Good news, the dog head man has returned to sell his dog heads. Only they are the same ones now a bit older and more rotten.
Somehow they are a bit less confronting compared to when they were fresh! The picture is below, you have been warned.
This morning I went to nearby Eling park which is practically in the centre of the city and is supposed to give you a good vantage point from the modern tower in all directions. Today however was the most polluted / foggiest day yet, so I got a great view of a sea of white.
The park itself is a bit weird, its long and narrow and at first I was at the crappy end which was full of old people, chickens and ramshackle housing.
The other end strangely has the first Australian embassy in China, theres a plaque but I think the house has been replaced, a monument to the soviet union, and a celabratory garden for the victory over Japan due to Hiroshima. Its not a memorial garden.
Before I headed to the park I went for coffee and succesfully asked for non fat milk, and perhaps as a result, got the worst coffee ever. 100% froth.
Bus vs motorcycle. Bus Wins!
The number of accidents is still high in Chongqing even though scooters are banned. However for every accident I see, I never see anyone get properly hurt. They all pick themselves up and keep going.
Dog heads. Enlarge for detail! Now looking a bit past their use by date.
The steps up to the path were lined with buddah. I am never sure if its buddah or buddha, the bald fat guy.
The wrong end of the park seems to be for homeless old people. They seem to be enjoying their rent free lifestyle.
Chickens everywhere. Chicken vs tiny dog, Chicken wins.
Sea of pollution.
You can climb up to see more of the sea, I did.
Theres a sign declaring this pagoda built in 1984 as being awarded one of the top 7 new structures in central Chongqing in 1993. I am not making that up. The sign also talks about how you will feel so close to the twinking stars you can reach out and touch them. Perhaps I could swim up to them?
Last fog picture for today.
My hotel room has all kinds of great features, including this LG washer / dryer with laundry detergent provided.
I stood and watched it for 10 minutes to show my appreciation, now I can wear my various camo shorts a second time on this holiday.
Lunch. A Chongqing take on Japanese curry, with very little curry, lots of sichuan pepper, more vegetables than Japan would give you, paper thin egg on rice, and just as I suspected, ice cold mash potato.
Still it was quite nice!
Another night of not many photos. My last night in Chongqing. I had to choose my favourite city centre out of the 5 I had visited. I selected Nanping.
This turned out to be a good choice as last time I was there a couple of days ago it turns out I had only seen a small part of it, as it goes forever and gets nicer and nicer until you end up at the starlight mall with the greatest supermarket I ever did see in the basement and more restaurants than any place I have been.
I am easily amused I realise.
It is also going to connect directly to the metro, but doesnt yet cause its still going through a 'soft opening' which is mall speak for we didnt rent out all the shops yet and theres still some construction going on.
I couldnt wait to leave my room to go out, because I had been drying my clothes in the provided washer / dryer. The walls are literally damp! When you put a dryer in a cupboard with no exhaust fan and no windows, what do you expect to happen?
Staring directly into the moon, no wait its the sun. Its hard to tell. With all the smog the sun is no brighter than the moon.
If you looked into the sun like this in Adelaide you would go blind. Here it doesnt even bother the auto exposure thing on my camera.
Did you know that kebabs are one of the world famous three gourmet? Well now you do. Can you name the other 2? Bubble tea and duck necks I suspect.
The above mentioned starlight plaza. About 10 floors with the Vanguard supermarket on the bottom, imax theatre at the top, everything else in between, about 40 proper restaurants. I think the developer might be Japanese because it has large multistorey tenancies for Muji and Uniqlo.
Ok, no more boring pics...that arent food.
Monday night and a newly opened shopping mall means places had seats. The only full restaurants with lines were 2 pizza places and one steakhouse. I wasnt interested in those.
The place I selected advertised itself as being especially healthy, which means lots of things were inedible parts of animals in clear broth. Presumably just to flavour the broth.
I selected cucumber and a beef dish, this time with green chillies. It was fantastic.