Inside China's biggest megacity, where 32 million people live in a land area the size of South Carolina and skyscrapers give way to vast farmland beyond the city center

Chongqing spans 82,300 square kilometers (31,776 square miles) in Sichuan province.

With an urban population of 15.4 million people, it trails behind other megacities like Shanghai (population 24.3 million), and Beijing (18.65 million).

However, looking at Chongqing's urban population alone doesn't provide the full picture, William A. Callahan, professor of international relations at London School of Economics and Political Science, wrote in his 2015 book, "China Dreams." That's because 70% of the city's residents live in rural parts of the city, Callahan wrote.

In total, there are 32 million people in Chongqing, according to the Seventh National Population Census, released in May 2021. The city has shown immense growth over the last decade with an 11.12% population increase since 2010, per the census.

A megacity is defined as a densely populated and highly urbanized area with at least 10 million people, per a 2018 report from The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs.

However, the exact number of megacities in China is disputed.

Some sources estimate China is home to six megacities, while others — among them CNN and Bloomberg — have reported that China is home to more than 10 megacities, including Chongqing.

Chongqing dwarfs the largest cities in the US, with more residents than New York City (population 8.6 million), Los Angeles (4 million), and Chicago (2.6 million) combined.

With China's massive urbanization project, Chongqing's landscape changes drastically from the modern city center to the farmlands that surround most of the municipality.

Locals and visitors told Insider the city is filled with sprawling, grand architecture that is constantly changing and expanding into the countryside. 

"Every village now has roads," Duan Kui An, a resident of Chongqing, told Insider. "Many people in the countryside [travel to] work in big cities."

There are three airports in the municipality: Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport, the major aviation hub in central China, Chongqing Xiannvshan Airport, and Chongqing Wushan Airport, according to Centre for Aviation.

Jiangbei accommodated 45 million passengers in 2019, making it the busiest airport in the city, per Changi Airports International.

For most of its modern history, Chongqing was a little-known mountainous city, save for when it briefly became the capital of China in World War II.

The city has a distinctive layout: Because it's in a mountainous area, many residential areas are perched between valleys.

"The houses are complicated," Chen, a 45-year-old Chongqing resident, told Insider. He runs social media accounts that promote China on platforms like Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. He said he maintains these accounts as a hobby, and that his motivation is to dispel rumors about China.

"You can't ride bicycles because the roads are too steep. Streets can be on the first floor and the 30th floor," he said, referring to the uneven, multitiered terrain of the city where streets and bridges are constructed at different heights, built around the highland landscape.

The manufacturing of computers, electronic equipment, and automobiles accounts for nearly two-fifths of the city's industry revenue, per the Hong Kong Trade Development Council.

The city is home to 14 of China's biggest 500 companies, per city-run media outlet iChongqing. These companies include Jingke Holdings, a materials and system integration provider; Longfor Properties, an investment holding company; and Loncin Holdings, a distributor of various goods, including motorcycles.

Prominent US companies like Deloitte and Apple also have offices in the city, per Glassdoor.

As Chongqing's economy continues to rebound from the financial hit of the pandemic, the city recorded growth last year, Nikkei reported in July.

Two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, Duan, who lives in Chongqing, said most of the city's residents are "living normal lives."

"Masks are still worn in public places [and] everyone abides by the regulations," he said.

China has adopted a "zero-Covid" policy to prevent further spread of the virus, according to the South China Morning Post. Cities like Xi'an in northern Shaanxi province went under strict lockdown on December 22 to control the rise of Omicron cases, and restrictions were only partially lifted on January 18.

Designed by Moshe Safdie, the Raffles City building (pictured above) is one of the highlights of the city skyline. 

New Zealand architect and photographer Boxi Xiong visited the city in January 2020 before China closed its borders.

"It's really grand," Xiong told Insider of the city. "As an architect I found the skyscrapers amazing — especially at night."

These rural areas have remained booming farming industries. The production of sugarcane crops has been growing year on year since 2011, per CEIC data. Some people also still farm bamboo sugarcane in the countryside.

But the megacity has an air-quality problem. Nicknamed the "Fog City," much of Chongqing is shrouded in haze, especially in winter.

The city suffers from severe air pollution caused by the city's rapid industrialization — many factories were relocated to the outskirts of the city to mitigate these environmental damages, according to the World Bank.

One recent Tiktok clip, which showcased a dense block of yellow taxis lined up at the airport, garnered 2.5 million views. Locals say these taxis usually wait for tourists.

Another Tiktok video, which showed Chongqing's monorail going through residential buildings, also gained popularity on the platform with 2.2 million views. Several clips on the city's famed Sichuan cuisine, specifically its wheel hot pot, have also been met with much fanfare.

Visitors have said the throngs of yellow taxis in the streets are a common sight.

"Public transportation is more convenient," Chen said. "Traffic in Chongqing is complicated but not the most crowded in China."

Per CNN, there are 30,000 hotpot restaurants in Chongqing that serve mouth-numbing dried chili feasts.

"The food is extremely spicy but delicious," said Xiong, the New Zealand architect.

"Eating is part of Sichuan culture," said Xiong, who has family in Sichuan and speaks the dialect. "The hotpot is the best in the world."

In 2019, a restaurant in the city even set a Guinness World Record by making the world's largest hot pot. The pot was filled with two tons of seasoning, 200 kilograms of pepper, and 500 kilograms of chili, reported Xinhua.

Hailed the world's most majestic bookstore by Architectural Digest, the 3,344-square-meter (36,000-square-foot) Zhongshuge Bookstore is a labyrinth beloved by bibliophiles and photographers alike.

Discreetly located inside a mall, Xiong said more people take photographs than purchase books. 

"You can't use a camera, so we just use our phones," he said. "The photos [people take] look terrible sometimes but it's worth visiting."

This 3,000-foot-tall tourist attraction is not for the faint of heart. 

Inspired by a mythical Chinese love story, the pair of gigantic statues perched on a cliff hold observation decks that have no seats or safety harnesses.

The twist? Aptly named "Blowing Flying Kisses," the statues rotate upwards and lean in for a kiss, as seen in this video.