Chongqing - The City of Fog

This morning was our last breakfast on board the Katerina. We left the ship at 8:30 and climbed a steep rise of steps to board our bus for a brief tour of Chongqing (Chong-cheen). Our local guide was Tony. Chongqing has 33 million people and is known as the “City of Fog”. Today was no exception. The city is covered by fog about 100 days of the year! The city was a target of the Japanese during WWII. All along the streets you can still see concrete bunkers dug into the hillside. The Chinese have converted most of them into storage, small stores and even car washes! The entire downtown portion is on the mountain. The roads are very narrow and steep.

Our first stop was a square at the top of the mountain. It was very interesting. This was the most direct contact we had with the Chinese people to date. They were openly checking us out (staring). There were special events in the square today so we were able to see crafts from the local people and watch them dance.

Our next stop was a museum dedicated to the Flying Tigers. When the Japanese started bombing Chongqing, the US was asked informally to help. Because we weren’t yet in the war, a group of volunteers from various parts of the armed services resigned their commission and went to train under the leadership of a two star general named Stilwell. Stilwell was very successful and some 2500 Japanese planes were destroyed compared to 500 US planes. The recovery rate of crew on our downed planes was 95% - amazing. Near the museum is a reconstruction of General Stilwell’s residence and headquarters. While the building was reconstructed, the furniture inside was original. The museum was just given first class status in the last year and is visited quite often especially by the US. Interesting side note, one of the gentlemen in our group grew up on the same street where General Stilwell lived!

We then stopped at a local restaurant and ate lunch. Either the food is becoming more western or we are getting used to Chinese food. The food was very good and I ate the entire meal with chopsticks. Given I haven’t been able to do this since we’ve been here, I’m quite proud of myself.

Next stop – Xi’an (She-ann) – the home of the Terracotta warriors. We left Chongqing airport and arrived at Xi’an around 4:30. The area is very flat and we saw tractors for the first time. Here, like Chongqing, the air was very foggy, which we didn’t expect. Our guide explained that the farmers are cutting the winter wheat. It isn’t fog in the air but wheat chaff. It blankets the entire city! Needless to say everyone with allergies is starting to have a rough time. This is a city of 7 million people – one of the smaller large cities in China. It is known for its agriculture, history, education (there are 35 universities) and most recently tourism. This is the home of the first emperor of China. 1 million foreigners and 15 million Chinese come to this site. Our guide thanked us for his job because he is now able to provide for his needs.

One of the down sides that we have seen in China is the pollution. This town is has two rivers. One is so polluted that the water cannot be drunk nor can it be used for swimming. Xi’an has many industries; aeronautics, paper mills etc. China is a major contributor to global warming. Many feel that not enough emphasis is being put on cleaning up the rivers and air.

We arrived at the Shangri-La Golden Flower hotel around 6:00 and had what was definitely the most western meal we’ve had so far. It was very good. Until dinner tonight we haven't see anything chocolate. There was more chocolate than we could have hoped for.