Most days, ChongQing is covered by fog. The city is also called WuDu, the capital of fog.

Ate XiaoMian (3Yuan~USD$0.50) for breakfast, a typical local food.

There are a few museums located around ChaoTianMen bus station, just within walking distance from the YangTze River hostel. Visited the ChongQing famous people museum which is free.

There was a short movie about how the Japanese was trying to bomb the city during the war. Even till today, most people in the city still have an anti Japanese sentiment and there are still many bunkers in the city.

A long painting hanging on the wall

Because there was an Russian artist exhibition, got a promotional ticket for 10 Yuan to get in the ChongQing Urban Planning museum.

The museum is about plans to develop the city. The current mayor of the city is BoXiLai. The guy was also the mayor for Dalian few years back, and the city Dalian also has a similar Urban Planning Museum.

Plan of ChongQing

View ChongQing in a larger map

The average per capita income has been increasing for the past few years. However, the income for rural population is still lagging behind the per capital income for the city population.

The plan of One Circle with 2 Wings. The objective is to use the city (an area of one hour economic circle) to lead the development of the rural area.

The museum was pretty interactive with a lot of videos and multimedia equipments.

Took bus 265 to CiQiKou

which is an old town of ChongQing.

Like most other old towns in China, the town has become touristy with many shops selling souvenirs and food catering to visitors.

There were also a few Indian Roti shop.

Got back to the RenMinDaLiTang.

tried to visit the three Gorges museum but it was already closed. The latest time to enter is 4pm.

Golden mini twin tower

Took bus 338 to YangRenJie which has some structures from other countries.

Everywhere there are constructions going on.

Took bus 321 back to JieFangBei. Food in ChongQing has some similarities with Sichuanese cuisine, except that it’s not that numbing. ChongQing is famous for its hot and spicy HotPot.

Met up with Phoebe whom I met at the hostel in Chengdu for hotpot dinner, together with her friends.

Duck intestines

Pig’s brain

Got on the 9.18am K986 train towards Chongqing (47Yuan~USD$7, 4 hours). There are also express trains (2 hours) that run pretty frequent from Chengdu to Chongqing costing 112 Yuan.

View Larger Map

View on the way

Got to the ChongQing North station at around 1.30pm,

then took bus 141 towards ChaoTianMen which the YangTze River hostel is located just nearby.

Crossing the bridge over the JiaLing river

YangTze River hostel (25Yuan~USD$4)

Chongqing was the Kuomintang wartime capital from 1938 to 1945. The city is one of four municipalities in China, large cities directly under the government control. Chongqing City is intersected by the Jialing River and the Yangtze River. The city is surrounded by mountains. It contains Daba Shan in the north, Wu Shan in the east, Wuling Shan in the southeast, and Dalou Mountain to the south. Chongqing is also famous for its hot and humid weather during summer.

Chongqing is quite different from other cities in China. The landscape is very hilly and streets are windy. Unlike most cities in China with a center point, the city of Chongqing is divided into 4 main districts. The peninsula intersected by the 2 rivers is called YuZhong or JieFangBei district. Then there is JiangBei district north of the peninsula. NanPing district is at the south of JiaLing river. ShaPingBa district s located at the west part of YuZhong district. No matter old or new buildings, most buildings in ChongQing are quite high, above 20 storeys, Guess probably because of its mountainous landscape it’s easier to accommodate the city big population in highrise.

An old highrise

JiefangBei, People’ s Liberation Monument from the Japanese.

This can be considered as the main downtown of Chongqing.

Around JieFangBei is pedestrian mall

It’s quite hilly in Chongqing, stairs used to move around

Took the monorail

to DaLiTang. (Great Hall of the People). The government is pumping a lot of money into Chongqing. Everywhere there are constructions going on. The first monorail line was completed in 2005. 5 more lines are being currently constructed.

Great Hall of the People. Chongqing’s Great Hall of the People (and the People’s Square in front of the Hall) is an architectural symbol of Chongqing City. Its construction began in 1951, but its design is traditional and mirrors those of China’s ancient classical dynasties. It somewhat resembles an enlarged version of the Temple of Heaven in Beijing. The People’s Square was only completed in 1997 and is decorated with trees and flowers.
There are many people dancing at the square every evening.

Night view across the river

A cute kitten, back at the hostel

Beef Noodle, La Mian 7 Yuan~USD$1

Took bus 52 to the new tourist bus station and switch to bus 902

to the Chengdu research base of giant pandas.

The panda breeding center is around 15km away from the city and took around an hour to get there. It cost 59Yuan~USD$7.5 to get in and doesn’t have student discount.

The giant panda is considered one of the most famous endangered animal and the place is home to some 60 giant pandas. The research base is also one of the biggest facility of its kind (100 hectares, expanding to 200 hectares) to research about Panda.

Skeleton of a panda.

Red Panda

I wasn’t able to find Mix hostel yesterday because I didn’t bring the address. Visited Mix hostel which is another popular place for backpackers at around WenShuYuan just for comparison.

People in Chengdu love drinking tea and chilling.

JinLi road.

This neighborhood is part of the old city of Chengdu. It features hotels and small stores in old-fashioned style. All kinds of souvenirs, antiques and food are sold in the many number of stores.

I was planning to take the 9.43pm train to Chongqing. Got to the train station at 9.25pm but the attendant mentioned that it’s too late to get on the train. There are express trains that are slightly more expensive so I decided to get to ChongQing the next morning and spent a night at the internet cafe.

A wedding shoot at KuanZhaiXiang (Wide Narrow Alley)

Tea ceremony

Brunch (Rice with Beef, Sichuan Style, 7 Yuan~USD$1)

Like most other provincial capital in the country, Chengdu is also building subway lines.

6 lines are planned and the first line will be completed end of 2010.

Walked to the SiChuan provincial museum.

Inside the museum

Exhibition about Tibetan history

Banner of the communist about taking down the city Nanjing and catching Chiang Kai Shek.

RenMin Park

Advertisment put up by the older generation about the availability of their sons and daughters

Sichuan university

Fitness center

Walked around WenShuYuan area. This is a Tang Dynasty Buddhist temple.

Lan brought me to Wanda Plaza which is located at the south east part of Chengdu to check out one of the bigger shopping mall here.

China is pretty good at building infrastructures such as highway, tunnels and elevated highway. The road from Yunnan to Chengdu is mountainous so elevated highways/viaducts are built to speed up the journey.

A cute Chinese girl behind me kept pulling my hair during the journey.

Got to Chengdu North bus station at around 2pm after a 25 hours bus ride. Got on bus 54 to Dragon town hostel (45Yuan~USD$7).

Chengdu is the provincial capital of Sichuan province and is famous for its laid back and carefree lifestyle. It’s ranked as one of the most livable place in China with good quality of life. There are many tea houses in the city where the locals can take time off to relax.

Chengdu has a long history. During the 4th century BC, the Kingdom of Shu moved its capital to the city. During the civil war between Kuomintang and the communist party, Chengdu is the last city to be “liberated” and many of the Kuomintang members fled to Taiwan. So there is a number of WaiShengRen in Taiwan are from SiChuan province. The city has the lowest exposure to sunshine among cities in China and most days, it’s cloudy.

The city is the major center in SouthWest China and has a strong economy. It’s established as the base for electronic and IT industry. Intel has a big presence here.

The hostel is located right at KuanZaiXiang, which is

(6 Yuan~USD$1)

There are many motorbikes in Chengdu.

Tian Fu Square. overlooked by an enormous Chairman Mao statue.

ChunXiLu, a pedestrian shopping street.

There is a saying that girls in Sichuan province are the most beautiful. A statue of a cameraman taking photos of some girls shopping at ChunXiLu.

Went to a mall and saw that many overseas goods are quite expensive. For example, this Clark shoe is quite expensive. Many overseas goods in China are taxed at a much higher rate than most countries.

NiuRouLaMian, beef noodles Sichuan style (6 Yuan~USD$1). Sichuan style has a lot of oil and is always spicy.

ChengDu has a few bar street. Went to the one located at JiuYanQiao, around Sichuan University with Phoebe, a hostel mate.

Snow capped mountain over Lijiang town.

Mu Clan association of the Naxi people.

Lijiang old town

Got on the 1pm bus towards Chengdu (297Yuan~USD$45, around 900km).


View Larger Map
There were a few options to Chengdu. Another way is to take a bus to PanZhiHua (7 hours ride), then got on the train to Chengdu (12-13hours). There is also a flight costing 350Yuan which departs on Friday night.

The road from Yunnan to Sichuan passed by many mountains. View on the way

Went to the ShongZhanLing monastery which is a Tibetan temple. The entrance ticket to the monastery cost 85Yuan which is quite steep so decided not to go in. However, I heard that it’s possible to take bus number 3 to get in without getting a ticket.
While waiting, spent time at a souvenir store hanging with the employees. The employees are from different ethnicities such as Zang, Naxi and Bai.

Yak meat for lunch (55Yuan for 4 dishes and 4 people)

Back to the bus station

Got on the 3.40pm bus towards Lijiang (46Yuan~USD$7).

View on the way

Got back to Lijiang at around 7.30pm before sunset.

Shu He old town

LaPaiKu hotpot again for lunch and head to Shangri La with 3 other hostel mates.

Shangri La is around 200km away from Lijiang. Got the 3pm bus (59Yuan~USD$9).

View Larger Map

Shangri La is at a higher elevation, so the bus has to go up a windy and a narrower road. Saw an accident on the way.

Arrived at Shangri La at around 7pm after 4 hours bus ride. Shangri La old name is actually ZhongDian. Shangri La is actually a name synonymous with a beautiful place with peaceful people isolated from the world. The name was made famous in the novel Lost Horizon by a British author and some people think that the place is the closest to the description of Shangri La in the novel. ZhongDian is located at around 3400m above sea levels, with different minorities such as Dai, Zang, Naxi and Bai living here. Shangri La is also used as a metaphor as something special people seek after. The Chinese government hope that ZhongDian will follow the success of Dali and Lijiang as famous tourist spots, and changed the name to Shangri La.

Stayed at Shangri La international hostel (20Yuan~USD$3).

Visited the old town.

Local hotpot for dinner (26Yuan per person~USD$4). ShuYouCha, a kind of Tibetan tea is famous here because there is a big Tibetan population living in this area.

There is a tibetan temple at the old town.

Trying to turn a big Tibetan bell.

Rice with 2 dishes for lunch (17Yuan~USD$2.5)

Took the 12.15pm bus towards Lijiang (40Yuan~USD$6) which is around 180km away.

View Larger Map
Lijiang is populated by many Naxi people which is a different ethnicity from Han Chinese. Naxi people has a strong matriarchal influence and Naxi women work harder too. Lijiang old town has a history of over 800 years since the Song dynasty.

Arrived Lijiang at around 4pm. Took a taxi with 3 other travelers to K2 hostel (30Yuan~USD$4)

which is located at ShuHe, around 5km away from the old town of Lijiang.

ShuHe old town

Lijiang is a bigger town than Dali. Lijiang is famous for LaPaiGu hot pot (80Yuan for 4 person), the hot pot has pork ribs and eat with vegetables.

Took a bus to Lijiang old town. Lijiang old town is a maze of cobbled street with many old buildings as well as stream flowing through the city. The city has 800 years of history since the Tang dynasty.

Symbol of Lijiang

Lijiang is more touristy than Dali and has a lot of tourist.

Women in traditional dress kniting

DongBa writing which use pictures and symbols to represent words.

There are many souvenir shops selling goods for tourist at every corner of the old town. Lijiang old town has become a touristy place.

Took bus 146 to the west bus station

and got on the 10.15am bus to Dali (100 Yuan~USD$14.5).

It’s around 380km to Dali.

View on the way

Passed by a wind farm.

Dali is located at an elevation of 1800m above sea level. There are many Bai people here and on the way passed by houses with Bai architecture.

Got to Dali at around 3pm. Dali has a new town and an old town. The bus dropped me at the new town which is called XiaGuan. Got on another bus (3Yuan~USD$0.5)

to Dali old town which is 13km away.

Stayed at Four Season Hostel (20 Yuan~USD$3)

which has a good location. The hostel is just right next to RenMin street, a popular street in Dali. There are other hostels with better reviews but those are located further west to the town.

Dali old town

Rented a bicycle for 2.5 hours (5Yuan~USD$0.7).

New part of Dali

3 pagoda

Did some biking around Dali. Towards ErHai.

Erhai Lake

Back to Dali old town

A church

Dali old town is still surrounded by an old wall

Dali is just located right at the foot of the mountain and the wind can get very strong. I tried to cycle to the 3 Pagodas but decided not to because it’s too windy.

Noodles for dinner (4Yuan~USD$0.6)