Holistr

Gele shan in Chongqing

Meeting time was at 9:30 at Shapingba metro station (Nowadays you can already take metro directly to Leishimu station, which will get you close to the gates of SISU).

From Shapingba we changed to bus number 210 and drove 5 stations directly in front of the gate of SIUS university. Station name chuanwai (川外).

Audrey picked us up at the gate and we followed her to the base of Gele mountain. Still inside of the campus, right next to a training ground. Even the dormitories are on the same ground where former POW camp was located.

First stop on our visit is the former prison of CRA officer Ye Ting, now called the Martyrs’ Memorial or if you want the Baigong guan. Admission is for free(or 30RMB depends if you are a student) and you can roam around the former POW grounds freely, bring your own food and simply have a picnic inside the compound. The whole area is relatively large, but we are visiting just the most important building accessible from SISU campus. Having our first, but not last, snack and turning back to a side track that will lead us to the Gele mountain peak. More about Martyrs’ Memorial.

The climb was steep and we got tired quickly. Chongqings humidy never falling under 70% was taking its toll on us and we were sweating and pounding as ascending to what seemed a never-ending set of steps. As we climbed, the sky darkened more and more and eventually rain drops occurred. It was not strong, but annoying. Girls were afraid to get too wet and tried to convince me to turn back. “Not an option. We are going to make it to the top today.”

On the way my new 600D camera records faces, moods and achievements of our little group. I must say the 50mm lens is great for making portraits. Comparing to my former Nikon coolpix…well you can not compare Skoda with Aston Martin, can you? Though portraits are beautiful and in great quality, the landscape can not be captured at all. One of my first walks with such an equipment and I already see the drawbacks also. Heavy, large and not easily to store camera that gives you opportunity to make great pictures under given circumstances. As I like capturing also the nature and landscape a different lense would be a better choice.

The peak is marked by a stone and statue and details about the origin and history of Gele mountain carved in it. You can not see much of a landscape because all the vegetation around, though Our last stop was marked by snacks, photos and extraordinary puddle that did not want to leave our group. His master had to eventually carry it away. Something is telling me, the snacks and dried meet was the reason:-)

Challenging hike, beautiful views and plenty of amusement…all of that can be found on Gele mountain in Chongqing. Hope to come back one day. It is a really nice place to hang out.

Random Chinese food

Looks: 5

Smell: 4

Spiciness: 0

Satisfaction Factor: 1

Overall: Ahmmm

Price TAG: 7 RMB

 
Once upon a time, there was my favorite dumpling restaurant. And they were serving great dumplings, any kind you can imagine….well thats what a fairy tale concerns. The reality is unfortunately different. Yes, they have delicious dumplings.Yes, they have good prices. Yes, they have a pretty good variety. But still they don’t have picture menu. Although I already Leveled-UP I still mostly rely on Random food. This time I pointed on something in the dumpling section, what I thought is a spicy dumpling soup.

EEEENG….wrong!! Lao ban placed in front of me a plate full of something I could not identify. It was looking like a badly shaped chips crossed with nachos. Total brain teaser. I never imagined the dumplings could look like that. But they do. And honestly it does not look that bad. I would say impressive. They have not much taste, are crunchy and really dry. Fried probably in peanut oil. I had to add some spicy sauce in order to feel any taste at all. I was feeling really hungry after that super small portion (10 or so pieces).

Yangtze river swimming

Last April day we decided to take the opportunity and join the local group in their activity. Free water swimming club invited everyone to join them and swim in the mighty Yangtze river right in the middle of Chongqing. Start was at the Coral Dam in Yozhong district also known as Shanhuba.

I tried to advertise this event for more than a week on my QQ profile message board, but the only replies that came were WARNINGS.

“Hay man, are you CRAZY!!”
“Hey Holistr, are you serious…the river is dirty.”
“BIOHAZARD man…don’t go to that river!”
“Nope, I will not join you for the swim…the river is dirty!!”
“Do you want to catch some disease?!”
“Just don’t drink it…not even accidentally.”
“Take a hot bath with detergent after the swim;-)”

Well…after a week of massage with such messages I was really worried about it. Social pressure works perfectly. I really considered not to go to the river. Had even a bad dream about getting a nasty skin disease.

Well Soha was the only one person that encouraged me and was even flirting with the idea to try it with me. Also George who joined us in the last moment with his camera was encouraging and challenging me to go for it.

Since Robin and all his crew were extremely opened and nice people, I could not let them down. Invited and heartily accepted among them I was part of the swimming without even noticing.

From the “medicine man” I bought waterproof bag for 30RMB and along with others stuffed all my necessary belongings into it. It is 30 liter orange bag that floats and looks like a boy when in the river. Towel, shorts, socks, shoes, glasses, and T-shirt. The rest was taken care of by my friends, who took the distance on foot at the Shanhuba pebbly bank.

I followed the drill – warmed up, stretched and massaged my legs. Pebbles on the coast of Shanhuba are slippery and one should take better shoes than just slippers to walk on them. From the Shanhuba bridge above it does not look like but Yangtze river stream is strong in here. I was strongly advised not to drift to the center of the stream and keep only a few meters from the bank.

Water was considerably cold. Around  20 degrees. Man how I was regretting my decision when my belly touched the cold river surface :-/

Stream is really strong and I didn’t even had to swim much. But with the water temperature it was necessary. One minute to get used to the water, few temps against the stream and we were ready to go. Actually after trying to swim against the flow of the river you will finally realize how strong it is.

We made it from the west to the east. No more than a 500 meters in Yangtze.From my personal point of view…the river is no more dirty as any other big river. Like Nile, Danube or Vltava. Was paying a good attention not to get a sip and the occasional fish hitting your leg is also pretty suprising:-)

Watching the Shanhuba bridge I regularly use to commute to the city center from down there, laying on my back, enjoying serenity of the mighty Yangtze river, embraced in silence and carried away by the stream…Unforgettable experience!!!