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My First Impression of Chongqing
I first came to Chongqing on a work assignment in the spring of 1996. After having little experience in Mainland China but with a decent grasp of Mandarin from my days as a student in Taiwan, I really did not know what to expect from this inland city. Having flown in from Beijing, I thought they had overshot the mark and had sent me to Tibet with all the mountains around me and the strange language that came out of everyone’s mouths. It took me a few days to realize that those were more like hills than mountains, and that the dialect was a not too distant a cousin from “Putonghua”. OK, so this wasn’t the Himalayas after all, but it was still a lot different from what I was used to or expected from Chinese cities.
CITY OF CONTRASTS
Unofficially, Chongqing is the largest metropolis in the world, with an estimated 33 million people. In actuality, this is a bit misleading as the entire “city” covers an area of 840 sq. km, roughly the same size as Austria, and the population is concentrated in rather spread out clusters. It is more akin to a province that a city. Unlike Beijing and Chengdu with their relatively straightforward street planning and convenient ring roads, the downtown core of Chonging is unique to say the least. It reminds me of a wedge-shaped mound of spaghetti and meatballs sticking out of the water, with the noodle-like system of roads going up, down, under, and around, and clusters of rocks, trees, and buildings protruding from their midst. Sandwiched as it is between the Yangtze River and the Jialing River, it occurred to me rather quickly that the roads were this way out of necessity, not because of poor planning. There are only so many places you can lay asphalt on slopes these steep.
When you see a map of the downtown area, it looks remarkably like a slightly elongated version of Snoopy’s head. Maybe it is just me, after taking in the sights of Guilin, the Three Gorges, and the Stone Forest, my brain has now been programmed into seeing animal-like shapes in the landscape. Doesn’t the map of the entire Chongqing municipality look a bit like a strange beast glaring at the east in defiance? Look hard, and, as the tour guides are so fond of saying, “Use your imagination”.
CLIMATE
South China is naturally hot and humid, and in Chongqing, the surrounding hills trap the heat. There is precious little wind at any time of year, and the evaporation of the water from the two rivers contributes to the fog and haze that permeate the air almost all year round. It is only the blazing summer sun that succeeds to burn it off, but rarely for more than a few days at a time. As for Chongqing’s long-standing reputation as one of the “furnaces” of China, I am starting to wonder if times are changing. Nowadays, Beijing regularly records temperatures higher than those of Chongqing. Over the past few years, the rainy season in spring has gotten longer and longer, keeping both the dust and the temperatures down. Still, July and August are undeniably steamy, and I enjoy seeing how the locals cope. Men often pull their pant trousers way up when sitting, and women street vendors often sit with legs spread wide open, fanning themselves down there in a less than dignified manner to keep the body temperature down. I personally don’t mind 40-degree weather all that much, and actually enjoy the weight loss benefits and purging the toxins that come with a good sweat. Going to a real sauna is costly and seen as a luxury in China, but for a few weeks in summer, steam bath-like temperatures be enjoyed for free on the streets of Chongqing.
Winters are cold and damp, and although it never snows, the wet cold seems to penetrate your clothes and chill you right down to the bone. Many people don’t have heating in their apartments, and many of those who do never use it. I have finally gotten used to wearing my coat indoors like everyone else, but it sure took a while.
last modified Oct 16, 2004 at 3:37
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