Entries tagged with “chongqing ciqikou sichuan three rivers gorge dam” from LINDY-LOO'S LIFE
After a full day of EmeiShan hiking - an increase in 2000m of altitude and a land distance of at least 10km - I bid farewell to my new friends and headed off the next morning to Chongqing.
On the bus ride there, the garbage got full and so the bus driver slowed slightly along the highway and a passenger dumped the garbage onto the side of the road. Now, I have a adjusted to a lot of cultural differences here in China, but I will never get used to the blatant ignorance and disregard for the environment. Where does he think that garbage goes? And what's more, if they're just going to throw it onto the side of the road, my dilemma is: at this point should I just throw my garbage out the window myself rather than bring it to the garbage can? Obviously I could never do this. I would feel awful. I might as well drop kick a puppy. But still, I am baffled by this every single time it happens.
However, then I got to thinking about North America and the movie "Anchorman", which is based in the 70's and the characters just throw their garbage all over a park in San Diego. And as usual, I reminded myself that North America is not that much further ahead than here. I mean, it was really still only 60 years ago where there was slavery in the US. I need not say that is more inhumane than throwing garbage. I know in China these habits will change quickly. In fact, plastic bags here are already abolished and trendsetting young women are carrying around "I am not a plastic Bag" purses everywhere they go. Albeit they normally say "Imanot a plsitac bag" or something equally hilarious due to the Chenglish and lack of quality control. It is still the thought that counts.
Up to this point of my National Day Holiday, the trip had been much less fun and impressive than I had anticipated. I was a little lonely, and disappointed. I had not planned on spending any time in Chongqing; it was merely a stopover on the way to the three rivers gorges and their main dam. But, when I arrived to my hostel, nestled in CiQiKou, the ancient town of this massive city, I was wide eyed, bushy-tialed and instantly changed my plans.
This is the street my hostel was on, which got nuts at night with locals making candy.
In the day, artists write out their calligraphy down the old alleys.
And this was the view from my window. The incredible Yantze River. The hostel was also cool because I was the only foreigner. It was mostly full of Chinese college students traveling around and I had to get in on a bit of their opinions and of course some fun Chinese lessons.
Chongqing vibrates with energy. And it reminded me of how we imagine the world to be in the future. People really do drive in the air. I took this picture from the back of a motorbike taxi.
Chongqing is a main port city on the Yantze, thus there is constant traffic of people, goods, and culture in and out.
I would not be doing the city justice if I failed to mention it's claim to fame: The biggest city in China.
With the same population as Canada, it also appears to contain the same amount of infrastructure, pollution, industry and economic flux.
For my first full day in Chongqing, I woke up to rain. However, it was not a surprise as the lonely planet guide said that Chongqing has 2 seasons: foggy and rainy. SO I had already planned the day accordingly. I hopped out of the bus in the downtown core and bought a $1.50 umbrella from a hawker. Then I proceed to an Ahrat temple, where I lit some candles and incense, and prayed for consciousness, gratitude and love.
This temple had all that I was expecting (but didn't find) at LeShan and EmeiShan. There was a spiritual presence and calmness in the air that just washed over you as you walked though the doors; allowing you to slough off the busy street you just left, and all the worries the real world crates.
After the Arhat temple I proceeded to walk through the city centre, and of course stopped for a coffee at one of the 4 starbucks in the middle. Then I went to the Three Rivers Gorges Dam Museum. I'm a museum girl, but not normally when I travel. It has to be a rainy day and I usually have to be alone. Although this museum was fairly commercial, the wing dedicated to the Three Rivers Gorge Dam construction was unbelievable.
By the early afternoon I was getting blisters so I took a taxi to Mao Zedong's ( and other Communist Party members) old "house". And lets just say I didn't take any pics there for personal safety reasons.
My flight didn't leave until the afternoon on my last day of adventure, so I figured I would spend the morning checking out a very unadvertised area two hours West of Chongqing called Dazu. I bargained with a motor cycle taxi at the bus station, who turned into a great guide, and we drove about 10km, out along a beautiful winding road through rice paddies, which finally ended on the top of a sacred mountain.
As I said, this place is sparsely written about. However, I did find this on the UNESCO website, describing it along with their justification for deeming it a heritage site:
"The steep hillsides of the Dazu area contain an exceptional series of rock carvings dating from the 9th to the 13th century. They are remarkable for their aesthetic quality, their rich diversity of subject matter, both secular and religious, and the light that they shed on everyday life in China during this period. They provide outstanding evidence of the harmonious synthesis of Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism."
P.S. I had my first real date with a ChInese guy last night. I have butterflies in my stomach just writing that! Ha ha. He is shorter than me and so cute! It was so fun and a really interesting experience. We went to dinner and then I got completely side tracked in an arcade with some of the most amazing video games I've ever seen. We played in the arcade for 4 hours and he beat me at everything (motorbike racing, drumming, dance dance revolution, air hokey...every corner I turned I was like "whoa! lets go play that!") but I was actually really trying to win! He went with the flow and just kept laughing at my crazy mood swings of being extremely excited about playing a new game and then mad that I lost. I think chivalry is non existent in China. But really it is just between strangers. He opened the door for me everywhere we went; pulled out my chair; ordered for us; paid for everything; grabbed my elbow and yanked me out of traffic a few times; moved me over to walk on the building side of the road so he was closer to traffic; ran down a taxi in the rain for us; then took the taxi to my house with me to make sure I got home safe and then immediately took the taxi all the way back across town home. It was the way men should act on dates but North American men have completely forgotten that or something. Then, this morning he sent me a little text message saying good morning in Chinese (早上好！） and then I got an email this afternoon， just saying hey （吃了吗？）. These are the sort of thing that aren't difficult to do but they just make my day knowing someone is thinking of me.
I could get used to this!
On the bus ride there, the garbage got full and so the bus driver slowed slightly along the highway and a passenger dumped the garbage onto the side of the road. Now, I have a adjusted to a lot of cultural differences here in China, but I will never get used to the blatant ignorance and disregard for the environment. Where does he think that garbage goes? And what's more, if they're just going to throw it onto the side of the road, my dilemma is: at this point should I just throw my garbage out the window myself rather than bring it to the garbage can? Obviously I could never do this. I would feel awful. I might as well drop kick a puppy. But still, I am baffled by this every single time it happens.
However, then I got to thinking about North America and the movie "Anchorman", which is based in the 70's and the characters just throw their garbage all over a park in San Diego. And as usual, I reminded myself that North America is not that much further ahead than here. I mean, it was really still only 60 years ago where there was slavery in the US. I need not say that is more inhumane than throwing garbage. I know in China these habits will change quickly. In fact, plastic bags here are already abolished and trendsetting young women are carrying around "I am not a plastic Bag" purses everywhere they go. Albeit they normally say "Imanot a plsitac bag" or something equally hilarious due to the Chenglish and lack of quality control. It is still the thought that counts.
Up to this point of my National Day Holiday, the trip had been much less fun and impressive than I had anticipated. I was a little lonely, and disappointed. I had not planned on spending any time in Chongqing; it was merely a stopover on the way to the three rivers gorges and their main dam. But, when I arrived to my hostel, nestled in CiQiKou, the ancient town of this massive city, I was wide eyed, bushy-tialed and instantly changed my plans.
This is the street my hostel was on, which got nuts at night with locals making candy.
In the day, artists write out their calligraphy down the old alleys.And this was the view from my window. The incredible Yantze River. The hostel was also cool because I was the only foreigner. It was mostly full of Chinese college students traveling around and I had to get in on a bit of their opinions and of course some fun Chinese lessons.
Chongqing vibrates with energy. And it reminded me of how we imagine the world to be in the future. People really do drive in the air. I took this picture from the back of a motorbike taxi.Chongqing is a main port city on the Yantze, thus there is constant traffic of people, goods, and culture in and out.
I would not be doing the city justice if I failed to mention it's claim to fame: The biggest city in China.
With the same population as Canada, it also appears to contain the same amount of infrastructure, pollution, industry and economic flux.
For my first full day in Chongqing, I woke up to rain. However, it was not a surprise as the lonely planet guide said that Chongqing has 2 seasons: foggy and rainy. SO I had already planned the day accordingly. I hopped out of the bus in the downtown core and bought a $1.50 umbrella from a hawker. Then I proceed to an Ahrat temple, where I lit some candles and incense, and prayed for consciousness, gratitude and love.
This temple had all that I was expecting (but didn't find) at LeShan and EmeiShan. There was a spiritual presence and calmness in the air that just washed over you as you walked though the doors; allowing you to slough off the busy street you just left, and all the worries the real world crates.
After the Arhat temple I proceeded to walk through the city centre, and of course stopped for a coffee at one of the 4 starbucks in the middle. Then I went to the Three Rivers Gorges Dam Museum. I'm a museum girl, but not normally when I travel. It has to be a rainy day and I usually have to be alone. Although this museum was fairly commercial, the wing dedicated to the Three Rivers Gorge Dam construction was unbelievable.
By the early afternoon I was getting blisters so I took a taxi to Mao Zedong's ( and other Communist Party members) old "house". And lets just say I didn't take any pics there for personal safety reasons.
My flight didn't leave until the afternoon on my last day of adventure, so I figured I would spend the morning checking out a very unadvertised area two hours West of Chongqing called Dazu. I bargained with a motor cycle taxi at the bus station, who turned into a great guide, and we drove about 10km, out along a beautiful winding road through rice paddies, which finally ended on the top of a sacred mountain.
As I said, this place is sparsely written about. However, I did find this on the UNESCO website, describing it along with their justification for deeming it a heritage site:"The steep hillsides of the Dazu area contain an exceptional series of rock carvings dating from the 9th to the 13th century. They are remarkable for their aesthetic quality, their rich diversity of subject matter, both secular and religious, and the light that they shed on everyday life in China during this period. They provide outstanding evidence of the harmonious synthesis of Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism."
Criterion (i): The Dazu carvings represent the pinnacle of Chinese rock art for their high aesthetic quality and their diversity of style and subject matter.
Criterion (ii): Tantric Buddhism from India and the Chinese Taoist and Confucian beliefs came together at Dazu to create a highly original and influential manifestation of spiritual harmony.
Criterion (iii): The eclectic nature of religious belief in later Imperial China is given material expression in the exceptional artistic heritage of the Dazu rock art.
P.S. I had my first real date with a ChInese guy last night. I have butterflies in my stomach just writing that! Ha ha. He is shorter than me and so cute! It was so fun and a really interesting experience. We went to dinner and then I got completely side tracked in an arcade with some of the most amazing video games I've ever seen. We played in the arcade for 4 hours and he beat me at everything (motorbike racing, drumming, dance dance revolution, air hokey...every corner I turned I was like "whoa! lets go play that!") but I was actually really trying to win! He went with the flow and just kept laughing at my crazy mood swings of being extremely excited about playing a new game and then mad that I lost. I think chivalry is non existent in China. But really it is just between strangers. He opened the door for me everywhere we went; pulled out my chair; ordered for us; paid for everything; grabbed my elbow and yanked me out of traffic a few times; moved me over to walk on the building side of the road so he was closer to traffic; ran down a taxi in the rain for us; then took the taxi to my house with me to make sure I got home safe and then immediately took the taxi all the way back across town home. It was the way men should act on dates but North American men have completely forgotten that or something. Then, this morning he sent me a little text message saying good morning in Chinese (早上好！） and then I got an email this afternoon， just saying hey （吃了吗？）. These are the sort of thing that aren't difficult to do but they just make my day knowing someone is thinking of me.
I could get used to this!
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