The US$4.8 billion Raffles City Chongqing is designed by Moshe Safdie and consists of a cluster of eight skyscrapers. Four of the towers hold the horizontal skyscraper structure, which is officially named the Crystal, in place at a height of 250 m (820 ft). The Crystal itself measures 300 m (984 ft) in length and its weight comes in at a considerable 12,000 tons – much of the structure had to be painstakingly hoisted into position using cranes with engineering help from Arup.

Visitors to the Crystal's Exploration Deck, as the viewing area is named, begin their journey on the ground floor with an exhibition made in collaboration with National Geographic that details the history and development of Chongqing. An express elevator takes just over 50 seconds to reach the top and, once the doors open, visitors are greeted with another exhibition that imagines a future life on Mars.