Liziba station

A train through an apartment block, Liziba station is the viral emblem of Chongqing's vertigo-inducing urban form, a monorail stop threaded straight through the sixth to eighth floors of a nineteen-storey residential tower. Trains on the city's Line 2 glide in one side of the building and out the other, and the sheer improbability of it has turned an ordinary commuter station into one of the most photographed spots in the city.

The engineering is more sensible than it looks. Chongqing's extreme topography, a warren of cliffs, rivers and stacked neighbourhoods, forces its transport to climb, tunnel and, here, to share space with housing. A sound-insulating shell wraps the track where it passes through the tower, so residents live above and below the line with surprisingly little noise, a pragmatic answer to a city where flat land is scarce.

On the ground it has become a spectacle. A dedicated viewing platform and a small plaza have grown up beside the building so that visitors can watch the trains appear and vanish, cameras raised, while vendors and cafes cater to the steady crowds. The scene captures the science-fiction quality that has made Chongqing a magnet for travellers fascinated by dense, three-dimensional cityscapes.

To visit, simply ride Line 2 and alight at the station itself, or head to the exterior viewing point to catch the trains passing through the facade, ideally lining up a shot as one emerges. It is busiest at weekends and in the evenings. The surrounding Yuzhong district holds many of Chongqing's other set-piece sights, so Liziba fits easily into a wandering day of the city's stacked streets and riverside views. Arriving by train for the full effect, then watching from the platform below, makes for a memorable pair of perspectives.