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A CITY BURSTING ON BANKS
- Two Sides to Chongqing
David Butterworth
I glimpsed two isolated tower blocks in between that far horizon
before the departing train swept the view away. Would this hazy
reflection of Chongqing be the most memorable? To find out, I had
to reach the city’s Liberation Monument in the heart of the
main shopping area.
A glut of glitz: neon lights boosting high tech companies: ‘China
Mobile,’ ‘Canon,’ and boutique chains such as
‘Giordano,’ were incentive enough to come here. Apart
from Shanghai, Beijing doesn’t possess such concentrated dazzle.
Chongqing was the Kuomintang’s wartime base, and the Monument,
a tall multi-edged column with clocks at the top, commemorates China’s
victory over Japan in 1945. Even though it’s where the city’s
arteries, and beyond, spring to, the bus from Chengdu dropped me
Chinese style at the western fringe of the city. I felt hopelessly
disorientated as my dated copy of ‘Lonely Planet’ failed
to help me reconnoiter my surroundings. Main roads were elevated
to expressways as they curved in all directions.
I sat next to an oddly named ‘Peace Hotel.’ Chinese
people like to group as an audience, particularly when a foreigner’s
in a fix, but a phone call and a very helpful young guy extricated
me from it and the concrete jungle. We traveled for 30 minutes by
bus 109 which went at breakneck speed. The city merged from busy
to hectic; the prospects looked reassuring and exciting.
Chongqing’s accommodation doesn’t come cheap. If budgeting’s
a priority, the Huaxianlu Bin guan just off Minzu Lu, with the only
dorm in the city, is the best bet. For 50 Yuan, the six bed room
is moderately air conditioned, has an electric kettle, and an adequate
supply of toiletries. The shower is no more than a pipe, but the
hot water supply is plentiful. Another 50 is required as a deposit
in case you lose your door key. Don’t forget to produce the
receipt with the key when checking out. Free breakfast is provided
between 7:30 and 9:30 a.m., is ‘baozi’ (steamed dumplings)
with a sweet bean filling, rice porridge, bits of mutton, assorted
vegetables and boiled eggs. If you’re looking for a double
room, don’t expect to pay less than 300 Yuan, and the Huaxianlu
is 2 stars.
Chongqing is a hub to all parts of China, and is an excellent place
to while away two days if planning your next travel itinerary. It’s
also a hive of street activity on Wuyi Lu, Xinhua Lu and Shanxi
Lu. Selling domestic ware, fruit and vegetables and clothing, spills
onto the ground and spreads down steep stone steps.
Noodle bars, or stoned floor cafes that offer an interesting array
of animal parts, are easily found.
Displayed on trays and in glass cabinets, just point your pick.
If not to your taste, order the noodles marinated in spicy soy source
with a bowl of rice porridge and chilled Chinese beer. This is the
key to eating cheaply and experience a bit of Chinese character.
Men group themselves around tables in jovial mood; trousers rolled
to the knees, legs splayed, and then ‘down’ the beers.
The main western fast food outlets on Minzu Lu, the main shopping
street, are pricey and soulless by comparison.
Throughout China, Chongqing is renowned as a ‘hot city.’
During July and August, temperatures can reach over 40 degrees Celsius.
Bottles of water are dumped in boxes on the ground or crammed into
street side freezers selling for as little as 1.5 Yuan. Fruit drinks
cost twice as much, and ice creams drop back to 1.5. Taking a bus
costing 1 Yuan per journey, becomes another melting pot. Heat from
fumes emanating from the ground reaches open windows to smart and
almost melt your eyes.
 The
millions of dollars being poured into high rise banks, offices,
hotels, shopping malls and real estate, are getting lost among the
fruit sellers and others who suspend goods between their shoulders.
One woman sold me half a kilo of plums on impulse, while another
carrier positioned two blocks of water cress to take his place in
a line of other sellers. Armed with nothing more than a sturdy bamboo
pole and two ropes at either end, men eke out a living as deliverers
diligently balancing the pole, resolutely moving the weight to shops
and stores, and up the steep stone steps for one, perhaps two Yuan
per delivery. They wait outside the shops for their services and
fall asleep there at night. It’s not exactly express, but
some traditions die hard in China.
On a weekend, Minzu Lu’s money affairs are ratcheted up as
promotional activities gear into full swing. Dancers to some bygone
pop song perform their stint on a square stage in front of a store.
The 1985 rock hit ‘Out in the Fields’ by Thin Lizzy
echoed up to the dormitory windows. The shopping area is also designed
to parody New York with similar pointed towers and yellow cabs.
Take one down to Chaotianmen Docks, or towards the train station,
and you’ll see a plethora of multi-story blocks on the far
side of the Yangtze springing up into shoots. There’s even
a place on the main side to deem the wealthy, appropriately called
‘The Rich Club.’
It’s not all glamour and comfort, though. Chongqing is prey
to the chaos of road construction and congestion. Bus drivers clamor
for space and spy to push past the bus in front. Being jostled and
swayed on their hard plastic seats was quite sore. Nominal traffic
isn’t entirely exempt either, but if you’re in a hurry,
take a cab.
As it’s the starting place, the city’s an excellent
choice to take the Three Gorges boat cruise down the Yangtze. The
Chaotianmen booking complex next to the bus station will readily
book you a passage, particularly as you’ll be hounded like
hornets by numerous touts waving brochures in your face: “hello,
hello; English!, English!” If you want to bargain your way
down the river, allow them to mischievously escort you to a basement
booking office. If getting ripped off is risky, there’s an
official CITS office nearby. A travel kiosk in the Huaxianlu also
books tours.
 Find time to
visit and experience the quiet seclusion of Luohan Si (Arhat Temple),
watching monks absorb themselves in some religious or artistic activity.
Buddhism is a strong force throughout China, and ‘Arhat’
is Sanskrit for devotees who are liberated from greed, hate and
illusion. Perhaps Chongqing itself could do with a dose. Golden
Buddha figures are seen, but crimson is the pervading color, from
large wooden lanterns which hang from one pavillion, to rows of
cushions where the monks worship, to red candles which are sacrificed.
Given the hot weather, lighting them didn’t seem necessary
to produce the liquid mire at the base of two metal apparatus. But
the idea is to leave them there long enough until some mystical
deity sees one and grants someone’s wish.
Burning incense is big business. In a small alleyway off the temple’s
entrance, stalls were cluttered with the clustered pink sticks.
Buddha and Buddhism command a lot of devotion and admiration among
Chinese, but as is everything in China, they come with a price.
At the temple’s entrance, there are durable stone carvings
which have stood the test of time, the city’s pollution and
the Cultural Revolution.
Buddha and Mao Zedong are two of the greatest names who formidably
influenced China’s history, and both compete for lasting loyalty
and respect among its people. But gone are the days of the Chairman,
and a capitalist rather than a cultural revolution is substituted
in Chongqing, where monetarism has replaced Maoism.
It’s a city in the making; being remodeled and modernized
before one’s very eyes where not everyone is included or banging
in a prosperous stake. Watching an impressive advertisement on a
giant screen I couldn’t help but be skeptically amused at
slogans saying ‘Chongqing, a city of dazzling beauty,’
and ‘Chongqing miracle, participate together.’ It’s
not quite like that, but according to a German tourist, is better
than its parody New York where you can’t see the sun for the
skyscrapers. It certainly has an appeal, and an intensively Chinese
one, at that.
About the Author
David Butterworth, from the UK, is teaching English in China. Besides
this work, he encreasingly finds time to write, take photos, and
to travel during holidays.
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