The square in front of the People's Grand Concert Hall, which is behind me. At the other side of the square (the tan glass building in the picture below) is the Three Gorges Museum. Unfortunately, we didn't have enough time to go into the museum.
A 360 view of the square and the Concert HallA woman stretching in the square
People practicing sword Tai Chi by the square
The People's Grand Concert Hall
The stage in the Hall
From the People's Grand Concert Hall, Erik, Marissa, Magnus, Caitlin and I headed to Ciqikou, Chongqing's ancient town. This ancient town is different from other ones I had been to because, even though it was very touristy, many people still lived here. We also found Jeremy here after searching for a while since these ancient towns are like mazes because the buildings are so close together and everything looks the same.
The entrance to Ciqikou and the touristy area with shops, food and souvenirs.
Erik and Magnus (with his wonderful expression) in front of a haunted house in the ancient town.
The residents of the ancient town, whom we found as we walked further in.
Erik and Magnus (with his wonderful expression) in front of a haunted house in the ancient town.
The residents of the ancient town, whom we found as we walked further in.
Some of the delicacies found in the ancient town, which includes all parts of the pig (stomach, tail, feet, etc.)
A man in his house in Ciqikou watching t.v. and reading the newspaper.
Another room in the ancient town that appeared to be abandoned.
Children walking to the entrance of Ciqikou.
A man whom we passed carrying one dead and one alive goose, who naturally was trying to escape.
Another man walking towards the entrance of the ancient town with all of his supplies.
We then left Ciqikou and went back to downtown Chongqing where the underground markets are located. Jeremy and Magnus waited at McDonald's while the rest of us went to check out the underground markets. According to Jeremy (who lived in Chongqing during the Fall semester of 2008), there are many levels of these underground markets, and the further down you go, the more dangerous it is. We only went to the first level, so I have no idea if this is true.
A man in his house in Ciqikou watching t.v. and reading the newspaper.
Another room in the ancient town that appeared to be abandoned.
Children walking to the entrance of Ciqikou.
A man whom we passed carrying one dead and one alive goose, who naturally was trying to escape.
Another man walking towards the entrance of the ancient town with all of his supplies.
We then left Ciqikou and went back to downtown Chongqing where the underground markets are located. Jeremy and Magnus waited at McDonald's while the rest of us went to check out the underground markets. According to Jeremy (who lived in Chongqing during the Fall semester of 2008), there are many levels of these underground markets, and the further down you go, the more dangerous it is. We only went to the first level, so I have no idea if this is true.
Unfortunately, Marissa had gone to the bank and realized she had lost her credit card. Jeremy called the hostel and asked me if they could look for it. We felt bad for Marissa because this had already happened to her before and she knew her Dad would be angry with her. In the meantime, we still went to the market since there was little we could do.
The underground markets can be seen in the bottom of this picture.
The shops on the first level mainly sold women's clothing. I stayed with Marissa who wanted to buy some clothes and I helped her barter for a shirt, which was pretty fun. The shirt started out at about 100 RMB or so and I told the lady 20 RMB and of course she said no. But kept persisting to pay 20 RMB and kept walking away when she said no. Eventually, she finally gave up as we were leaving and we got the shirt for 30 RMB. Caitlin bartered some pants for Marissa, who ended up paying 60 RMB for a pair that started at about twice as much.
They also sold home and bathroom supplies, such a toilets, lamps, fans, lights, etc..
At this point, Jeremy called the hostel again to check if they had found Marissa's credit card. They said they hadn't and Marissa and Jeremy went to the hostel to see if they could find it themselves. The rest of us stayed at McDonald's. Caitlin, Erik and I were getting hungry, so we went to dinner at a Chinese restaurant and ordered some noodles and fried dumplings. We then also went and bought some snacks for the train. We returned to McDonald's and the four of us (Magnus, Erik, Caitlin and I) took a taxi to the train station shortly thereafter. The taxi tried taking two different ways, but both were backed up with traffic. On his third try,however, he did make it through smoothly and we arrived at the train station with time to spare. We met up with Marissa and Jeremy (who unfortunately did not find her credit card) and went inside to a restaurant to play cards. Although no one was really sitting in the restaurant, they tried to kick us out. We eventually left and went to stand in line for our train.
We didn't actually get seats on the train, so we just sat in some random seats hoping the people whose seats we were in wouldn't show up. I was the last one to be kicked out of my seat and then we had the option of either standing or sitting on the floor, which I evidently did. The guy next to me did give up his seat for me for quite a while. We began talking to him and asked him if he wanted to play cards with us, which he didn't.
The nice view from the train.
We arrived in Chongqing at night around 9 or 10 p.m. and Magnus, Caitlin, Marissa and I went to stand in line for taxis while Jeremy and Erik went to buy Erik train tickets for Shanghai. They came back soon, but didn't join us in line. Instead, they decided to walk back home. I shared a taxi with Magnus and once we arrived at the apartments, I said goodnight to him and went home to sleep.
The shops on the first level mainly sold women's clothing. I stayed with Marissa who wanted to buy some clothes and I helped her barter for a shirt, which was pretty fun. The shirt started out at about 100 RMB or so and I told the lady 20 RMB and of course she said no. But kept persisting to pay 20 RMB and kept walking away when she said no. Eventually, she finally gave up as we were leaving and we got the shirt for 30 RMB. Caitlin bartered some pants for Marissa, who ended up paying 60 RMB for a pair that started at about twice as much.
They also sold home and bathroom supplies, such a toilets, lamps, fans, lights, etc..
At this point, Jeremy called the hostel again to check if they had found Marissa's credit card. They said they hadn't and Marissa and Jeremy went to the hostel to see if they could find it themselves. The rest of us stayed at McDonald's. Caitlin, Erik and I were getting hungry, so we went to dinner at a Chinese restaurant and ordered some noodles and fried dumplings. We then also went and bought some snacks for the train. We returned to McDonald's and the four of us (Magnus, Erik, Caitlin and I) took a taxi to the train station shortly thereafter. The taxi tried taking two different ways, but both were backed up with traffic. On his third try,however, he did make it through smoothly and we arrived at the train station with time to spare. We met up with Marissa and Jeremy (who unfortunately did not find her credit card) and went inside to a restaurant to play cards. Although no one was really sitting in the restaurant, they tried to kick us out. We eventually left and went to stand in line for our train.
Standing in line for our train, next to the bathrooms and the smoking room, so it smelled great there.
We didn't actually get seats on the train, so we just sat in some random seats hoping the people whose seats we were in wouldn't show up. I was the last one to be kicked out of my seat and then we had the option of either standing or sitting on the floor, which I evidently did. The guy next to me did give up his seat for me for quite a while. We began talking to him and asked him if he wanted to play cards with us, which he didn't.
The nice view from the train.
We arrived in Chongqing at night around 9 or 10 p.m. and Magnus, Caitlin, Marissa and I went to stand in line for taxis while Jeremy and Erik went to buy Erik train tickets for Shanghai. They came back soon, but didn't join us in line. Instead, they decided to walk back home. I shared a taxi with Magnus and once we arrived at the apartments, I said goodnight to him and went home to sleep.
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