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my original plan for today was to visit 2 old chongqing streets ("white elephant road" and "18 steps") followed by an exploration of erling park, one of the other places to view the city vista at night. however that was before the weather intervened and changed my plans entirely. it rain non-stop today, a steady drizzle accompanied by dark skies that promised even more rain. a wet chongqing is a dirty chongqing, and there are places - like old streets - that best be avoided during wet weather conditions. so instead i got some breakfast (left the hotel around 11:00 after having gone to bed around 2:00 last night) from my favorite tujia shop, then went to a railroad ticketing agency to buy a high speed train ticket (RMB$116 first class 2 hours, + RMB$5 handling fee) to chengdu tomorrow 12:00. i then took the subway to zengjiayan station (on the green line) and went back to the sanxia museum across from the people's hall (free admission).

i got to the museum around noontime, went to a few exhibits that were closed the time last around or i'd simply missed.

i saw an exhibit on mongol invasions that was unfortunately all in chinese but i could still admire the artistry of the handicrafts;

a special exhibit on kura pounamu - maori jade;

tomb decorations and afterlife offerings from the han dynasty; and finally a exhibit on southwestern chinese minorities. i stayed until well past 3:00. hungry, with my stomach growling, i headed to a nearby KFC i saw on my map. along the way, i visited a cloister of souvenir stores (almost bought some cheap jade trinkets, RMB$5 each) then stopped by a noodles shop. i had some intestines noodle (RMB$12) along with a bowl of fermented glutinous rice dessert with dough balls (RMB$6). the noodle was okay, should've gone with the knife cut noodles instead. the glutinous rice was very good, not sour, all sweetness, with some additional sugar.

even though i was already quite full, i still wanted to find that KFC. so i continued a little bit more, turning a corner to find my KFC. i decided to get a little fried chicken, and just so happens they had an afternoon special of 2 pieces of chicken plus a soft drink for just RMB$9. i ate then left, but was distracted by a walmart sign, and followed the arrows until i went to my first chinese walmart (which, originally enough, is built underneath the people's hall). pretty much like any other supermarket, maybe with more selection. had i not been exposed to chinese basement supermarkets already, i might've been shocked by all the things you'd never find in a US store (like smoked pig face), but none of that fazed me. they carried 3 different varieties of flossing toothpick but no dental floss. they also had soju, much cheaper at only RMB$14. i bought a package of tissue and some peanuts.

i returned to the hotel by around 5:00. i apologized to my shoes, took a shower, then relaxed until 7:30, where i got dressed and went back outside to look for some light dinner. i went to that taiwanese food truck again, this time getting the "sausage wrapped in sausage" (RMB$11). it wasn't that food. i wandered around the area a bit more, discovered a 7-up christmas tree, along with an H&M and uniqlo stores. returning to the hotel, i got some yanshuji from that taiwanese food truck.

back in the hotel, i finished off my chicken along with a bottle of soju and some peanuts. the soju was just like the one i bought in changshou, tasted like lightly sweetened water with alcohol. it seems like the kind of drink that'd be easy to make, unlike chinese baijiu, which has a more complex favorite that's hard to imitate. goes without saying, finishing a whole bottle of soju got me drunk.

i still had enough wits to book a chengdu hotel for tomorrow via ctrip. reservations are free, i pay when i check-in. i thought the place was pretty convenient but i didn't properly check the map first and it's actually a bit of a walk from the nearest subway stations (at least 15 minutes). but the hotel room is just RMB$119 for the night and it looks clean and has wifi and a window. i only booked one night, if i don't like it i'll move. after checking my lonely planet guide, it seems like there's a lot of things to see in chengdu after all. good thing i have a whole week to enjoy that city.