4th November: Chengdu, China to Chongqing, China
We were up fairly early to jump on another fantastic train eastwards to Chongqing. I was still weak and exhausted but felt up to travelling. Once again, the scenery was beautiful as we passed citrus fruits growing in more steep, verdant hills. The usual haze kept the horizon quite local but only acted to frame the details. As we popped out of one tunnel, for mere seconds before heading straight through another hill, a two-level aqueduct could be seen crossing the valley. Rice paddies were common, always with ducks and chickens waddling around.
As we approached Chongqing, the soils turned redder and the skies greyer. Low cloud descended and it began to rain, which somehow felt a fitting way to reach the Yangtze River. On the metro, we suddenly popped out on a bridge over the Jialing tributary. The city loomed on both banks. I’ve been fascinated by Chongqing for two decades and, despite my ailments, felt pangs of excitement at finally laying eyes upon it. Soon, we were back under the city and deposited on the peninsular between the Jialing and Yangtze.
We had half an hour or so to spare, so took the lift directly up from the metro into the shopping centre. We didn’t realise it at the time, but this was Raffles City, home to Chongqing’s two tallest buildings and one is its most famous landmarks – a sky bridge connecting four towers at 220m height right at the river confluence. When we stepped outside after a quick tea, we were both simultaneously taken aback by the building which now lay behind us!
That wouldn’t be the end of the surprises though. Our hotel was just across the street, which we confirmed with the help of showing a security guard the translated address. Multiple, in this case dozens, of hotels often occupy floors in the same building which doesn’t always make it easy. Up we went in an express lift (another first for me) and then a secondary lift to floor 32. Check-in was simple and we were shown upstairs (all floors are double height) into a room with a mind-bending view! The Yangtze itself lay below. We were above even the pillar of the giant cable stayed bridge across it, somehow now twice as high as we’d been in Chengdu. After a bit of research I established that this building is 249 metres tall and one of 144 skyscrapers in the city! This view was a bit much for me and I crawled as close as I dared to the window to get a photo, before letting my sweaty palms dry and trying not to think about it again!
We walked out into the mist and drizzle, south (which felt like north) towards the Jiangbeizui CBD and the People’s Liberation Monument. We had just enough time to take a look out over the deep Jialing and the skyline of the north bank. The bridge took vehicular and metro traffic, which then plunged below us. Further down, ferries and pleasure boats departed from the banks. The multi-layered facets of this metropolis are a feature I want to explore in our time here. That wasn’t today though as the buffet was open! Kaja was hungry and I was hopeful they’d have enough plain options that I could try to get the first food in me for three days. They did! I got some congee, plain tofu, some steamed root vegetables, wild rice, and a steamed bun. Just what I needed and, even without trying much, 27 yuan was still a bargain. Hopefully, I can start to get some energy back to properly enjoy this next leg.
