We were met at our boat by Peter our tour guide. I had organised for us to have a private tour for our time in this city, which according to our guide is the largest city in the world @ 33 Million.
As with most of the places we’ve been, the smog here was quite thick, although we were told the official air quality reading for today was good. I guess it is all comparable. This is a sign we saw earlier on our travels displaying air quality.
Now Mick can’t quite get how to say the name of this place. He calls it Ching Chong, and it is actually pronounced Chong Ching. I guess he is close.
Peter and our driver took us to a very old part of the city – Ciqikou. Loads of food shops located in some derelict buildings. People had been offered compensation to move and now others have moved into the ground level so they can run their businesses from them.
In this area we saw people making noodles from sweet potato (starch).
Mick tasted a local snack food and said it was delicious, so he lined up to buy us some for our train trip. There would have been at least 6 other shops selling the exact same thing. This shop had a line up and was said to be the best at it. Mick waited for about ten minutes to buy one packet for 15RMB.
As if we had not had enough of the Three Gorges Dam Project, but here in Chongqing there is a whole museum devoted to it. And we were off to see it. Lots of the relics that would have been flooded by the new dam are located here.
Peter then took us to lunch, which was way too much. Mick and I are getting bigger from all these huge meals we are being offered. It is hard not trying a little bit of everything!
At the next tour stop – Hong Ya Dong, Mick and I must have looked tired because Peter suggested he take us to our hotel for a rest. We eagerly agreed to this idea.
This photo of me has this city’s Opera House I the background – if you can pick it out through the smog. It is said to be the shape of a boat. I’ll leave you to decide.
I was able to get wifi at our fancy hotel and after a rest we ventured out around our hotel. We noted huge contrasts. We were only metes away from the high end of town with shops for Gucci and the like, and in a few turns we were in the local markets where people were selling all sorts of foods including live ducks, geese and rabbits.
Mick found a little shop that sold local red wine which he bought for us to try at about $10AU per bottle and I bought a small bottle of white spirit (50%) for 2RMB or about 50c. We weren’t really hungry but decided we should investigate. We had a small meal in a cafe attached to a supermarket. I was not keen to eat street food knowing we had a long train trip ahead.
Our final faux pas for the night was when we returned to our room. Our electronic key would not work so Mick went back down 29 floors to get it fixed. I waited patiently behind happy to take in views of the skyscape all lit up. After about ten minutes I hear Mick calling my name anxiously, worried he’d lost me, but I was where he left me in front of room 2912 and not our room 2902. We had gone the wrong way when we got off the lift.
Anyway, all’s well that ends well.
Jane and Mick's Holiday Adventures 