide river. Late afternoon brings softer light.
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Log in to add photosPhoto: STW932, Wikimedia Commons, CC0
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Photo: Ray Devlin from New Orleans (for now), USA, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
Photo: Glabb, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
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Photo: 吳夢春, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
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Photo: STW932, Wikimedia Commons, CC0
Photo: Glabb, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: STW932, Wikimedia Commons, CC0
Photo: STW932, Wikimedia Commons, CC0
Photo: STW932, Wikimedia Commons, CC0
Photo: STW932, Wikimedia Commons, CC0
Photo: STW932, Wikimedia Commons, CC0
Photo: STW932, Wikimedia Commons, CC0
Photo: STW932, Wikimedia Commons, CC0
Photo: 图片上传者：吴显胜（China）, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0
Photo: 图片上传者：吴显胜（China）, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0
Photo: 图片上传者：吴显胜（China）, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0
