Hao Chi Jie (Bayi Road Food Street)

Hao Chi Jie — which translates roughly as “Foodie Street,” playing on a local dialect meaning of “hao chi” as “greedy for food” — is Chongqing’s best-known street food strip, running along Bayi Road right in the heart of the Jiefangbei district. What began as an ordinary street took on its food-focused identity after the Jiefangbei pedestrian zone opened in 1997, and it has since grown into one of the most concentrated places in the city to sample local snacks in one go.

Stalls and small shop-fronts here serve up Chongqing staples: suanlafen (hot and sour noodles), xiaomian, chuan chuan skewers, tangyuan rice balls, spicy duck neck, and grilled or fried snacks of every kind, mostly eaten standing at the counter or on nearby steps rather than seated. It’s informal and unpolished by design — the appeal is volume and variety rather than atmosphere, and it’s easy to eat your way through several very different dishes in a single visit without spending much.

It gets busy, especially in the evenings, and works well paired with a walk through nearby Jiefangbei or on to Hongyadong.