30 March 2013
I was wrong
I think yesterday I declared I had been to all the different centres of Chongqing, I was wrong, there was one more.
For sake of completeness, that was my destination. On google maps it looked small, it was also the only centre north of the Yangtze, named Guan yin qiao. Turns out it was the best of the...5 different city centres.
By best I mean most vibrant, with the most restaurants, the most people and possibly the biggest.
It was a slightly maddening layout and I managed to get properly lost looking for the subway to get home.
Like much of China, on a Saturday night in particular, I had no hope at all of getting a seat at a restaurant on the upper floors of a shopping centre. Generally the top 3 floors are all large (as in 100+ seat) restaurants. The basement is your more informal restaurants and cafes. The 2nd level below ground is fast food places. I am a basement kind of guy.
One of the large indoor / outdoor shopping centres called Paradise Walk actually had 2 competing cinema complexes within it, each having 20 or more screens, advertising themselves as imax or digital or high frame rate or 3d or a combo of all.
I have not yet been to a Chinese cinema, but I hear if you go and see a non dubbed western film with Chinese subtitles, the audience feels the need to read them out loud, as a group of 1000 people, simultaneously, for the full 2 hours.
I emerged from the subway to just one of a maze of pedestrian steets, on the side of a hill. This city centre has more man made natural features than the others, but I couldnt work out what the theme was.
One of the restaurants is called 'the modern toilet' which I believe is a rip off of something similar I have seen in Japan.
All restaurants on upper floors had people lined up waiting to get in. Much like Mamak or Din Tai Fung in Australia, I dont think anyone in China makes bookings, you just turn up and wait. That way they can serve a lot more people in a single evening.
Eventually after moving between multiple mega malls either by skywalks or underground, I had become completely lost.
I headed back to the basement for some numbing and spicy beef in oil. I was a source of great excitement and or amusement for the staff. The usual charade of presenting me with beer, followed by a fork etc. ensued. But everyone seemed to be waiting for me to eat it.
The tension heightened as I pulled out my camera first and fiddled with it. Chefs turned to each other and commented, what is this crazy guy doing etc.
Eventually when I ate, there were sighs of relief (I think). The beef / horse / dog was actually of high quality. The only vegetables were of the choy variety, I would prefer less beef and more variety of vegetables such as eggplant, potato, capsicum, celery etc.
I use etc. too much. I also use pretty as in pretty good, and seems as in seems to, too much. Now I use too much too much.
Still lost, this is another street.
I crossed back over a road which I presume I previously went under. An opportunity to mess about with my camera.
I passed the homoerotic b-boy dancing. Grown men standing around holding their penis's whilst one of them spins on his head and gets sweaty. Note the lack of audience.
And finally I was back to where I wanted to be. Except mass dancing had erupted. The grandest scale yet. Note there is no lack of audience here.
Honestly the sea of people goes for hundreds of metres on all sides from my vantage point. As far as I know this is just a regular Saturday night in Chongqing. Not an alcoholic beverage anywhere to be seen.
Nearby, people are waiting for an elaborate fountain display timed with music and lights to start. At least thats what I think the sign said.
I decided to not wait, getting the train back from under all these people was quite challenging, I had to wait for 3 to fill up without me before I could get on. Luckily it was only 3 stops.
A great night out, I might have to go back again on one of my 2 remaining nights in Chongqing before I head back to Chengdu.