Chongqing

After bidding adieu to Monju in the Shanghai airport, I caught a flight to Chongqing, where I was picked up at the airport by my mother and her cousin-in-law.  (Being described as a "little girl" by the woman standing in front of my mom: highlight/lowlight?)  Thus began the family travel leg of my trip.  In addition to my mom, our group included all three sets of maternal aunts and uncles and one cousin -- all of whom had arrived in Chongqing from the United States the day before.  Although we would visit several tourist attractions in Chongqing, tourism was not our primary purpose.  Our visit had other aims: food and family.  More specifically, spicy food and my mom's paternal aunt (who's 95, mobile, and mentally sharp) and her five children (my mom's cousins), who all live in China, most in Chongqing.  The generosity of our hosts -- both in terms of of time and money -- seemed boundless.  Not only did they insist on treating us to several meals, they also rented a large van and took an abundance of time out of their schedules to show us around the area.  

Very brief historical and familial background: Chongqing was the capital of China during World War II (see capital building on the left).  During the war, the government and many families (including mine) moved there to get further away from the Japanese invasion.  After the war, my immediate family (specifically, my grandparents and two oldest aunts) returned briefly to Nanjing (where they were from), but moved to Taiwan (where my mom and her younger brother were born) before the Communist Revolution.  The branch of family we visited, headed by my grandpa's youngest sister, stayed in mainland China, initially moving back to Nanjing but later returning to Chongqing for work.  

Recently, Chongqing has been underoing extremely rapid development -- my mom visited around 13 years ago and could barely recognize it.  A large city (the population of the municipality is almost 29 million), it is one of only four cities (the others being Tianjin, Beijing, and Shanghai) to report directly to the federal government rather than through a province.

On my first day, after a delicious and elaborate lunch, we visited "old town" Chongqing and then drove to a scenic overlook of the city at night (see right).  The weather was somewhat Seattle-esque, making it difficult to see the city clearly, but creating a pretty cool misty look.  For dinner, we ate special Chongqing spicy mountain chicken.  (Aside: Many of the food names don't seem to translate -- or at least no one in my family knows how to translate the specifics into English.  "Special Chongqing spicy mountain chicken" is one example.  Another is the plethora of "special Chongqing/Nanjing vegetables.")  Exhausted after a long day of travel and family photo sessions, I fell asleep pretty early.

Our major destination the following day was a scenic site a few hours outside the city: the Three Natural Bridges.  The tour was in Chinese, however, severely limiting my comprehension.  I enjoyed our visit nonetheless; it's a gorgeous place and it felt good to get outside and walk after so many large meals.  

I also very much enjoyed our visit to the Baodingshan rock carvings the following day.  At this site, Buddhist scenes and figures (mostly Buddhist, that is, there is also some Confucian and Taoist art) were carved into rock caves during the 12th and 13th centuries.  Again, my Chinese was far too inadequate to understand our tour, but several scenes ("hell corner" in particular) required little explanation.  Upon returning to the city, we spent some time visiting an upscale shopping area.  I'm not much of a shopper (understatement), but I did really enjoy seeing that the so-called "People's Liberation Monument" memorializing the Communist Revolution was sponsored by Rolex.

That night, we enjoyed another Chongqing staple: spicy hotpot.  For those interested in adventurous food, the restaurant's specialty was duck intestine, so it became my specialty as well.  I also put away a substantial quantity of cow stomach.  When in Rome and all that.  (Plus I liked it.)  Indeed, throughout our visit, the more I ate (especially of the more unusual food), the more our hosts lauded me for being well-behaved.  Fine by me; under that definition, at least, I can behave well all day every day.

The morning before our flight out, we had one more full family gathering at our hotel: my great-aunt wanted to check and make sure our accommodations had been adequate.  After promising to visit again when she turns 100, we said our goodbyes and headed for the airport.