What's Up Al ? 遊記隨筆 生活點滴

One could not but marvel at the speed at which Chinese cities progressed in the past ten or so years. When we visited Chongqing (重慶) in 2008, a grand city of over 20 million residents, we were struck by the so-very-few tourists any which way we went. Not so any longer, with the advent of the omni-present High Speed Rail and the construction of eye-catching solidly-designed super bridges and highways, this city located at the strategic confluence of two of the great Chinese rivers (長江) and (嘉陵江), exuded vibrancy and character and the city had since become a magnet of tourists of all persuasion ! Without doubts, the number one talked about "new" must-see spot in Chongqing would be the incomparable Hong Ya Dong (洪崖洞) - basically a massive cave turned into a ten storeys high complex of open-air eateries, entertainment venues and bars, tucked right by the edge of a hill overlooking the river 嘉陵江. Hong Ya Dong seemed plain during daytime but came sun down, the whole place would light up like shining gold bullion and throngs of locals and tourists would rub shoulders and enjoyed getting lost in the myriads of stair cases, tunnels and passageways while mesmerised by the delicious, spicy and pungent whiff of the famous Chongqing hotpots (重慶 麻辣火鍋) ! 
Also, the lack of an underground metro system ten years ago, meant it took us forever in the Chongqing traffic to get from one scenic spot to another; not so anymore, there were close to one hundred metro stations now to ship us around efficiently ! So we visited interesting villages on the outskirt of Chongqing and be back to the city centre with plenty of time left to perform our swimming laps at the end of each wonderful and fulfilling day. For instance, we visited 彈子石, 磁器口古鎮, 長江索道, 塗鴉一條街, 南山一棵樹, 鵝嶺公園, 朝天門, 李子壩 輕軌站, 鴻恩寺森林公園 and Chongqing being a hilly city, many of these scenic spots offered a spectacular view of the famed Chongqing skyline. We greatly appreciated seeing such gigantic progress made in the development of this city and we vowed that we would be back soon for more of the delicious Chongqing noodles and to visit the many places which we left out this time round.