Livin' In The Chonx

Chongqing smells like cigarettes, exhaust, and peppers. Today was a beautiful sunny day and you could almost make out the blue skies above the smog.

How I missed you!

The moment I climbed down from the airport shuttle I was assaulted by a Bangbang man. Despite how many times I insisted that I did not need his help to roll my mostly empty suitcase he still stayed glued to my side plying me with questions about which hotel I was staying at or if I was trying to get to the train station. Meanwhile, solicitors were coming out of the woodwork stuffing my coat pockets with advertisements. I was so flustered I started walking in the wrong direction just trying to get away from them all, but I still couldn’t shake the Bangbang man. He was so fervent with his “Don’t tell me you’ll even refuse help from a poor bangbang! It’s only two kuai.” Once it was clear I was going the wrong direction I finally relented and let him walk me back the opposite 50 meters to the bus stop. No wonder foreigners are overwhelmed when they first arrive here.

Comfortably settled on the bus back to my old neighborhood I was struck by a couple things. First, people here dress simply and practically. I didn’t see a single knock-off brand name purse or pressed suit or shiny patent leather anything. You wouldn’t catch any of these people window shopping on Nanjing Road. Second, everything looks old and worn in. Not talking about clothes now, but the buildings. I left at the end of last August and since then new buildings and constructions have gone up all over town, but if I didn’t know any better I would have thought these new buildings had been there for years. The brand new bridge to Caiyuanba that was not yet finished when I left, is finished now but has a settled in look like it’s been there for ages. Perhaps it is because the massive bridge still manages to be dwarfed by the towering apartment districts rising up on the hills on either bank. High rises around my old neighborhood that just went up last fall have a dirty, tired look to them. Soot streaked windowpanes, a gray film masking every facade. Shiny and new does not last long in this city. But the old taxis have been replaced by roomier and curvier new models, at least those still manage to flash bright yellow through the gray districts.

It makes my heart ache a bit to think about the first impression Chongqing must give to newcomers. But the truth is, the lack of attention to appearances tells of a certain characteristic in the people here that I would not change for all the shiny window panes in all of Shanghai and Hong Kong. The people in Chongqing are simple, real, and proud. This isn’t a place where they’ll repaint the walls of buildings facing the street while the inside three walls crumble away with neglect. No, for better or worse, in this city they give it to you how it is.

Now if only the girls would eat more so they didn’t all look like toothpicks. *Sigh*