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The Mountain City
Our apartment complex is built on the bank of the Jialing River which empties into the Yangtze about 2 km. downstream. We live on the 29th floor, 4 floors below the roof. The main entrance is on the 12th floor, as these twin high rises are constructed on the side of a cliff. This is pretty common in Chongqing, the Mountain City, where many people inhabit similar structures, and have to go down in the elevator to get home, yet still are above the buidings foundations. Our gym is officially located on floor "minus 3" but lies over 50 metres above the river.
Chongqing is real 3-D, and their are staircases old and new connecting the various altitudes throughout the city. Not only because of the diet of rice, vegetables, and its powerful variety of spices, people tend to be on the very slender side here. No doubt navigating all the walkways and stairwells has a lot to do with their svelte figures. Few locals know what is north, south, east, or west but find their way around by instinct and familiarity. The roads snake throughout the city and are built in response to the varied contour of the landscape. Most of the other big cities in China are relatively featureless and much easier to get around. Almost no one rides a bicycle here, cheap yellow taxis are ubiquitous, and everyone is looking forward to the introduction of the light rail "Sky Train", the first line of which will whisk people up and down the south bank of the Jialing River as early as this October.
last modified Jun 13, 2004 at 19:37
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