Exploring Chongqing

Friday, June 27, 2008--Chongqing (Continued)

There are no bicycles here in Chongqing. I wonder if it is because of the hills or because of an ordinance? And speaking of ordinances, there is a no-honking one here that seems to help at the intersections. When vehicles can't honk to try to scare pedestrians out of the way, they seem to tend to go through more cautiously.

My hotel is in a better location than I expected it to be. The map at their website is deceptive, making it seem closer to the "tip" of Chongqing where the two rivers come together than it really is. That caused me a bit of a problem yesterday when I was trying to find it. But it has turned into an advantage. It is really near the line between the dock area (where the map made it seem to be) and the Central Business District. I can easily walk from the hotel to the center of town in about 10 minutes. Just a block away, I have found a cyber cafe. And just around the corner is a Carrefour store with everything I might need to buy. By being closer to the CBD instead of at the "tip" of the peninsula, it means also that I don't have to walk uphill to go anywhere; I'm already just about at the top of the hill.

Speaking of Carrefour, they must do business in more countries than any other retailer in the world (unless it is McDonalds or KFC). They seem to be on every continent (except for Antartica, I guess).

And speaking of KFC, I ate there last night. The only eating places I could find near my hotel seemed a bit dirty due to serving people living or working near the docks. Downtown just doesn't have restaurants other than ones in hotels and in food courts within shopping malls or department stores. (Food courts are hard to use here unless you speak Chinese, because you must decide what you want, find out the price, go to a central area to buy a ticket to cover the cost, then go back to the outlet to order your food.) I got so hungry looking for a place that I stopped at a street stand that had some good looking buns--toasted cruncy on the bottom with sesame seeds and cooked, but not browned, otherwise. I bought one and ate it while walking. It was fantastic! It tasted like a slightly sweet yeast roll. By the time I finished it, I wasn't very hungry and I was frustrated with trying to find a place. I had seen KFC, so I went back to there. I ordered a sandwich that looked like it was designed for the Chinese market, and it was. The chicken was not battered. It was cooked with some kind of sauce that was spicy and tasty. There was mayonnaise and slices of pepper also. It came with a small cup of vegetable salad (mosly corn) in mayonnaise and an unbelivably sweet drink of some kind. Guess I messed up the diet with that. But it was a nice change.

Saturday, June 28, 2008--Chongqing

The buffet breakfast had a better selection than the breakfasts I have been having. There were many Chinese offerings. I choose fried noodles, fried rice, a steamed green vegetable, boiled egg, steamed dumplings, watermelon, canteloupe, bread with butter and marmalade, and coffee. It will filling. My only complaint is that the sterno fires weren't really high enough to keep the food in the covered dishes warm enough.

I took the light rail line to the Three Gorges Museum today. Fortunately, the museum has far more than exhibits about the Three Gorges. There are rooms with old photos of Chongqing, caligraphy, art, ethnograpic displays, etc. I spent over 2 hours there enjoying myself.

As I sat in the park in front of the museum writing in my journal, I attracted the usual attention due to being lefthanded and writing in western script. Everyone crowded around and watched and commented. Then one of the guys wanted a photo with me before leaving. That's typical in places like China.

While sitting in the park, I also devised an idea that I have had in my head for a while. I remember thinking about it in South America, and that was at least 2-3 years ago. It's something I want to propose to an educational foundation as a way of improving education, assisting institutions throughout the world, and improving the experiences of tourists. When I get home, I will contact a couple of international education foundations to see if they have a specific form for submiting proposals. I am not interested in working again. But I would be willing to be on a supervisory board or to be an occasional consultant if a foundation wanted to pursue the idea.

Various topics related to China:

1. In the north, I noticed that every time I wore my shorts people would stare at my legs. I finally figured out that it was probably because men in the north of China tend NOT to have any hair on the legs. Now that I am in the south, most men seem to have at least some hair, and I don't notice as many people staring downward when they approach me.

2. There are public toilets everywhere in China. They are free, but there is an attendant who keeps them clean and sells packets of tissue paper for people who need them. There are so many of them because the local districts grew up without sewage lines and, therefore, without private toilets. The cities have built these public toilets to serve the neighborhoods. It makes it easy to find a toilet whenever one is needed. The major streets have signs with both English and Chinese lettering indicating alleys to take to get to them. I have surprised the local men when entering one. They don't expect westerners. And part of the reason they notice is that there are no doors on the stalls. Going to the toilet here is a very communal experience!

3. There are still lackeys here in Chongqing around the port area which is built on a steep hill. They walk around carrying a long piece of bamboo and a couple of ropes. Anyone with any load to bear can hire them. They will put the ropes around the load and put the board over their shoulders and head up or down the hill. The streets are too narrow and too steep in this area to make the use of vehicles convenient, so I guess there will be men doing lackey work here for years to come.