Chongqing - Christmas on the Yangtze

The morning in the night train began with an unpleasant surprise... Kirstie had food poisoning and to make matters worse she had a nasty cut on her forehead because she fainted on the train toilet. Not really the most hygienic place, only the night before I had seen how a little boy had peed in front of the sink, assisted by his mother. We disinfected and closed the wound with Leukostrips as well as possible in the swaying train. Subsequently we decided that we would definitely not, as originally planned, board a ship the same evening. So we found a hostel in the Lonely Planet and for once took a cab there. Maybe a short break would do us all some good...

Chongqing is located on an island where the Yangtze and the Jialing meet and is the starting point to the river cruises that pass the Three Gorges. The "City of the Mountains" has a lot of very steep streets, especially around the port area, and even features a cable car across the Yangtze. If only the administrative city limits are considered, Chongqing is, with 29 million inhabitants and an area as big as that of Austria, the largest city in the world. But "only" 4.3 millions live in the core city.

View of the Dongshuimen Bridge from our Hostel
View of the Dongshuimen Bridge from our Hostel

The "Real" China

While Kirstie recovered from the hardships earlier, Arthur and I set out to explore a little. Choatianmen Dock was one construction site and we couldn't find any trace of the passenger boat we initially intended to take. During our walk along the waterfront we were persistently approached by people that wanted to sell us a cruise. Unfortunately in the end we had no other option and had to book the cruise. But we did it at our hostel as a protest against the pushy salesman on the streets.

Chongqing itself has no real tourist attractions but it is a perfect example of a Chinese City. The streets are always filled with people, the hustle reminded me of a shopping street on the last day before Christmas, and that on a normal day! There was dancing in the parks at night and good Sichuan food at every corner. Though the supposedly ancient town of Ci Qi Kou was pretty disappointing, it turned out to be a mere tourist trap. Past the streets lined with souvenir shops we found a maze of small alleys and steps, that led us through deserted courtyards and half fallen down houses. The big contrast to the busy tourist part made it seem nearly a bit spooky. The Graffiti Street on the other hand could win us over: local artists tried to improve their dull grey neighbourhood with some interesting street art.

Due to the mountains and the steep streets Chongqing is still home of the Bang-Bang men. Bang-Bang is Chinese for bamboo pole, with this simple tool and a rope the men carry sometimes more than their own body weight up and down the busy streets. For whom it doesn't matter. Unfortunately they are getting fewer and fewer (you can read more about them here). Near the docks they can still be found. There I felt as if being in an anthill: people moving everywhere buying, selling or carrying something. They seemed to follow their own system to which a stranger was totally oblivious. The streets are lined with large packages and bulky bags waiting to be carried to their destination. We made our way through the bustle to the supermarket to buy provisions for the cruise. We had booked beds in a third class cabin and wanted to be as self-sufficient as possible on board. The selection of instant dishes were overwhelming. The megaphones, that screeched different offers in each aisle, didn't really help to make a decision. At the last minute and completely exhausted we arrived back at the hostel from where we immediately had to make our way to the bus which would take us to our cruise ship. 

A Cruise, the Chinese Way

Our adventure "Chinese Cruise" began with a three hour bus ride - we skipped the first part of the Yangtze due to lack of time and started in Wanzhou. Halfway there we stopped at another "ancient town" which was built with certainly very ancient concrete. There our travel companions could thrive and buy overpriced souvenirs. Since we didn't know when we had to be back - the information was only given in Chinese - we decided to keep an eye on the others. A Chinese woman in a white fur coat was a great help, because she was easy to spot from a distance and we started calling her affectionately "the white furry thing". In the evening we finally reached our ship, where we could inspect our cabin, that we shared with three other (Chinese) people. Everything was very basic, at the sight of our "bathroom" it became obvious, that we would not take a shower on board. After all we felt safe as there were enough life jackets behind my bed. Neither our roommates nor anyone else on board spoke a word of English and the small "Chinese Phrasebook" provided by our hostel came in pretty handy. It contained sentences like "Where can I find hot water?" or "When do we have to be back at the ship?". After thoroughly exploring our vessel, with a peek into the engine room, we were celebrating our first night on board with a beer overlooking the Yangtze at night. 

The next morning the ship's whistle woke us around 6 am to announce one of the excursions, that we refused to take part in. The only trip we booked was a smaller boat in the afternoon to explore the Lesser Three Gorges and we had debated that for a long time, since it was as expensive as the whole three day cruise (!). We decided to use the time to take a walk along the city walls and have a look around. People were also having a good look at us, sometimes we felt like animals in a zoo. They were staring without shame and one even dragged me out of my conversation into a selfie. Again I asked myself why Chinese are so obsessed about taking holiday pictures with completely foreign Westerners...

Later we changed to another boat for the cruise through the Lesser Three Gorges and from the beginning it felt like a rip off. We chose a seat on the top deck just to be told a moment later, that we had to purchase hot beverages to sit there. Because by that time all the window seats were taken downstairs, we decided to stand outside and admire the gorges in the cold. We cheered ourselves up by singing Christmas carols - after all it was Christmas Eve - and this also helped a little to blend out the constant Chinese "information" we got over the loudspeaker. To see the last part of the gorges we had to change yet again to an even smaller boat. Our singing guide felt more like an animator on a cheap resort holiday and was a harsh contrast to the idyllic landscape that quietly passed by. To ensure even more "entertainment" the others let themselves be dressed up in a traditional fisherman outfit and photographed in ridiculous poses. Apparently a photo is more appreciated than the experience. I mean who would believe that you had a great time on your holiday, if there are no pictures or kitschy souvenirs to prove it!?! So immediately after the little "shoot" we were offered a key chain as memorandum. We were the only ones who refused to buy them. Somehow we had the the feeling that on a Chinese holiday the main theme is to spend as much money as possible.

On the way back this sentiment was undermined by the fact, that the people basically threw themselves to the counter to buy the overpriced dried meat - at least that is what we suspected it was - advertised like on a teleshopping channel. The difference to our backpacker style of travel could not have been greater. After we returned to our cruise ship and had dinner a seldom opportunity presented itself; we were able to enjoy the view totally by ourselves and saw the Wu Gorge, the second of the Three, disappear into the pearl grey fog in precious silence. The majority of the last, the Xiling Gorge we had crossed during the night and arrived in the morning at the Three Gorges Dam, which was completed in 2007 and had considerably changed the surrounding landscape, especially the gorges. Since we were not interested in visiting the controversial dam, we made our way straight to the city Yichang, where we prepared an improvised Christmas dinner.

Merry Christmas! :)

Where I am at the Moment...

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  • #1

    Kirstie (Dienstag, 06 September 2016 08:31)

    I didn't faint on the toilet, I fainted throwing up in the sink because I couldn't get into the toilet! (Much more glamorous.) :) How are you? We're in Hanoi, just going out to check on the progress of our Chinese visas... going back to China on Saturday (long story).