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.

Having a lucky weather break in the Autumn melancholy atmosphere, we spent an entire sunny day at the huge (2 million square meters - that would be about 200 football pitches !) Chongqing (重慶) Garden Expo Park (園博園) where blue sky greeted us every which way we turned. Energised by a steaming bowl of the mouth-watering spicy Chongqing noodles as breakfast, we started our day bright and early for this enormous park where different sections of the park were built with architecture, both in various Chinese provincial themes as well as international designs. For instance, there were pagoda and arch bridges built around the area showcasing the southern China gardens and there were Islamic dome structures constructed in the Near-Eastern-themed gardens as well as many western-styled architecture could be seen at the north American corners of the Expo Park.
Feeling hungry, no worries (!) as we found a local restaurant atop one of these traditional buildings and had a grandstand view over the entire Park as we pigged ourselves silly over dishes of tomato egg foo yung, stirred fried local vegetables and fresh tofu, a well-known dish around Chongqing. The lunch kept us going for another four hours well into the afternoon as finally we dragged ourselves away from this beautiful park and made our way to the Chongqing metro back home for some more swimming as well as a chance to watch a film in the many high-tech cinemas near the walking streets of The Liberation Monument (解放碑 步行街). Worth mentioning, we went home via the intriguing Liziba Metro Station (李子壩 輕軌站), the now-famous station which became a viral Internet hit as the metro trains could be seen going INTO the metro building and being swallowed up ! (See photo below, enjoy !).