Chongqing

April 11, Sunday

The flight to Chongqing on Air China got delayed for an hour for no definite reason. 

The city proper has about 12 million population while the greater Chongqing district has 33 million. It is at the junction of 2 large rivers… the Yangtze and the JiaLing River and is quite hilly. It was the wartime capital of free China during WWII as the government had to move east during the Japanese invasion from 1937 to 1945. Consequently it was bombed over 250 times by Japanese air forces and almost every building was obliterated. In the past 10 years the central government has made developing the Chinese interior a priority so this area has had great amounts of money flow in. It is known as as the City of fog because it has over 100 foggy days each year, possibly because it lies at the junction of 2 great rivers. Nowadays there is undoubtedly a certain amount of air pollution that adds to that toll. In the late Spring to early Autumn it is known as one of the 4 furnaces of China with temperatures above 100 F and extraordinary humidity. Luckily during my time in the area, temperatures were about 60-65 F but the skies were cloudy and fog was present each morning. Consequently the city is dull looking during the day with modern, high rise apartment and office buildings. But at nite the city comes alive with exuberant lighting decorating most of the buildings. The nite before embarkation on the river cruise, I went with a friend who is a native of Chongqing to a Hot Pot restaurant located in a complex retail development on the cliffs high above the Jialing River. “Hot Pot” is the distinctive Chongqing way of eating with raw foods cooked in tableside pots of boiling oil filled with assorted chiles and spices. And then it is dipped in an assortment of sauces and herbs before being eaten. My friend made sure that I had a pot that was on the low to medium spicy side, so I did not kill myself. His was regular spicy which I tried a few times and was not too bad. 

Here are some photos of nitetime Chongqing:

This is a shopping/restaurant area that was restored on the cliffside above the Jialing river:

A theatre and performing arts center across the river:

The Chongqing Museum: