by Tammy Lim

Created on: July 28, 2011   Last Updated: August 09, 2011

Chongqing is a hilly major city in South West China, located at the joining of Jialing and Yangtze Rivers.  It is rich in Chinese history and culture.  Chongqing is a city that is developing steadily with many works in progress buildings and upgrading of roads, railways and cable ways.  It is interesting to see foreign banks like Standard Chartered Bank, fast food chain like KFC and supermarkets like Carrefour in Chongqing.

Following are what we learn, saw and experience in Chongqing.

There is a mix of sky scrapers, banks, shopping malls, hotels, motels, residential flats, brick houses as well as small wooden houses along hilly plains in the city.

Traffic is heavy in the city, with buses, cars, lorries, motor bikes, bicycles, tricycles and yellow taxis cruising along.  Vehicles are left hand drive with blue car plates and white numbering.  The horn is frequently used by motorists.  Highways are wide and consist of 3 parallel lanes separated by curbs or plants between the two traffic directions.  Signboards and road names are mainly in Chinese with few English translations.

The weather is very warm and humid during the summer month of July, up to about 37 degree Celsius.  No wonder it is called one of the Furnace of China.  Chongqing is surrounded by mountains, Daba in the north, Dalou in the south, Wuling in the south-east and Wu in the east.  As we travelled on foot in the city and rural areas, the air is still and we hardly feel any wind or breeze.

People carrying split bamboo pole with 2 baskets balanced on each side, filled with fruits or items walking up and down slopes are a common site.  People carrying umbrellas and fans are also a common site.  Babies are mostly dressed with pants with big opening revealing their bottoms; this is to facilitate the convenience of passing urine and motion.

One of the tourist attractions is Songlinpo Area.  This is where Dai’s Villa is located, exhibiting the life history of Generals Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng.  Full figure statues of the two men are near entrance to the site.  This site is where Yang Hucheng was murdered.  On the bottom of the steep slope is a monument of the two men’s heads

A steep stairway leads us to the preserved Guardhouse where the family of the famous “Political Prisoner” Radish lived.  Little Radish was put in prison with his mother when he was eight months old.  He was nicknamed

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