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Weather in Chongqing

Sep 032008

If you’ve already booked your ticket and you’re on your way to Chongqing get the most accurate weather forecast for right now with any of the various weather sites. Wunderground is usually fairly accurate.

If still trying to decide when to come, the best advice is to avoid the summer. Unless of course you enjoy the feeling of being oven broiled every time you set foot outside your door. The best time to visit Chongqing is the very short Spring season, and Autumn is not so bad either. Despite what they say at this site, winters in Chongqing are not pleasant.

Here is a general breakdown of the annual seasonal changes, but the weather is not constant. Take this year, for example, it rained for nearly the entire month of August, causing the city to be unusually cool for the summer. The year before they had the worst drought in decades. It was HOT. Same goes for the winter. Some years are definitely worse than others.

Spring (Mid March-Early May) The weather starts to warm up just enough for flowers to bloom all over the city, blue skies are much more common during this time of the year. Occasional spring thunderstorms wash a bit of the winter grime off the buildings and sidewalks, but sometimes lead to flooding. Temperatures range in the 20s °C, 60-80 °F

Summer (Mid May-Mid September) On good days it is hot and dry and the sky is some variation of smoggy blue. On bad days the humidity from the rivers hangs over the city and the heat is trapped by the surrounding mountains. The pollution from the cars and the factories create air quality that makes your eyes sting and your nasal passages fail, and the sky alternates between shades of yellow, orange, and dirty dishwater. An increasing number of buildings are air-conditioned and smart people stay in those places rather than face the tropical city heat. Rain is a welcome respite. Temperatures range in 30s °C, 80-100 °F. About two weeks out of the year the temperatures exceed 40°C/100°F.

Autumn (Late September-Mid November) The temperatures become bearable again, and humidity is less noticeable. This is the rainy season, but typically the rain falls in short bursts or there is just a constant light drizzle where people may not even bother with an umbrella. Temperatures range in 20s °C (60-80 °F).

Winter (Late November-Early March) Winters can be nasty in Chongqing because of the humidity and lack of central heating in most places. The damp, cold can be felt all the way down to your bones even though the actual temperature seldom dips to freezing. It almost never snows in the city, but on occasion there is sleet and hail. The pollution is probably the worst in the winter, possibly from people burning coal in the countryside or around the city. Everything becomes covered in a film of black, and the skies seem grayer too. Locals wear thick down coats over several layers of clothing and long underwear and wrap scarves around their necks and faces. Temperatures hover around 10°C (40-50°F)

Olympic Torch Relay in Chongqing 15th-16th

Living No Responses »

Jun 142008

The Olympic torch reaches the Chongqing leg of the relay this Sunday, the 15th. It will first pass through Wanzhou District (one of the stops along the Three Gorges Cruise) and end in downtown Chongqing on the 16th.

The torch will pass between 416 runners, the oldest 89 years of age and the youngest only 15. Of the 416, ninety are women.

Wanzhou Segment

The Wanzhou torch relay will begin at 8:00 am and traverse 29.4 km (7.5 km by foot, the rest by car) over the course of two and a half hours. Here is a breakdown of the stops along the way*:

Wanzhou Secondary School — Bai An Avenue — Bai An Circle –Anshun Road — South Bus Station — Wu Qiao Overpass — Wanchuan Avenue — Wanxian Yangtze Bridge — Promenade — North Shore Road (Beibin Lu) — Peace Plaza (Heping Guangchang) — Wujiawan — Hong Guang Elementary — Wanzhou Bridge — Minghang District — Yubei Anti-Aircraft Regiment — China Industrial and Commercial Bank Street — Tiancheng Avenue — Mintian Exhibition Center — Yangtze River Overpass – Wanzhou Food City — Shibao Bridge — Beishan Avenue — Xinfu Road — #2 Yangtze River Bridge — Jiangnan New District Tunnel — District Government Administration Center

The first person to receive the torch in Wanzhou will be former Olympic ping pong champion Kong Linghui. The final runner of the Wanzhou leg will be Wang Gang Lin, Wanzhou Public Security Fire Captain, who has just returned from the frontlines of earthquake relief in Sichuan.

Downtown Chongqing Segment

The 17 km downtown segment of the relay will begin at 8:00 am on the 16th at the northern District Council and end around 10:00 at the Great Hall of the People in People’s Square. Most of the 11 km relay by foot will take place in the new northern district and then tranferred by car to People’s Square. See enlarged version of map above for the route.

This leg of the relay will be kicked off by Gu Li, of the World Champion Go team and finished with national champion boxer, Li Bin.

To express that the people’s thoughts and support are still with the victims of the Sichuan earthquake, Liu Gang, a survivor who received treatment in Daping Hospital will also be carrying the torch during the downtown leg of the relay.

*Rough translations and pinyin names used here, you can also see original Chinese here

Post Office

Living No Responses »

Aug 272007

You Ju 邮局

There are large China Post offices in every major shopping district, and smaller branch offices scattered throughout the city. The small offices can usually handle letters, postcards, small packages shipped within China. But for larger packages or shipping packages overseas they will usually direct you to a larger post office.

Mailing packages: Regardless of whether you are shipping in country or internationally, you must purchase the standard shipping boxes when you arrive at the post office. Styrofoam and other packing materials are not usually available, and using newspaper or printed material is not allowed for international shipping. Depending on how lucky you are, the personnel may allow you to put your items in the box yourself, or they will carefully examine each item before packing it for you. In the latter case they may refuse to ship things like DVDs, CDs, and other forms of media. Some people recommend the Shapingba Post Office (located in Three Gorges Plaza) because the personnel usually do not check what you are mailing.
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Hospitals

Living 2 Responses »

Aug 272007

These are the hospitals, recommended by the US Embassy in Beijing, which have English-speaking doctors and are able to provide medical care and services to foreigners.

First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University
• Yi Ke Da Xue Fu Shu Yi Yuan 医科大学附属医院
• This hospital, also known as Chong Yi (重医) for short, is located in the center of Chongqing near the Daping area. This also happens to be the hospital that all Peace Corps volunteers in Chongqing are referred to for emergency medical services. For an English introduction to the hospital check out this website
• Address: 重庆市渝中区袁家岗友谊路1号 Phone: (023)8901-2301
Bus Tip: 袁家岗重医一院 or 袁家岗
Light Rail Tip: 袁家岗 (Yuanjiagang)

Pharmacy

Living No Responses »

Aug 272007

Yao Dian/Yao Fang 药店/药房

Pharmacies can be found all over the city and are typically easy to spot with their counters and walls lined with medicine. Most are divided by Chinese and Western medications, and you may be surprised what you can purchase over the counter here (cough syrup with codeine for instance). Surprisingly, you won’t be able to find Tiger Balm. Two of the largest chains in Chongqing have money-back guarantees that none of their medicine is fake—which begs the question, what are the smaller pharmacies selling at half the price?? These are the two large chains: He Ping Yao Fang 和平药房 (green sign with white letters) and Tong Jun Ge Yao Fang 桐君阁大药房 (blue sign with gold letters). Tong Jun Ge is slightly cheaper than He Ping.

Here is a list of some common medications that can be purchased (often the face-down side of the box has English).
• Tylenol Cold 泰诺 (Tai Nuo)
• Fenbid Ibuprofen 芬必得 (Fen Bi De)
• Pepto Bismol 佩托比斯摩 (Pei Tuo Bi Si Mo)
• For diarrhea – Xie Li Ting 泄痢停
• For allergies – Clarityne 开瑞坦 (Kai Rui Tan)

Churches

Living No Responses »

Aug 272007

The Amity Foundation provides a detailed list of several of the churches (English & Chinese) in Chongqing. The churches listed there are most likely all officially sponsored by the government. Services are typically in Chinese. Up until recently English services were held in the Hilton, but these services may be discontinued. Here are a couple others not listed by the Amity Foundation:

Agape Church 基督教圣爱堂 Ji Du Jiao Sheng Ai Tang: Located within walking distance from the Liberation Monument-Jiefangbei. (Head southwest along Min Quan Road 民权路)

St. Joseph’s Church 圣若瑟堂 Sheng Ruo Se Tang: Established in 1850, this Catholic Church is easy to miss as it is now tucked away between towering residential apartment complexes. But if you manage to find it, the ivy creeping up the old gray brick clocktower is certainly photo worthy.
Bus Tip: 七星岗 Along Min Sheng Road (民生路) there should be a narrow steep flight of steps going down to the front entrance.

Fitness Centers

Living No Responses »

Aug 272007

Jian Shen Zhong Xin 健身中心

Small gyms can be found scattered around the city. But most expats will recommend the two large gyms in Shapingba and Nanping. These gyms are full of weight training and aerobics equipment, and for an additional fee you can enroll in classes like spinning and yoga. Annual membership at these two gyms is usually around 1200 RMB, but you may be able to get discounts if you purchase membership with friends or with a student ID. (Smaller gym memberships are half that price)

Kang Mei (Shapingba) 康美健身中心
• Located on the 4th floor above the McDonald’s, Xinhua bookstore, and Pacific department store on the North side of Three Gorges Plaza. (Also has smaller branches in Daping and Yangjiaping, and a large branch at Paradise walk in Jiangbei) Phone: (023)6547-8388
Bus Tip: 沙坪坝

Nanping Fitness Center 南坪健身中心
• Located along the Nanping walking street, on the upper levels of the building across from the McDonald’s (ironically, this is what you see as you run on the treadmills).
Bus Tip: 南坪西路(金台)

Golf Courses

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Aug 272007

Gāo ěr Fū Qiú Chǎng 高尔夫球场

Believe it or not there are three golf courses in Chongqing, and more on the way. (Someone must have given the municipal government a tip about foreign business transactions) If you can afford a round of golf here then you probably have your own personal driver, so I will spare the bus tips in this section.

Chongqing River View Golf & County Club (North – Jiangbei)