Chongqing, I'd have to give myself a couple of earfuls if I were to say it's repulsive; I'd probably get a lot of people jumping out and accusing me of not knowing what's good for me when I'm in the midst of the blessings if I say I don't have any feelings for it.
I know this city too well, like my own hands. As such, its more fickle colors and compelling prettiness felt familiar to me.
But life still has to be lived unhurriedly, and the time of day still has to be exhaustively enriched for it not to be wasted. A few days ago, a teacher introduced a non-traditional walkway, starting from Huang Garden and walking along the Jialing River side to Chaotianmen: Chongqing's most domineering waterfront style is wonderfully presented on this path.
If you don't know it, you have to walk it.
Take the light rail to Huanghuayuan station, and it's still dark when you get off.
Huanghuayuan Station, Line 2
When you walk out of the station and turn east, you'll find a walkway lined with trees and shrubs, dominated by the leafy Huangjuetree, Chongqing's city tree. No one must have thought to do any modeling when the trees were first planted, but the main tree, the Huangjuet, has magically grown into a roughly arched corridor of trees, shading a rare moment of serenity in the city's long, narrow riverfront location.
City Trail
Three or two lines of people on the road, roughly in the direction of Chaotianmen. It seems that this waterfront trail is no secret to most people in Chongqing, and I'm an afterthought.
Walking under the Huanghuayuan Bridge, energetic elderly square dancers were singing and dancing on a piece of recreational flat land, and the rush of the city's atmosphere instantly crushed the earthly quiet brewing in their hearts.
We picked up our pace and walked across the dance floor, and within a few steps, the trees thinned out and the northern bank of the Jialing River came into view unobstructed.
Chongqing has been raining lately, and the formerly green and clean Jialing River, like a woman on hormones, has become bloated and yellowish; only the riverside scenery on the other side of the river is still stylishly dynamic and youthful.
Chongqing in the evening
The trail soon reaches its end, when it needs to be folded back, there are a few steps down to the stone staircase on Jiabin Road, picking up the steps down, through the traffic lights to the sidewalk on Jiabin Road, and continue to the east.
Jialing River water is open, although the water is up, but not turbulent, like a worldly old man, with the years to give and do not do the calm.
The sky darkened, the lights on both sides of the river lit up one by one, especially on the other side of the river north of the lights along the river, introverted in the novelty, implicit in the publicity, the night dressed up in a tantalizing way.
Walking along the way, the narrow sidewalks became crowded, and golden lights painted Hongyadong on the other side of the road.
The crowds ahead made it difficult to walk.
Just stand in the pile of people, think of yourself as an outsider, take a partial shot of Hongyadong, capture the best color of the Grand Theater on Jiangbei Mouth.
Chongqing Grand Theater
Took a lot of photos and picked out this one with the camera pulled in close to the Grand Theater.
Hongyadong
After a few minutes in the Hongyadong area, I crossed the street and headed down Cotton Street toward Chaotianmen.
After leaving Hongyadong, tourists seem to have suddenly disappeared, and the most encountered on the entire road is the roadside under the viaducts of the Soapberry trees, which are not common in Chongqing.
Raffles City's more than 200-meter-tall building stands in front of it, and because it's facing it sideways, we read it as tall and straight, rather than the brightly lit atmosphere we usually see on the Internet.
Cotton Street is really not very long, it takes less than 5 minutes to get to the end, cross the street and follow the signs towards Chaotianmen.
There is an interesting wall along the roadside.
Chongqing Words
An introductory tutorial on Chongqing Words, and what they mean in Mandarin. I don't want to give it to you anyway. I don't want to give them to my buddies. Some of them? messy chopped wood?
By this time, we were in the Chaotianmen area, crossing the road one more time and walking along the side of the road, there are steps leading up to Chaotianmen Square, where tourists usually experience the night in the mountain city.
We instead walked down the steps next to the abandoned cable car track. We heard that Yuzhong District is interested in restoring it to operation.
The cable car track
The cable car track was actually not damaged much, only the station buildings above and below were torn down, so it was not difficult to restore it.
Sitting on a stone staircase at the riverside, the lights of Jiangbei Mouth and Bouncing Stone in the night emphasize the brightness of the city, while this dark riverside location is quiet except for a few night fishermen and a few of us disguised tourists who walk everywhere.
Sitting silently on the bank, I thought about the story of the night journey of the brocade. There were brilliantly lit cruise ships flaunting their splendor on the open river.
The waves stirred up by the passage of large ships passed to the shore, making a rhythmic ? clamor? sound of water.
Between the movement, between prosperity and desolation, the heart has a trance. Taking stock of this journey, the encounters are the most gorgeous side of Chongqing, which is probably the biggest perk of living next to this world-class landscape cluster of their own: as long as they want to experience, anytime.
After sitting for a while, I headed back home, first up to Chaotianmen Square and into the Raffles Building.
Looking up at Raffles
Keep going, you'll see a sign for the Chaotianmen bus hub, just enter and choose the one that suits you.
This route is not a traditional sightseeing route, the walking distance is relatively far, but it allows you to see Chongqing from a different angle and in a different mood. If you have a lot of energy and are not afraid to walk, we suggest you try it.