Historical Chongqing

　
　

Chongqing is famous for having three hot things: weather, food and women. And if those aren’t good enough reasons to visit China’s most over-looked city, this war-time capital has a lot more to offer. If you include the whole of the greater municipality, Chongqing is one of, if not the, biggest cities in the world, with a population of over 32 million. It’s also a mecca for Modern China history buffs with its memorial to Cultural Revolution victims and Nationalist-era prisons where Communist cadres were once tortured and executed.

　
　

In a country where cities from Lhasa to Lanzhou are becoming white-tiled carbon copies of each other, Chongqing’s geography makes it markedly different. Yuzhong peninsula, the heart of Chongqing, is a massive rock sandwiched between the Yangtze and the Jialing rivers. Rack upon rack of buildings, skyscrapers, and teahouses cling to the hillside while twisting roads and perilous steps etch into its sides. If you’ve ever been to Hong Kong, Chongqing looks and feels like the Island without, of course, the 150 years of colonial influence.

　
　

Another Chongqing curio is the group of the middle-aged porters, bristly with muscle, who leap up and down the city’s thousands of steps, with everything from ice cubes to meat swinging from their bamboo poles. These Bang Bang men, as they are called, earn less than 1,000RMB a month. Find a flight and just climb with them. Even laden, they’ll beat you.

　
　

Life alongside the steps resembles a snapshot from the 1970s and 1980s. There are dry goods stalls, Mr Fixit’s, and hairstylists. Old sewing machines click clack while an ancient man slowly hangs his six birdcages one by one onto a tree. A white coat and a yellow pair of underpants are drying out on a line strung across the steps; cats slink into darkened alleyways. Up on the main streets, old churches and temples are tucked between the modern towers.

　
　

Chongqing’s humid weather (an umbrella is a must) means the city is green, with trees and creepers everywhere. It hums with life. At night, the fog swirls romantically from the surface of the broad and brownish Yangtze. Hour-long boat cruises leave every evening at 8pm from the pier at Chaotianmen and bring you within splashing distance of China’s greatest river.

　
　

In Yuzhou, you’ll also find the People’s Square with its Great Hall of the People (entrance 10RMB), a rather ostentatious domed hall with imperial overtones. Opposite is the Three Gorges Museum (free entry), only worth a perusal if you’re big on dams and numbers.

　
　

For some real history head to Shaping Ba, the university district. In the northeast corner of sprawling Shaping Park is a high-walled graveyard where Red Guards who died during the Cultural Revolution are buried under Mao slogans and carved obelisk headstones. The cemetery’s iron gate is only unlocked during the Qingming festival, but if you call in advance with a good reason the warden can be persuaded to open up (02360655261).

　
　

Just west of here is Gele Mountain where the gruesome crimes committed by the Nationalists against the Communist in the 1940s are displayed in a series of former villas turned prisons on the leafy mountainside. There’s a bus (10RMB) that ferries visitors between all seven sites (free entry). Baigong Guan is the most impressive. The grey-painted, black-beamed villa was the home of Dai Li, the mean head of the Nationalist secret police. The Nationalists are said to have shot hundreds of prisoners here the day before they fled to Taiwan in 1949. On a different note, you can get your picture taken with a life-sized Mao statue that sits crossed-legged, fag in hand. When we visit, an 80-year-old man in a blue Mao suit is almost tempted until he learns it costs 10RMB.

　
　

If you can stay a while, nearby Ciqikou is a charming, if touristy, restored Ming-dynasty village, where you can pick up porcelain and watch chefs hand pull noodles. The Dazu rock carvings, with thousands of Buddhist statues dating back to the Tang dynasty, are a day-trip away, and Chongqing is the jumping off point for Yangtze River cruises.

　
　

But Chongqing itself is more than just a stopover place. On a bright sunny day the city is magical, on a foggy day it’s ghostly. Either way, it’s spectacular. Just remember to bring an umbrella.

　
　

Essential info;

　
　

When to visit

　
　

Avoid Chongqing’s scorching summers, when temperatures sizzle past 40oC. The best time to visit is March-May and September-November.

　
　

Flight

　
　

Chongqing is a budget flight hub. Beijing-Chongqing returns on Ctrip.com go from as low as 1,100RMB. The airport shuttle bus costs 15RMB to downtown.

　
　

Eat

　
　

Hong Ya Dong is a massive wooden mansion complex overlooking the Jialing River. Inside are shops, restaurants and even an Irish pub. The smaller less flashy restaurants come recommended. 88 Jianbing Lu.

　
　

Chongqing is famous for its chilli-tastic hotpots. Many of the better ones are around Jiefang Bei Street. Try Liu Yishou, 46 Cangbai Jie (023 6161 8555)

　
　

Sleep

　
　

Yangtze River Hostel has an envious location on the Yangtze River. Simple clean doubles cost 120RMB a night and with free WiFi, spicy Chongqing pizzas, cold beer and Chongqing’s most helpful girls, it’s hard to beat. 80 Changbin Jie (023 6310 4270)

　
　

Dinah Gardner

　
　

本文相关标签： Chongqing Historical