Chongqing U.S. Embassy

Chongqing U.S. Embassy

The Chongqing U.S. Embassy is a cultural relic protection unit of Chongqing Municipality.

The former site of the Chongqing U.S. Embassy is located at No. 1 Jiankang Road, Wangjiapo, Yuzhong District, built during 1938–1946.

As one of the Allied diplomatic missions in Chongqing during the Anti-Japanese War, the former U.S. Embassy in Chongqing was among the American embassies in China. It is located at No. 1 Jiankang Road, Lianglukou Subdistrict, Yuzhong District, Chongqing. Construction began in 1942. The original site faces east and measures 32.5 meters in width and 12.73 meters in depth, with an overall height of 10.73 meters. The building features a rectangular facade, slightly higher in the middle and lower on the sides, topped with a double-sloped gable roof covered with machine-made tiles. The rafters do not extend into the gable walls but instead project outward, creating “overhangs” and resulting in wide eaves. The side bargeboards highlight the double-sloped roof form and emphasize the volume and three-dimensional structure of the roof. The three-bay entrance portico features four large composite columns with capitals and a triangular pediment, representing a classic example of late Palladian style. Such columns, when spanning multiple floors of the facade, often create a grand and solemn effect.

In 2000, it was listed by the Chongqing Municipal People's Government as part of the first batch of municipal-level cultural relic protection units. In 2009, it was designated by the Fifth Plenary Session of the Third Chongqing Municipal Committee as one of 120 key anti-war heritage sites for rescue and restoration. In the "Overall Plan for the Protection and Utilization of Chongqing’s Anti-War Heritage Sites" reviewed and approved by the Chongqing Municipal Committee and Municipal Government in 2010, the former U.S. Embassy site was identified as a key project for protection and exhibition. In 2013, it was included in the seventh batch of Major Historical and Cultural Sites Protected at the National Level by the State Council. On May 18, 2019, the Chongqing U.S. Embassy Former Site Exhibition Hall officially opened to the public free of charge on the 43rd International Museum Day, becoming the first imaging history exhibition of the Allied diplomatic missions in Chongqing to open to the public.

In 2017, marking the 80th anniversary of the outbreak of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and World War II, an exhibition titled *Witnesses in Chongqing – The Sino-American Alliance’s Joint Fight Against Japanese Militarism* was prepared to showcase the significant contributions and sacrifices made by the Chinese and American peoples in the pursuit of human justice and world peace, reminding people to cherish and uphold the hard-won global peace. Professor Zhou Yong from the Chongqing Local History Research Association served as the academic advisor for the exhibition. Under his guidance, and based on historical research, the exhibition hall employed methods and materials from image-based historiography to present historical imagery of the Sino-American alliance’s joint resistance against Japanese militarism. This marks an attempt by our museum to revitalize and apply image-based research outcomes in serving the history of the wartime rear area, especially the history of China-U.S. cooperation.

The thematic image exhibition *Witnesses in Chongqing – The Sino-American Alliance’s Joint Fight Against Japanese Militarism* is divided into seven sections: “China’s Diplomacy After the Outbreak of the Local War of Resistance,” “Changes in China’s Diplomatic Situation After the Outbreak of the Full-Scale War of Resistance,” “Chongqing as the Diplomatic Center of Wartime China,” “The Allies and China’s Theater of War,” “A New Chapter in Sino-American Relations During the War,” “Exchanges Between the Chinese Communist Party and the United States During the War,” and “Witness to a New Era of Wartime Chinese Diplomacy.”

In 2000, the Chongqing U.S. Embassy was listed by the Chongqing Municipal People's Government as part of the first batch of municipal cultural relic protection units in Chongqing.