Chongqing

... somewhat chilly - but we quickly discovered that there were no other Westerners bunking at this hostel.  We figured that Chongqing just wasn't a backpacker's prime destination in the winter.  In general, we found the city to be much dirtier than ...

... nod of the head (not the bow of the Japanese) and smile is often returned and provides mutual respect. First meal:  famous Chongqing Hot Pot.  This consists of a table with a burner where 2 cooking pots are set, a smaller one inside a larger ...

... so I was taken back to my hotel room for a nap. For dinner I was taken to another restaurant that specialized in Chongqing local cuisine. The restaurant was three floors tall. We sat on a huge balcony on the third floor overlooking the Yangtze River. ...

... to the new Beijing-Tibet railway (in the techno stylee), some Chinese opera, Chinese comedy sketches, and some very impressive acrobats.  Chongqing is reminiscent of Hong Kong in that it's hot, hilly, and quite green. It is an enormous city and its ...