October Holiday, China’s National Day, a week off, October 3rd through the 8th. I love to travel so I decided to visit a good friend from my first year in China in Chongqing. Chongqing is a MUNICIPALITY of China, similar to Shanghai, Beijing and Tianjin. It doesn’t belong to a province anymore but it is it’s own place. It used to be part of Sichuan Province, known for its HOT FOOD and HOT WOMEN. Chongqing is considered WEST to my Shanghai students, who I guess would consider Nanjing and Hangzhou to be west too. But if you looked at a map of China and found Tibet in the Southwest and went one province over to the right you would be in Sichuan Province. Chongqing is on the eastern side of Sichuan. ANYWAY…. it is home to the beginning of one of the longest rivers in the world, rivaling the NILE and Connecticut River, The CHANGJIANG RIver or Yangtze River. Chongqing used to be called CHUNGKING which might help you older folks.

Enough about geography. This is a great shot of the city which is literally on a mountain where two rivers meet at NIGHT. This was a great view!

My friend goes to the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute in Chongqing. That is where I stayed, in his apartment near the campus. About a 20 minute walk from his place we found the river swiftly flowing to my city, Shanghai. I got another Panaramic shot here. The last time I had seen the Chang Jiang was in Nanjing, near Shanghai…MIGHTY RIVER!!!

Immediate observations of Chongqing I noticed these men walking around or standing around with thick sturdy bamboo sticks. My friend called them stickers but I guess I would just call them stick men. Apparently they are poor people or farmers who are just looking for an extra RMB and will carry anything you want them to carry for a fee. I didn’t feel any, but their shoulders must be like harder than rocks. My Goodness. Look at some of the loads that I got to see. There were many more that I witnessed but without sufficient time to fetch my camera. Looking at one load I think I would crumble. Some of the guys I felt would collapse too but they didn’t. Some of the guys I wanted to help because they looked kind of old….
Here are the stickmen hired to lug stuff down the stairs to the boats…huge tires, boxes of stuff…all pretty heavy I am sure.

Here is a cool view on the stairs down to the train station. My friend and I walked down these stairs to get to the train station. This was a typical area for Chongqing, everything on an angle…or straight down. Just don’t trip.

Looking for a different way to get down to the train station? check out part 2!!!