Last weekend Lars, Max and I visited Chongqing – the biggest city in the world!On Saturday morning we took a modern Chinese railway from the central station in Chengdu. During the 2 and a half hour train ride we were able to see the beautiful countryside which surrounds these metropolitan cities.
Chongqing is located in a valley, which has created Chongqingās two main features: First, it is quite hilly. Second, it is usually really hot during the summer (up to 45 degrees).
Chongqing is famous for these features and we were hugely looking forward to see the city that is home to 35 million people!
As we arrived in the city it was not as hot as we had expected – only 32 degrees. We quickly got in a taxi and headed towards our hostel. When the taxi driver found out that two of us were German, he started to point out every German car on the street while driving!
Just by looking out the window of the car we realized that this city is unlike anything we had ever seen before. It was massive, futuristic, crowded, Chinese and Western.
We booked a nice hostel, called Yangtze River hostel, (which I would strongly recommend!). Since we were so close to the city centre, we decided to travel by foot. Thatās when we realized how hilly Chongqing really is; it reminded me of climbing up Emei Shanā¦ After having lunch in a good local restaurant we visited an old Buddhist temple located between huge skyscrapers.
It had one hall with hundreds of life sized monk statues – really impressive!
The main shopping street easily offers everything a global city should nowadays. We saw that Chongqing is not only very modern, but also very wealthy!
In the evening the hostel organized a dumpling party. Therefore we were able to spend a nice evening with locals and tourists.
What do three guys do in the biggest city of the world on a Saturday night? PARTYING! I can say that the clubs in Chongqing are definitely as good as the clubs we have in Chengdu. We met many friendly locals in the club – interesting chats and free drinks included š
When we woke up the next morning, Lars, Max and I took Chongqingās famous cable car, which crosses the Yangtze River. You do have an amazing view on the platform. From this spot, we saw only skyscrapers in every direction, no horizon! The city is really huge!
Furthermore, we saw a city map which exposed the monstrosity of Chongqing.
The Sheraton seems to be a golden reproduction of Kuala LumpurĀ“s Petronas Towers.
Important information for everybody from Northern Germany: there will be a Flensburger Brauhaus opening in September!!
In the morning we were feeling exhausted after partying and being in the heat – what’s worse, on Sunday it was nearly 40 degrees!
We had the brilliant idea to climb up to a park which is one of Chongqingās highest points. But the view was worth it. Anyway we still could not see the horizon, again only skyscrapers. I guess thatās the only way that a single city can be have a larger population than the whole of Australia!
All in all we spent an exciting weekend in Chongqing and we have decided that it is definitely worth visiting again!
Would you like to join InternChinaĀ“s next trip to Chongqing? Then have a look at our internship positions and apply now.
