Day 4: Chongqing

Day 4

Chongqing

So we finally make it to Chongqing and right after we check in we went searching for food. Chongqing is supposedly where Chinese hotpot originated so it's like the IT thing to eat around here. But it was around 4 PM and the hotpot restaurant we were headed for wasn't open until 5 PM. Like most cities in China, Chongqing is teaming with vendors selling all kinds of food (And since we're so close to Sichuan, all kinds of SPICY food!). We found a noodle/rice place down one street:



Dan Dan Noodles.


Congee with pork liver.


The chef.
I started to walk away without having paid, but quickly remembered as soon as I stepped out of the place. He just smiled. Thank god he didn't yell, ack.

We walked around a bit and saw this!


It's no Korean fried chicken but it's everything chicken! From the head down to the toes!
A quick nap back at the hotel, and we went out in search for another hotpot place that's supposed to be famous -- Xiao Tiane Huo Guo. After being rejected by a bunch of taxi drivers who said they didn't know how to get there, we finally snagged one. It's pretty close to our hotel, but the thing about the roads here is that they hardly follow a straight line as they wind around the mountain. It only cost 5 RMB (the base rate) to get from our hotel to the restaurant.


The Spicy.


The Not Spicy.
The restaurant is located in what I think is a tourist attraction-y place called Hong Ya Dong (The Cave?). Anyway, it's really cool, 11 floors, built into the side of the mountain and faces the Jialing River.


Hong Ya Dong at night.


Statue of man and child.
One of many statues around the place.