News from China, Day 5 - Tour of Chongqing

Today was spent taking it pretty easy ... a minimum of paperwork, mostly just a light bus tour and then relaxing in the hotel.

The shot to the left is at the junction of the two massive rivers which meet in Chongqing; the Yangtze, which is the longest river in Asia and flows for over 6300 kilometres, and the Jialing. The usual Chongqing smoggy haze was augmented by heavy fog and some rain, so the pictures weren't all that impressive. What was impressive however was watching a riverboat driver do a spin-o-rama move in the middle of the river with his 200 ft river barge, to sneak through the rapids and head up the Jialing.

We went to a government-sponsored tea house, where not surprisingly the staff all spoke excellent English and the souvenir prices were quadrupled from their market value (but then lowered by 30% for a special discount for us, of course). They put on a fascinating tea demonstration, taught us the Kung Fu style of drinking tea, and let us sample some of the most delicious teas we have ever tasted. Even for David the coffee drinker, this tea was amazing. In the image to the left, taken at the tea house, the expression on Emily's face clearly explains her opinion of the ginger-soaked sugared olives she so bravely tried. Jaime was clearly less interested in the tea.

The drive back to the hotel took longer than expected because some workers had staged an impromptu (and illegal) demonstration, and had blocked off one of the main streets. The solution for the inconvenienced drivers was simple ... throw it in reverse and drive until you can find a place to do a sharp U-turn, and then drive the wrong way on your own side of the divided road until you reach a good place to turn off. Six lanes, 3 on each side of the centre median, all driving the same direction. And no one stressed in the least. And it actually gave us an opportunity to see what some of the off-the-beaten-path neighbourhoods are like. The gap between the rich and the poor, or even between the poor and the poorer, is quite stark.

Back at the hotel, we took Jaime for another swim. The pool waters were a bit chilly today, so we didn't stay long. David and Jaime went to bed early (8 pm !), while Emily watched The Voyage of the Dawn Treader on the mini DVD player and Melissa went out to the town square to snap some shots of the night-life. Buildings are lit up with neon signs and huge TVs. Note the KFC logo in the middle of the picture :) The streets are always crowded, even in the evenings, sort of like downtown Ottawa on Canada Day. Oh, and the horns ... the switch for the horns is mounted on the gear shifter, so you can constantly honk without even moving your hand from the shifter ! It's 5:39 am right now as I type, and I can hear the non-stop honking below. The horn is not an indication of annoyance, like it is in Canada; it's a completely unemotional "I'm over here", or "you shouldn't be there" signal. Quite considerate, actually.

On Day 6 we will be saying goodbye to Jaime's hometown of Chongqing and will be heading back to Beijing. We figure the two hour flight will be a test run for Jaime for the 13 hour version later in the week :) Stay tuned !