We have a 7 hour layover at Chongqing Airport - we are flying from Shanghai to Italy via here.

We were hoping to leave the airport during the layover to head downtown for a brief look around before our connecting flight instead of waiting in the airport.
1. Is this possible?
2. Will we have to pick up our luggage if the connecting flight is with the same airline? (We both have visas for China so that is not an issue).