|
Tour Groupies
If the Chongqing Government can ever get their act together, it could really stand to benefit from increased tourism over the next few years. It should not only be the embarkation point for the 3 Gorges excursion, and efforts need to be made to "package" Chongqing, with or without the cruise, and offer it as a complement or alternative to the tried & true tourist haunts of Beijing, Shanghai, and Xian. But it can't compete with the sights there, you say? I beg to differ.
First of all, as any Chinese person over the age 20 can tell you, Chongqing is quite unique as a Chinese city, with its hilly topography and inland port city feel. While Beijing and nearby Chengdu are so very flat, the three dimensional qualities of CQ certainly add to its peculiar atmosphere. Attractions? Plenty. The People's Hall (compare that to the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, not one tenth as famous, but ten times more impressive), the new 3 Gorges Museum, west China's best, the ever expanding pedestrian malls of Jiefangbei, Jiangbei, and Shapingba (now complete with Starbucks, alas), the main port of Chaotianmen right downtown at the confluence of the Yangtze and Jialing Rivers, the old town of Ciqikou, and the very central Pipa and Eling Parks high above even the highest skyscrapers. These are just a few of the sight-seeing spots that are becoming well-known among Chinese but remain little known to outsiders.
last modified May 10, 2006 at 1:39
|