Day 68: Chongqing(重慶)

Hot Pot(火鍋)
we decided before even getting to Chongqing(重慶) that we would take it slow and relax during our time here.  Our main goal was to eat as much of their famous hot pot as we could.  So that was the first thing we did today.  We asked the hotel what the best place nearby was and she directed one to us that was about 5-10 min walk away.  A lot of Chongqing(重慶) is built on cliffs it seems so we had to take an city elevator from near our hotel to a street on a cliff (or walk up a lot of stairs).  The hot pot was better then we expected after being disappointed in Chengdu(成都).  Either this was less greasy or we have just gotten used to it.

We were only 1 table of customers at the restaurant as it was 1:30 by the time we got there.  About halfway through the lunch, all the employees sat in the back for a meeting that we could overhear.  Charlotte translated to me what they were saying.  The boss spent most of the time talking about a newspaper article that came out about the restaurant and she asked the employees who had read it.  3 employees raised their hands and then the boss asked them to tell the others what it was about.  She then would go on to say things like, "See even though she isn't very educated and not the most skilled person, she follows the news.  We need to learn from uneducated people like her who follow along with the news"  She then went on the read the article which spent probably a full page just saying how great it was.  We thought it was ok.

From 77 Days in China part 2

Hot Pot for lunch

We didn't go to the Stillwell museum or night river cruise
We then tried to go the Stillwell museum which consists of the history of the US in China during WWII, but we couldn't find it.  Instead we decided to take a river cruise in the evening to get a better view of the city, but when we got to the dock we were being followed around by people trying to sell us tickets to the cruise and it got really annoying very fast and saw the "luxurious" dinner boats and the very foggy weather we decided not to go.  Instead, we walked around the center of the city, trying different snacks

From 77 Days in China part 2

Charlotte at the harbor

From 77 Days in China part 2

"Double River" cruise boats (cruising on both Jialing River and Yangtze River)(嘉陵江﹐長江)

From 77 Days in China part 2

The best boat

From 77 Days in China part 2

The boat we were told to avoid at all costs

Upscale area
We then read in my Lonely Planet guide about a upscale restaurant area across the river, so walked through the main square which has a liberation monument(解放碑) and then to a cable car across the Yangtze River.  We walked around and the restaurants looked nice, but nothing special, so we took the cable car back and found some street food to eat.  Charlotte thought that at least we could see them grill the food there so it was probably ok to eat.  Until we saw someone order fish and the guy took a fish out of the water and throw it hard against the ground to stun it.  He didn't do a good enough job and the fish started jumping around and into the really dirty street, he grabbed it and then rinsed it very briefly before cutting it up and grilling it.  That didnt stop us though and we still got our food and then called it an early night.

From 77 Days in China part 2

Downtown center square

From 77 Days in China part 2

Liberation monument(解放碑)

From 77 Days in China part 2

Chongqing at night

From 77 Days in China part 2

Yangtze River (長江) at night

From 77 Days in China part 2

From 77 Days in China part 2

The cablecar

From 77 Days in China part 2

Street food