Chongqing, Can You Swap the Title 'Magic City' with Shanghai?
When you think of Chongqing, the first keywords that come to mind are likely magical, 8D, hotpot, and getting lost.
Indeed, this unique city is like a pot of yuanyang hotpot itself, with a bloodline of mixing and jumping out.
The confluence of the two rivers is like two kinds of soup base, the several main urban areas with distinct styles and unique attractions are like signature ingredients.
Each ingredient has its own exclusive flavor, such as the light rail, the Yangtze River Cableway, Ciqikou Ancient Town, Hongya Cave, and so on.
I had always longed for Chongqing but never made the trip. This time, an opportunity suddenly came, sponsored by the big daddy SAIC Maxus, providing a car, money, and an itinerary to treat us to a trip to Chongqing. Of course, we packed up and left without hesitation! I would like to solemnly thank the big daddy! And I also want to sincerely say that the G50 sponsored by Maxus this time was really very useful. It is definitely an excellent choice for commuting and traveling, especially for families with two kids!
We'll talk about our experience with the G50 later. First, let's talk about this city.
Chongqing, abbreviated as "Yu," also known as "Mountain City" and "Fog City," is one of China's four direct-controlled municipalities. In the Paleolithic Age 2 million years ago, the earliest humans in China, the "Wushan Man," lived here. In the Xia and Shang dynasties, it was called Baipu Land, rich in rock salt. Since salt was an important hard currency in ancient times, it quickly developed and formed the Ba Kingdom civilization. Since then, Chongqing has been one of the most important cities in the southwestern region for thousands of years.
Until the full outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japan in 1937, the government of the Republic of China moved its capital to Chongqing, making it the wartime capital. Subsequently, a large number of industrial enterprises moved in, and Chongqing became a heavy industrial city dominated by military industry. During the war, as the great rear area, it took on the role of military, economic, and cultural center, serving as the Far East command center of the World Anti-Fascist War. Countless heroic and tragic stories of the war emerged. Of course, during the Chinese Civil War, it also became the main battlefield where the Military Statistics Bureau persecuted our party's martyrs, but that's a later story.
Since the founding of New China, Chongqing has developed rapidly, undergoing three establishments and cancellations before finally becoming one of the four municipalities.
This magical city has a strong sense of the jianghu. It has down-to-earth worldly烟火 and modern skyscrapers. It changes with each passing day and develops rapidly. After arriving, we drove to the city center. The first time we drove through the streets and alleys, it felt like a futuristic three-dimensional city scene in some sci-fi movies. The closer to the ground, the older it gets. The mottled traces of time on old houses are covered by dense ivy. On the uneven roads, old-fashioned red three-wheeled motorcycles run alongside motor vehicles. On the roadside, you can often see "bangbang" (porters) pushing trolleys or carrying shoulder poles struggling to walk, giving a feeling of traveling back decades. But if you look up, above this mundane world stand countless high-rise buildings of various shapes, full of imagination. Look up again, and a low-flying plane passes through the sky overhead, like a vehicle in the future world traveling through the air highway.
The main reason for this urban layout and landscape is that Chongqing is a mountain city. The whole city is built along the banks of two rivers and among the mountains. With the passage of time and population increase, buildings gradually spread from the foot to the top of the mountain. It's not easy to open up a flat space among the mountains, so whenever there is a piece of flat land, Chongqing people will magically build the building as high as possible, the higher the better. Improve utilization rate and ask for space from the sky. Over time, today's 8D pattern has formed. Often you are in the elevator on the first floor and press the button for the tenth or twentieth floor. When you open the door and walk out, you find that you are still on the ground. It makes you constantly doubt your sense of space. So, when taking the elevator in Chongqing, you must pay attention to one detail. Many elevator floor markings have "Ping Street Floor" written on them. The meaning of Ping Street Floor is that you can go to the ground from this floor. But many times, there will be two or even three Ping Street Floors, so it's no wonder you get dizzy.
On the first day of arrival, we drove around the city for a long time. Although two people with four ears listened to the navigation of the "Zebra System" and didn't get lost, it was still nerve-wracking. The voice navigation often couldn't keep up with the changes in intersections. Sometimes all lanes would be left turn or right turn. The navigation tells you to turn left, but you're just driving along the road. After circling around, we finally slowly adapted. So we first went to see the world-famous "Light Rail Through Building" at Liziba Light Rail Station.
Rail transit plays an extremely important role in Chongqing's public transportation system. Rail transit has existed since 1946. Nowadays, Chongqing's light rail network extends in all directions, and it can even be said to appear and disappear mysteriously. Suddenly a light rail train whizzes overhead while driving. Moreover, Chongqing's light rail is all monorail, with wheels close to the track horizontally. Thus, looking up from below at the bottom of the train, the whole train looks like a cute big bug. Big bugs shuttle through the city, full of cuteness.
After watching the light rail through the building at Liziba Station, it was already past 18:00. According to our understanding of evening in East China, we quickly set off for Hongya Cave, afraid that if we arrived too late and it got dark, we wouldn't be able to capture the process of the lights turning on. However, we were wrong. It gets dark relatively late in Chongqing, and we only really felt the dusk sunset around 19:45.
Hongya Cave, originally named Hongyamen, is one of the ancient city gates of Chongqing. Nowadays, the ancient city gate has been damaged and disappeared. Later generations built this unique landscape project along the mountain here. The entire design concept comes from the traditional Bayu stilted buildings, overlapping and interweaving. This forms an aerial three-dimensional pedestrian street, connecting Jiefangbei to the riverbank. It looks very much like the scene from Hayao Miyazaki's animated film "Spirited Away." Standing by the river, there is a feeling of confusion between illusion and reality. Inside Hongya Cave, there are many food and snack shops, divided into food street, exotic street, Bayu custom street, and dynamic bar street. There is also natural landscape area like Hongya Dicui. It really feels like making a big deal out of a small space, containing a universe within. Both the 1st floor and the 11th floor lead to the street, vividly showcasing the characteristics of the mountain city to tourists.
We walked inside for a long time. There were still quite a few tourists. However, adhering to the weight loss creed of "no eating too much at night, losing weight is a lifelong career," we looked at the dazzling array of snacks but dared not taste them one by one (in fact, isn't it because we're afraid of spicy? If they were all not spicy, we would have eaten at every shop already). We had some ice jelly, and it was still spicy! That's so Chongqing! By the way, I must recommend Xianglong Claws. Their chicken feet and duck tongues are really delicious! They have many chain stores in Chengdu and Chongqing. You must try them.
After visiting Hongya Cave, we went to the 11th floor, or rather the 1st floor. Anyway, it's the ground above, not the ground below! Then we went to take the Yangtze River Cableway. The Yangtze River Cableway used to be mainly for practical functions. In the past, there were few bridges across the river, and the cableway was one of the main means of transportation for residents commuting between the banks. Nowadays, bridge traffic is very convenient, and the Yangtze River Cableway has become a scenic spot for tourists to enjoy the river view, gradually withdrawing from the actual transportation system.
Many movies related to Chongqing start with the Yangtze River Cableway (or Jialing River Cableway, but the Jialing River Cableway is currently out of service for reconstruction). Finally, I got to ride it, and I was very excited. Since we arrived late, there were not many tourists, and we boarded the cabin without queuing. The moment the cableway started, I was a little nervous, but then I was stunned by the beautiful scenery of the two banks and the river surface, throwing that trace of fear behind. The total length of the cableway is 1.2 kilometers, and a single trip takes only about 4 minutes. Before I had seen enough, we had already arrived at the opposite bank. With lingering interest, I silently took out my phone and wrote in a memo: "I suggest that if you come to Chongqing, you must take the Yangtze River Cableway no matter what."
After getting off the cableway on the south bank, we could conveniently go to the "Nanshan Yike Shu" (One Tree) scenic area. The name "Nanshan Yike Shu" sounds quite funny, reminding me of the movie "The Vigilantes in the Shadows." After arriving, we were still laughing at this joke until we climbed the steps and arrived at the official viewing platform, looking into the distance on the opposite bank. Then we were conquered by this incomparably stunning night view and no longer dared to mock this somewhat cute name. We were immersed in this night view.
From the viewing platform of Nanshan Yike Shu, you can overlook the night view of the bustling area of Yuzhong District. Looking into the distance, the uneven distribution of the city becomes more obvious. Scenes from sci-fi movies involuntarily surfaced in my mind again. Chongqing is really amazing. Change the angle and it shocks you; change the angle again and it shocks you again. It shocks and conquers you all day long. After gazing for a long time, I couldn't help but sigh. The night view here is really much better than Victoria Harbor. In the future, don't go to Hong Kong to see the night view. Come to Chongqing, 8D night view, guaranteed to satisfy you.
The itinerary of the first day ended after the lights were turned off at Yike Shu scenic area. On the way back to the hotel, I kept thinking about a question. Why is Chongqing, so magical, not called the Magic City? Our Shanghai, so flat and honest, why is it called the Magic City? Please, you two, swap your nicknames! Chongqing is really suitable for this title. The word "magical" is truly yours.
On the second day, we got up early and gave up the breakfast provided by the hotel. We thought, since we came to Chongqing, we should have an authentic Chongqing breakfast. Full of ambition, we set off in our G50 to find a local breakfast shop in the streets. We found an unknown street lined with snack shops where the diners seemed to be locals. We happily parked the car and went to look, but we found a problem. All the small noodles, spicy wontons, etc., were so spicy that we dared not eat them. In the end, we had to choose a bowl of chicken soup wontons, admitting defeat! But the chicken soup wontons were also very delicious.
After breakfast, we headed to the first stop of the day, Ciqikou Ancient Town, to experience the most authentic Chongqing customs and culture of this thousand-year-old town. Ciqikou is about 15 kilometers from the city center, and most of the route is along the riverbank. There was basically no traffic congestion on the road, but parking after arrival became a problem because I really couldn't understand the parking lot signs. I circled around twice according to the signs but still couldn't find the entrance to the parking lot. It said turn left, but there was only a straight road! So difficult!
Here's a tip: For self-driving tourists, you can choose not to follow the parking lot signs of the scenic area. Across the street from the main entrance archway of Ciqikou, about 80 meters to the right, there is a parking lot entrance between two buildings. It is open to tourists. The parking fee is only 8 yuan. After parking, it takes only about five or six minutes to walk to the entrance of the scenic area. Very convenient.
Parking lot location map
Ciqikou Ancient Town, originally named Longyin Town, was built in the Song Dynasty. It has a unique landform of "one river, two streams, three mountains, four streets," forming a natural good port and an important land and water dock on the Jialing River. The ancient town is rich in diverse cultures, including Bayu culture, religious culture, Shaci culture, Hongyan culture, and folk culture. A stone-paved road, thousand-year-old Ciqikou, is a microcosm and symbol of the ancient Chongqing city, praised as "Little Chongqing."
Ciqikou Ancient Town has developed traditional performance projects such as oil pressing, silk reeling, sugar making, dough figurine molding, and Sichuan opera, as well as various traditional snacks and tea houses. The most characteristic traditional event is the Ciqikou Temple Fair held every Spring Festival, attracting tens of thousands of citizens to participate.
Walking on the bluestone-paved road of the ancient town felt like stepping through a thousand years of history, entering that old time. Dense shops lined up one after another, with a dazzling array of foods that made our eyes blur. The hotpot base being fried in hot oil directly drilled into our noses. The air was filled with a strong hotpot smell, and it was so fragrant! The young man selling sour and spicy noodles demonstrated the making process while inviting everyone to taste in the store. The master making glutinous rice cakes called me to give it a try. Oh my god, the wooden pestle for making glutinous rice cakes was so heavy! After two or three pounds, I couldn't lift it anymore. I really admire them for being able to use it easily and still make delicious glutinous rice cakes. Did chili give them strength?
There were so many delicious foods on the ancient street. As we walked, we were constantly tempted by the aroma. We tried any non-spicy food we saw. Although non-spicy ones were really rare.
We kept walking and eating. Although Ciqikou didn't seem big, it still took us about 3 hours to finish the entire circuit. By the way, there is a theater called Zhuan Yun Lou in the ancient town. Many people who get tired walking stop here to drink tea, rest, and watch a show. You can plan like this too. After all, it's really rare to be able to see traditional theatrical performances nowadays.
Overall, Ciqikou Ancient Town is not very different from most ancient town scenic spots in China. Shops solicit customers along the street, playing deafening music, and warmly offering you free samples to the point of slight embarrassment. The repetition of goods is also quite high. However, for some reason, these business practices that would be annoying in Jiangnan ancient towns somehow had a more jianghu atmosphere in this mountain city, with a sense of fitting in. Everything happening in this enthusiastic mountain city didn't seem so incongruous.
After visiting Ciqikou, we had a simple meal at a certain branded fast food (we dared not eat anything spicy other than that) and then headed to Zhazi Cave.
Zhazi Cave is located at the foot of Geleshan Mountain in Chongqing, 2.5 kilometers away from Baigongguan. It is only about 3 kilometers away from Ciqikou Ancient Town. I suggest you arrange to visit them in the morning and afternoon of the same day, just like we did. Zhazi Cave was originally a small coal mine on the outskirts of Chongqing, named because of more slag and less coal. Zhazi Cave is surrounded by mountains on three sides and a ditch on one side, making it relatively hidden. In 1939, the Kuomintang military secret agents forced the mine owner to death, took over the coal mine, and established a prison here. It is divided into inner and outer courtyards. The outer courtyard contains secret agent offices, interrogation rooms, etc. The inner courtyard has 16 rooms on the first and second floors for male prisoners, and two bungalows for female prisoners.
Those imprisoned here included victims of the "June 1" mass arrest case, the "Xiaomin'ge" case, the "Jinjin Bao" case, and revolutionaries captured after the three failed armed uprisings in eastern and western Sichuan, such as Jiang Zhuyun (Sister Jiang), Xu Jianye, He Xuesong, etc. At its peak, there were over 300 people. The place also housed "Little Turnip Head" and his family. On November 27, 1949, before fleeing, the Kuomintang agents orchestrated a shocking massacre, with only 15 people escaping.
On the way to Zhazi Cave, our mood gradually became heavy and solemn. We chatted and sighed, feeling the sacrifices of the martyrs who exchanged their lives for our happy life today and for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Our emotions surged.
Visiting Zhazi Cave is free, but you need to make a reservation on the official website one day in advance. After arriving, you can enter with the reservation QR code or ID card. During the epidemic prevention and control period, you also need to apply for a Yu Health Code, and only green codes are allowed to enter.
Growing up listening to stories from "Red Crag," we were greatly impacted when we entered Zhazi Cave and saw the familiar names on the doors of the prison cells. Originally, the texts and stories seemed so far away from us. Now these scenes were right before our eyes, allowing us to deeply understand how difficult it was for the martyrs who were imprisoned here to survive. Looking at the interrogation room filled with unimaginable torture instruments, I felt like crying. It was so shocking and inhumane. The martyrs were so great.
The area of Zhazi Cave is not large, just a three-courtyard compound. We finished the visit quickly, but until we sat in the car, neither of us spoke or chatted. We were strongly impacted psychologically. Once again, we thanked the martyrs for their sacrifices in exchange for our happy life.
For self-driving tourists going to Zhazi Cave, after arriving at the entrance according to the navigation, there is a parking lot exit on the right side, which is actually used for both entry and exit. If you park close to the exit, a staff member will come and ask if you have made a reservation. Show them the reservation QR code, and they will help you open the barrier to let you into the parking lot. If you haven't made a reservation, you cannot park there.
After finishing the day's tour, tired and deeply shocked, we first returned to the hotel to rest for a while. You could say that the driver only rested after arriving at the hotel, while the passenger, relying on the comfortable large space of the G50, had already taken a comfortable nap in the car on the way back.
Originally, after coming back from Zhazi Cave, we had arranged to visit Chaotianmen Pier, but after arriving, we found that Chaotianmen Pier was currently suspended. We had to go down to the riverbank to shoot some video footage and then left, somewhat regretfully.
After resting, we plucked up our courage! We mustered up the guts to eat a Chongqing hotpot. Coming to Chongqing without having hotpot is absolutely inexcusable. We found a hotpot restaurant nearby called "Sister Pei." Anyway, it is said that no matter where you eat hotpot in Chongqing, you won't make a bad choice.
This hotpot meal was really exciting and thrilling, mainly because it was spicy. But I have to say, it was really delicious. Especially the duck blood, fresh duck blood put in. When it came out, it was still very smooth and tender, refreshing and delicious. It's hard to find such delicious duck blood when eating hotpot in inland cities.
Also, I must mention the crispy pork. It was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, with a mix of numb and fragrant flavors. It was delicious whether eaten directly or blanched in the pot.
Waiting for the beef tallow to melt and give off waves of chili fragrance, the bubbling red-hot pot boiled. Picking up a slice, counting up and down seven or eight times, dipping it in the oil dish mixed with sesame oil, minced garlic, oyster sauce, chopped green onions, and coriander, the moment the crispy duck intestines and tripe entered the mouth was truly appetizing and irresistible. Then let the ingredients take turns entering the pot like a race: tripe, duck intestines, pork kidney slices, brains, duck gizzards, and the special "8-second potato slices." They completely conquered our taste buds, and of course, they also completely conquered us with the spiciness. But it was worth the spiciness. Not eating such delicious food would be a waste of a trip to Chongqing.
Now it was the last day of this trip. Originally, we planned to go to Wulong Scenic Area today. However, considering the long distance, the round trip would take 5-6 hours, and we had to return our Big White, oh, the G50, in the afternoon. Ah, we had already given it a nickname after a few days and deeply fallen in love with it. So, we gave up the idea of going to Wulong. But since it was rare to come to Chongqing, we couldn't just rest at the hotel. So we decided to go to Sichuan Fine Arts Institute's Huangjueping campus to see the graffiti buildings, and then go to Jinyun Mountain, which is closer to the city center, to enjoy natural scenery.
Sichuan Fine Arts Institute has two campuses: Huangjueping and Huxi. The famous Graffiti Street is located at the Huangjueping campus. The buildings on both sides of the street are covered with paintings, very distinctive, and it is a place where many literary youths come to check in. The campus also houses the Chongqing Contemporary Art Museum, which is said to have interesting art exhibitions. But due to the epidemic, the campus is temporarily not open for visits.
We parked the G50 in the parking lot at the school gate and walked to visit the nearby Graffiti Art Street. Graffiti Art Street starts at Huangjueping Railway Hospital and ends at 501 Art Warehouse, with a total length of 1.25 kilometers and a total area of about 50,000 square meters. It is currently the largest group of graffiti art works in China and even in the world. The entire graffiti project involved more than 800 workers, students, and artists, using 12,500 kilograms of various paints and nearly 30,000 various brushes and paint rollers. After 150 days of meticulous creation, a total of 37 buildings were painted. It completely changed the previously shabby urban appearance nearby, creating a good environment for the development of cultural and creative industries centered on the Fine Arts Institute.
The distance to Jinyun Mountain was about 45 kilometers, including city roads, highways, and mountain winding roads. This allowed us to conduct a full-road test drive of the G50. Since we're on this topic, let's talk about the overall experience with this G50 1.5T automatic version over the past few days.
First, the appearance. It is said that the average age of the G50 design team is only 30 years old. So the overall appearance design of the vehicle is young and energetic, unlike the old-fashioned and steady faces of some traditional MPVs. The G50 adopts a more lively big-mouth design, which from a distance looks like it is smiling at you. Looking at it makes your mood much better. In this world that judges by appearance, cars are no exception.
The interior is also similar, adopting a sedan-style design. The center console design is close to that of the D90, highlighting family genes. But it looks brighter and simpler, and the entire dashboard has a sense of enclosure. It appears more technological and cutting-edge, while also having a more homely atmosphere of an MPV. In addition, it has color-changing ambient lights that can be set on the large screen. The instrument panel also has two display styles to switch between, a sporty style with red light and a comfortable style with blue light. Very youthful.
And also, the finishing touch is the Zebra System. As a user of another brand's Zebra System, I want to give a shout-out to Zebra! Voice control is really too convenient. Once you get used to it, it frees your right hand and frees your scarce attention while driving.
As for space, I'll describe it in one word: "unimaginably big." It can fit so much! The two of us had one 28-inch and one 22-inch suitcase, plus two backpacks and a long tripod bag. It swallowed them all effortlessly.
As for driving experience and power, to be honest, my expectations were not high at first. But after I got the car and drove on the road, my doubts were quickly dispelled. Except for a slight hesitation when starting, the acceleration performance in other areas was quite good. The torque seemed to be on call. The 7-speed dual-clutch transmission didn't just focus on upshifting; the revs were kept reasonable, so even without deliberately stepping on the gas deeply, the acceleration feedback was good. However, when encountering uphill mountain roads, the transmission's downshifting was a bit too hesitant, reducing confidence on mountain roads. The overall suspension tuning is on the soft side, combined with the large body and high profile, making it feel a bit floaty at speeds of 120 km/h, especially noticeable when changing lanes. Reducing to around 100 km/h alleviates this problem. But as a comfort-oriented MPV, the softer tuning brings reassuring ride comfort, making long-distance driving and riding feel very good.
All the way to Jinyun Mountain in Chongqing, renowned for its beautiful scenery "Jinyun Clouds and Rosy Clouds," located on the bank of the Wen Tang Gorge of the Jialing River in Beibei District. It is an excellent place for watching sunrises, viewing seas of clouds, escaping summer heat, enjoying winter fog, and viewing the natural landscape of evergreen broad-leaved forests. Jinyun Mountain was called "Ba Mountain" in ancient times, recorded as early as in the "Yellow Emperor's Inner Classic." Jinyun Mountain, because of the year-round clouds and mist that surround the mountain, colored red like rosy clouds, seeming like mist but not smoke, heavy and thick, coupled with the ancient saying "more red and less white is called jin," hence the name Jinyun Mountain. Later, Li Shangyin wrote a poem: "You ask me when I can return, but I don't know; The night rain on Ba Mountain swells the autumn pond. When we together cut the candle at the west window, I'll tell you how I miss you in the night rain." This made "Night Rain on Ba Mountain" world-famous, and the Ba Mountain in the poem refers to Jinyun Mountain in Beibei.
Jinyun Mountain is a Buddhist holy site with a history of over 1,500 years, together with Qingcheng Mountain and Emei Mountain in Sichuan, known as the "Three Major Religious Mountains in Shu." From north to south, there are nine peaks: Chaori Peak, Xianglu Peak, Lion Peak, Juyun Peak, Yuanxiao Peak, Lianhua Peak, Baota Peak, Yujian Peak, and Xizhao Peak, among which Yujian Peak is the highest at 1,050 meters above sea level. The scenic area has many beautiful natural landscapes such as Foguang Rock, Xiangsi Rock, Sheshen Cliff, Dai Lake, and Baiyun Bamboo Sea. Jinyun Mountain is also rich in human resources, including eight ancient temples such as Jinyun Temple, Wenquan Temple, Baiyun Temple, Shaolong Temple, Fuxing Temple, Shihua Temple, and historical sites like the late Tang stone screen wall, Ming dynasty stone archway, and Song dynasty stone carvings. There are remains of the World Buddhism Academy Sino-Tibetan Institute (1932) and ancient fort sites such as Lion Peak Fort and Qinglong Fort. It is also a Buddhist resort with a history of over 1,500 years, with the former summer office of the Southwest Bureau leadership (He Long's courtyard and Deng Xiaoping's former residence) built in the 1950s. Newly built are Baiyun Temple, Shaolong Temple, and other Taoist cultural parks and attractions. The scenic area holds the Jinyun Mountain Climbing Festival and the "Jinyun Sword Contest" martial arts tournament annually.
When driving to visit Jinyun Mountain, you can park at the entrance to buy tickets, only 12 yuan per person. Self-driving cars can go up to several parking lots on the mountainside, saving a lot of walking distance. Of course, to officially start the visit, you have to hike on foot. There used to be a cable car, but when we went, we saw it had been abandoned. Actually, it's not very far from the parking area to Lion Peak. Along the stone steps, it's about 1.3 kilometers. But because it's uphill all the way and the road is steep, walking is quite strenuous. Of course, when you climb to the Lion Peak observation deck, overlooking the distant cityscape, with the sea of clouds at your feet and the pagoda on Baota Peak standing beside you, all this effort is well worth it.
After bidding farewell to Jinyun Mountain, we drove to the 4S store to return the car. There was no talking on the way, but when we actually handed over the keys, we felt a little reluctant. Big White had been very dedicated over these past few days, performing excellently, allowing us to comfortably and enjoyably tour this mountain city. I'm really grateful to it. Of course, I want to thank the big daddy SAIC Maxus again for giving us this opportunity.
Goodbye, Big White. Goodbye, G50. This trip, falling in love with a city and falling in love with a car—it's been worth it.
