Jiefangbe, which stands in the most prosperous downtown of Chongqing is not only the symbol of civilization, but also the evidence for history of half century.

Jiefangbe, or the People' s Liberation Monument, formerly known as the Monument of Victory in the War of Resistance, a 27.5 meter high structure, was renamed and had its new name inscribed by Liu Bocheng on October 1st, 1950. This drab clock tower is to celebrate the Communists' liberation of the city from seventy years of colonial and right-wing occupation.

It is the Center of the city marked as Chongqing's commercial heart. It isolated by a broad, paved pedestrian square and glassy offices. The shopping square, completed at the end of 1997, is 400 meters from east to west, and 350 meters from north to south, covering an area of 24,400 square meters. Around the square there are more than 3,000 stores and shops of various kinds, with two dozen large malls and shopping centers, a dozen star-grade hotels, and over 300 establishments and offices such as banks, stock markets, postal and telecommunication services and places for entertainment.

The area is packed with noisy, well-dressed crowds investigating the latest imports piled high at the several department stores, flitting between restaurants, and blithely disregarding the signs asking them not to litter. Nearby backstreets are busy, too: narrow pavements congested with bright, cheap clothing stalls, and the city market around Bayi Lu full of buckets of frogs, cages of snakes - which vendors laughingly invite you to handle - and huge, fragrant bags of dried spices and fungi.

More than 300,000 people visit this area every day on the average, and on holidays the figure may exceed 900,000. This is the busiest part of downtown Chongqing. When you stand before the monument and look up the straight of the body, you may hear the old history. It enough Chongqing people to work hard and create new life.