Chongqing Impressions
I’d been to Chongqing many many years ago - we had taken a Yangtze River cruise before the Three Gorges Dam was constructed - but I seem to remember only staying at the Holiday Inn and that it was a very nice hotel.
This time around, I had very little time in the city, and actually no time at all to really explore. But still, visiting people in their homes for research and going to different areas of the city gave me a unique impression.
And of course, the view from my hotel room (which I wrote about here) was also formative.
The curve of the water created a special landscape.
There just seemed to be a lot of energy compacted in a small area.
Even the bridge had a kind of a rotating light show.
Though eventually things went dark.
There was almost a constant fogginess or smoginess blanketing the city.
And one day I couldn’t see across the river!
Construction was happening all over: here was a bridge in the middle of being built!
The water and the bridges were a dominating factor, and the hills were another. For one interview, we arrived at the “ground floor” of the building by car, but had to take a long elevator ride to the real “ground floor” of the residential buildings, because they were built into the hillside. And here’s how the cars go up.
The hills mean there are interesting views across different altitudes.
And amidst all of the construction, there was a lot of greenery.
The greenery almost seemed to burst into view through the cracks of concrete.
Taking every opportunity to manifest itself.
Lots of concrete, yet the greenery growing prolifically on rooftops and podium levels.
And on a street level, there was kind of an overgrown effect with the greenery.
And with the varied terrain, it was a fascinating eclectic mishmash of architecture pointing in different directions, on different levels.
