This project studies the intricate relationship between religion and urban space by focusing on the local history and changing religious landscape of Jiangbeicheng, a river town on the upper Yangtze River, during the imperial, Republican, and socialist periods from the late Qing to the present. It aims to write the local history of an urban district of Chongqing; To explore the role of religion in the historical process of building urban China; To develop a microhistorical approach to the study of urban China by focusing on the local experience of religion and urban development; And to provide a much-needed historical narrative on the development of Chongqing as the leading inland megacity in strategic plans to develop western China and One Belt One Road initiatives.