LOCAL DAY!

We slept really well at the hostel, and didn’t even wake up when Peter and Kevin came back from the clubs. We woke up at 6:30, packed, and took a bus to the airport. We checked in and then had a buffet breakfast. Peter gets really excited for buffets! We made it through security which seemed to be less serious than in the US. We didn’t have to remove our shoes, and they didn’t seem worried about liquids. We took a bus from the gate to the plane, and boarded. They had English and Chinese announcements. We were all in the same row but had window and aisle seats so we were separated. They served tuna and cucumber sandwiches and bottled water.

We arrived in Chongqing around 9:30 and we were met at the airport by Tracy’s twin sister, Cecilia. We all jammed into a tiny cab after being tricked into thinking we were getting a van. We took it through town to their father’s house in the middle of the city. The building was old and very unique. We had to pay to use the elevator to get to the 12^th floor. The place was good sized; a two bedroom with a living and dining area. It had a gorgeous view of the city and the river. The bathroom was interesting in that the whole thing was also the shower.

We went to lunch across the street and had a very spicy sechuan dish. Kevin’s tongue was numb by the end of the meal. We’re not entirely sure what everything was, which made it kind of exciting! I definitely ate a tentacle of some sort.

We walked around the city for awhile and noticed definite resemblances to Chinatown in New York. There were small shops, very close together with similar items in all of them. The city is built into the mountains, so the walk was difficult. We walked down to the point where the 2 rivers connect – looking for a market, but it was closed. On the way we went into a department store. The shelves were very low and the foreign section had some American food, which was an interesting reversal. I used the bathroom there and the stall doors came just to my waist.

When we got to the river we sat for awhile to rest. We were approached by a lot of people to ask where we were from and what about our impressions of China and Chongqing. We took many photos with them and gave one a NY postcard. We definitely stand out here, in this city even more so, because I think it’s more rare to see foreigners.

We walked all the way back to the apartment, and were lost for awhile, wandering along some really neat curvy and hilly streets lined with shops. Even Cecilia was lost; I think she is used to taking taxis everywhere.

We saw a lot of ‘stick men.’ Because it is so hilly, bikes are less common, so they have men with sticks who carry goods everywhere. We noticed a definite difference in people here also. They seemed to be paler skinned and have bigger eyes. Cecilia said this province is known for its beautiful women.

We showered and napped briefly while Peter went to get a haircut and a shave for 20 Yuan. We went to dinner just downstairs. The highlight was all the beer and toasts to each other. We must have had 10 bottles just at dinner. Tracy joined us at the end, having just flown in from Beijing. She was planning to be home for 2 weeks before returning to school.

We took 2 taxis down to the river to see the view at night. During the day the city seemed old and run down, and very traditional, almost poor. But at night, everything gets lit up with neon lights and looked almost like vegas.

We took cabs to a KTV (karaoke) place in the nicest building we’ve seen. They really treasure karaoke here! We had a private room and bought lots of beer. They had maybe 30-40 recognizable English songs, and we sang most of them. There were 2 mics so we just shared on all the songs. Tracy and Cecelia sang a few songs, and they were really good, singing in tune and in harmony. Clark fell asleep and was snoring around 1am, and the rest of us stayed up until 4am and then walked home.