The Effects of Money - Riverside Glitz and Glamour

  Chongqing, China
Thursday, January 17, 2008

Day Six - it's 'hit the road Jack'
I decided to get back on the road  after dropping off the souvenirs and seeing to one or two things. The DVD's I bought of the Sichuan Opera performance were not so "yippee!!" after all. The DVD quality is lousy in China - make no mistake! Well, I'll just have to count my losses. According to Su - a teacher colleague - there are DVD restorers. I don't think I'll be able to find one in Chongqing, the next port of call, and where I'm currently based. Su wanted to come along to check out the hostel scene. He seemed quite impressed along with the budget options and independent travel I was relaying to him on the bus. Su's an OK kind of guy, but he can get very cantankerous and awkward; quite contrary to my temperament. I'm glad he's not coming along for the rest of the trip! I think his age is partly to blame. When he makes a scene in front of Chinese, they don't seem to understand the difficulty, or it just bounces off. I've been persuading him in his decision to buy a motorbike, giving lots more info and the hazards involved. Two little girls ran straight out in front - well almost - as I was riding along, the other day. I don't know how their parents have the gaul to be so irresponsible! Well, this is China, don't forget. Needless to say, the rest of the journey to Yongchuan almost froze my hands off. 
At Caiyuanba bus station, I was accosted by a couple of touts recommending the Yangtze boat trip: "Chongqing to Yichang," one announced. I refused, needing time to seek advice and information about it preferably in English.
After an awkward local bus journey, and uncertain where to alight. We were met by a young female worker from the Nan bin International Youth Hostel. I soon checked into the dorm room, met another worker - this time a student - who gave me more briefing about the boat trip and a visit to Dazu Grottoes. I thought the Grottoes day out was rather pricey, knowing I could get there cheaper from where I'm living here in Chongqing District, so decided to give it a miss once I found the guide couldn't speak English.
The student and his friend wanted to go to the Jie Fang Bei (downtown) area of Chongqing, to one, book a train ticket, and two, find a present for the friend's teacher. Right aligned photo tag:

Liberation Monument, Downtown

It seemed quite difficult knowing which buses to get, particularly for a newcomer like me. The queue at the ticket office was hopelessly long. They gave up and booked it by proxy at a department store. We took a yellow taxi up to the shopping district with a silently disgruntled driver. From Caiyuanba to the district, the fare's fixed, so he can't make much money, and if he refuses to take downtown-bound passengers, he could lose his license. Such are the joys of life.
I recommended we have something to eat first; I felt I could do with something, having had nothing since breakfast. A basement snack bar eatery area was quite handy, and we ordered 'baozi' - steamed bread with a potted or meat paste filling and thin noodle soup with chunks of duck's blood. It was quite tasteless, although nutritious.
Out in the street, we immediately passed a filthy street tramp with long matted hair, face very obscured, who was rifling through a large plastic garbage receptacle, eating some unwanted wasted pot noodles out of cartons. Yuk!! I guess if you're starving you'll eat anything. On the way to the downtown the friend remarked, "buildings, buildings, always building." Chongqing, with its tall buildings going up and up; more being constructed, speaks of masses of money and great affluence. Left aligned photo tag:

New York Building, the cabs are yellow, too

The tramp just illustrated not all people here are benefiting from the boom. As the rich skate ahead, the poor are being left behind. The department store we went in to find the gift, I Right aligned photo tag:

Jie Fang Bei Area

found equally depressing. A lot of facade home objects which only the rich here could afford. We left, not having found the gift.
It was getting late so decided go head back to the hostel. I ended the day with a river stroll along the promenade viewing all the beams and other gratuitous lighting. It smells of hypocrisy when there's an electricity shortage here in China. The power in the university campus has been shut down for two separate days, recently, but it'll be left on for other things. However, the nighttime vista was impressive, Left aligned photo tag:

Yangtze Riverside glitz

although a bit pretentious and facad-ish for my liking. ItRight aligned photo tag:

Fairy lights, tra la, la la

seems you can throw - or is it waste - money on anything.Left aligned photo tag:

Restaurant on the Water

I turned in, in a freezing cold youth hostel, and the bed was just as cold.