A Postcard of Chongqing

10 May 2016

Disclaimer: I visited Chongqing in 2015 but I’ve only just got around to posting this, I’m sure it’s still there.

For most people in the UK picking a holiday destination Chongqing isn’t the first place that springs to mind, however having read too many Sichuanese cookbooks, a passing interest in modern Chinese history and aided by a good deal on flights with Finnair I set out for a 4 day jaunt (following some time in Shanghai). Chongqing is sighted by many media outlets as the biggest city you’ve never heard of - I set out knowing little about what I was going to find, however it proved to be a really great trip.

Below are some highlights of my trip:

City

Jiefangbei

Hall of the People

Bang bang men (and lady)

The longest escalator in Asia

Yangtze Cable Car

Whilst not pictured I can also recommend visiting Ciqikou (an ancient town) and the nearby Nationalist prison camps which are walkable from Ciqikou light rail station.

Food

These three noodle dishes are some of my favourite food I’ve had in China:

Dan Dan Noodles

Cold Shanxi Noodles

Some other form of yummy cold noodle salad

Practicalities

I arrived at Chongqing Jianbei Airport from Shanghai, it’s conveniently linked to the rest of the city by monorail and I was easily able to arrive at my hotel in around an hour. The views during the trip are pretty epic as Chongqing is closely surrounded by large mountains. I did all my travel during my trip by Monorail which, as in most Chinese cities, is by far the most cheap and efficient method of transport.

I departed Chongqing by air on a flight to Manchester, UK, via Helsinki, Finland. Flying from a small airport like Chongqing means everything is much quicker and queues are generally smaller, although the airport shops left a lot to be desired.