Rolex on the Liberation Monument — Chongqing
Originally I planned to visit Mount Hua, but since no one was going with me and I didn’t feel comfortable going alone, I gave up the idea. Later, I went to Chongqing with Zhang Shaoxia. It was the end of August, scorching hot, with temperatures reaching a terrifying 41°C. Yet the furnace-like heat couldn’t deter my determination to visit Chongqing.
The bullet train from Chengdu to Chongqing costs 98 yuan, about 20 yuan more than the Chengdu-Chongqing express bus, but it offers much better value. Besides, I’m not worried about bullet train rear-end collisions—the probability of two such incidents happening within 30 days is tiny.
Chengdu is a plain city encircled by ring roads. You can’t appreciate its “waistline” from different angles like a mountain range, nor get the panoramic view from its peak. When I took a bus from Chongqing North Station straight into the city and crossed the Huangguayuan Bridge, the sight of Yuzhong District’s layered buildings rising along the river gave me immense visual satisfaction. It’s exactly the feeling you get seeing Manhattan from Brooklyn in American TV shows—except Yuzhong is built on hills, while Manhattan is flat.
Chao Tianmen, Chongqing’s iconic area, was a bit disappointing at first sight. Walking down Xinyi Road, where the sidewalks were under renovation, the narrow streets were lined with old buildings and lacked the bustling commercial atmosphere I imagined. It’s hard to believe this is near a landmark district. Chao Tianmen Square is small and looks its age. Unlike Chengdu’s Tianfu Square, which gets torn down and rebuilt repeatedly, this one has stayed. Around 5 PM, there weren’t many people—mostly out-of-towners, identifiable by their point-and-shoot cameras snapping photos everywhere, just like me.
I thought I could visit Chongqing University that evening to see Hao’er, but the distance turned out longer than expected. He said it would take over an hour; I had underestimated Chongqing’s terrain. Since I was staying in Yuzhong District, round trip would take too much time. We went the next day instead. My rhinitis is acting up again.
Among pedestrian streets in Southwest China, Chunxi Road in Chengdu is the most famous, followed by Jiefangbei (Liberation Monument) in Chongqing, then Nanping in Kunming. Kunming’s Nanping wins on size; Chongqing wins on beautiful women—Chengdu should rightfully claim the title, but Chunxi Road loses because it lacks benches under big trees where visitors can sit and people-watch. At Jiefangbei, the granite benches under the trees are prime territory for “wolf friends” (guys checking out girls). My classmate once said he people-watched from KFC at Jiefangbei—what an idiot. The current Liberation Monument was rebuilt in November 1949 after the 1945 version was destroyed. Now it has a clock on top, with a Rolex sign.
The most worthwhile place in Chongqing is the Nanshan Observation Deck, perfect for night views. Taking the bus up from Nan’an District, the nearly 10-meter bus winds along the two-lane mountain road, climbing over a hundred meters in elevation. With the engine roaring, that one-yuan bus ride felt totally worth it.
On the third day, we headed back. Across the street, various aunties asked if we wanted to sing karaoke—I had no idea what they meant.