Chongqing -- City of Hills, Fog and Spicy Food
Chongqing Municipality, Located in the south-east Sichuan basin, home to 30 million people. It's best known as being at the start place of the Three Gorges Cruise that Downstream Sailing. Chongqing is a famous historical and cultural city in China with a long history of more than 3000 years.
Chongqing, means Double Celebration, named by Emperor Guang zhong of the Song Dynasty 800 years ago. Overlooking the confluence of the Yangtze and the Jialing Rivers, Chongqing is known throughout China as the "Mountain City". Due to its strategic location on the Yangtze River, for over 4,000 years every dynasty has had a provincial capital there, after gaining special municipality status in 1997, Chongqing has become the largest industrial and commercial city in southwestern China and the economic center of the upper reach of the Yangtze.
Known as one of China's "Three Furnaces" (along with Wuhan and Nanjing), Chongqing is unbearably hot during the summer. The surrounding mountains seem to trap the heat. It is pleasant to visit the city in other seasons.
Also known as "Fog City" in addition to "the Furnace," Chongqing is covered with a thick layer of fog for an average of 68 days a year, usually in spring or autumn. The fog gives the place an air of mystery.
Spread across a number of low hills (average elevation of 400 meters), surrounded by mountains, and straddling the Yangtze River, Chongqing is a natural wonder.
The main features of the downtown area are the hilly slopes. Travelers soon learn to get used to the feeling of going up and down, up and down. Locals compare the terrain to San Francisco.
Choingqing's hot spicy food is famous. The most well-known dish is the hotpot, which is a pot of boiling broth that you put various uncooked food items into. The meal always takes a long time, so it is good to eat it in the company of others.
