Beyond Viral Chongqing: Hidden UNESCO Caves & China’s Wildest City - China 2026 Episode 1 🇨🇳

Chongqing feels like the future, but just one hour away, there is a UNESCO world heritage you've never seen. After a few days with family, finally we arrived in Chongqing. Excited? Don't sound like that. So we just arrived and I just ordered DD, which is a taxi hailing app, to go to the hotel. Usually I would choose the premium one because it's cleaner and the service is much better. And then there's the waiting area here, and the driver even gave me a call just to confirm if I'm already here and told me that he's on his way. So that's the app and it shows you the car plate number, the color, so it's the same as Uber. Our premium car arrived and it looks all clean and the service is really good. There's water here, 28 kilometers, $10, good deal. Now let's see what our hotel looks like. There's the bathroom, no, it's the shower room, and the bathroom, and the bedroom. We are on the 62nd floor and there's a bathtub where you can enjoy the view. And take a bath. And the girl just told me, apparently there are two famous river meeting here. Like you can see on the right side is Changjiang, on the left side is another river, I forgot the name, where they will meet together. And at night there will be a lot of lights apparently. So let's see. Now let's go see how comfy the bed is. There is no TV in the room, but there is a projector. Wow. After getting the room, we finally met our friends that are now living in China. Yo, yo, yo, yo, yo, yo, yo. First trip ever. So good. What did you get? I got some drink with pear, goji berries, date, and white mushroom, no, white wood ear. I don't know what's it called. Ying'er. White mushroom. So that's how you pay. Everything you just kind of QR code. So it's 9, 9, 9.9. There are so many people that after just like 20 minutes, we lost our friends. Now we're going to try to find them. We're really going to try some kind of that with jerky. So this is like, I think their specialty in Chongqing. This and this. So we have this guy, look at his plate. Look at his real Chinese food. It's not a sign of chili pepper. That looks so good. This is like the glass noodle made of potato. Yeah, same, sweet potato I think. How is it? Very good. It's pretty good. Chili spicy sauce. What's inside? All kinds of ---- that I don't know. All kinds of vegetables. Yeah, scallions, radish, maybe. Yeah, yeah. It's a bit messy to eat. That's the problem. There's a jerk. I don't know what it's called in English. Here, your turn. Big bite. Do you like it? Very good. I don't like jerk. You don't? You don't have a tiny bit on the side. Middle, middle, middle. White people, white people friendly. Fish mint. Jerk. Fish mint. No wonder it's fishy. It's good. Let me taste it first though. It's ******* awesome. It's like mochi. So it's black sugar. Not very sweet though. That's the best comment. I mean, that's a compliment for Chinese dessert. Very hot. Is it hot? After dinner, we found a sky bar on the 17th floor in Chongqing. It was raining, so the view was a bit foggy and you couldn't see everything clearly. But you could tell that on a clear night, it would be really impressive with the full skyline and the river view. We just stayed there for a bit, had a drink and enjoyed the atmosphere. The next day. So something funny just happened. We ordered like a coffee from Luckin Coffee and we paid the first time and we got the coffees. And then we were in another shop to get like something to eat. And I got the request to insert a code again for Inalipay for Luckin Coffee. And I was thinking maybe they didn't get the payment on the first time. And so I put the code again. And basically they got another order, I don't know how, for the same coffee we already had. So now we are running back again to get another coffee that we really didn't want it. But as we already paid, let's drink another one. Maybe they can cancel it. I don't know. That's okay. So yeah, always be careful on Alipay because if you are too fast, you can do double orders. We weren't fast enough. They were already made. Yeah, we're gonna bring it to our friends. Anyway, they need it. So now we're in a temple called Luo Han Temple. And it's a temple with thousands of years of history. Apparently it was destroyed during the Second World War and also Cultural Revolution and was rebuilt in the 1980s. The entrance fee included three incense sticks. Visitors can light them, place them in the burner and bow. It's a simple way to show respect and make a quiet wish. The wooden structures, red pillars and rows of statues give the space a very traditional feel. And even with the city right outside, it feels calm once you step inside. To see the full view of Hongya Cave, we came to a park on the other side and where you can see a lot of people taking pictures. I think this is the best spot to have a night view of the city. It's full of people, but I think much less people than the bridge. After dinner, we went to a hilltop barbecue called the Dinglaotou barbecue. The drive up was tough, narrow, winding roads. But the city view from the restaurant was worth it. We ordered the set menu with meats and vegetables, drinks separately. A bit touristy and pricier, but still cheap compared to Canada. Master chef cooking for you. Oh, thank you. The only complaint I have is the chair. You're sitting almost like, I don't know, two inches above the floor. Let's show Liana how she sits. On our last day, instead of going to see the train going through the building, we decided to go outside the city to do something more cultural. So today we are out of Chongqing. Where are we? Beishan. North mountain. Coffee. We need coffee. Yeah, coffee. He said people come here to pray. So apparently your wish will be granted. So we have to pray today. The Dazhu rock carving site is a UNESCO world heritage site. We started our visit at Beishan, which is one of the earlier sections and dates mainly to the Tang and Song dynasties over a thousand years ago. The carvings here are smaller and very detailed, with a strong focus on Buddhist figures and their facial expressions. You can really see the effort and skills that went into making them. And many of them show both religious themes and scenes from daily life. It feels quieter and more intimate compared to other parts of the site. And it's a good introduction to the history of Dazhu. We strongly recommend hiring a local driver to take you between the different sites. After Beishan, our driver brought us to a local spot for lunch away from the touristy areas. We even invited him to join us and he made the experience feel more local and relaxed. The food was so good and we ended up with so many dishes. It was definitely one of the best means of the trip. After lunch, we headed to Baodingshan, the highlight of the Dazhu rock carvings. Everything here was carved entirely by hand and the site was developed over more than 70 years during the Song dynasty under a monk named Zhao Zhifeng. The carvings are arranged like a continuous story along the cliff, showing Buddhist teachings, the wheel of life and karma, and values like respect for parents and family. One of the most amazing scenes is the wheel of life, which represents the cycle of rebirth and the consequences of one's actions. Next to the wheel of life, there are three large figures sitting side by side. The central one represents the main Buddha, symbolizing truth and enlightenment, while the two on each side are holding pagodas. One of the pagodas is about 1.8 meters tall and very heavy, yet it has remained in place for centuries, showing the skill and precision of Asian craftsmen. Together they create a strong and balanced scene next to the wheel of life. The Thousand-Hand Guanyin is one of the main highlights here. It represents compassion with many arms reaching out to help people. Each hand is carefully carved and the level of detail is incredible, especially considering everything was done by hand over 1,000 years ago. It's very impressive to see in person, and scenes like this are the kind of inspiration you also see in games like Black Myth Wukong. Look at the sleeping Buddha. The statue is about 32 meters long and the expression is very calm and peaceful. Standing in front of it, you can really feel how large and quiet the whole scene is. What we are showing is probably only about 30% of the carvings here. You really have to come see it yourself to understand the scale. What makes it even more special is that these carvings were never destroyed during wars or cultural revolutions, so what you see today has been preserved for over a thousand years. We would definitely recommend getting a guide, because all the statues are connected, there is a full story behind them, and a guide really helps you understand how everything links together and immerse yourself in the culture and history. After Baodingshan, we walked into Shengshou Temple. It has a long history and was closely connected to the development of Dazu rock carvings during the Song dynasty. It served as an important place for Buddhist practice and it's still active today. At the top, you can ring a bell for blessings, which is a traditional way to pray for good luck and peace. And interestingly, you can even pay using WeChat or Alipay by scanning the QR code, which shows how these traditions continue in modern life. So guys, was today the best day? Yeah. Okay, now we are leaving Chongqing and we are going to Chengdu, and this is going to be the next episode, so follow us and subscribe for the other videos, and yeah, see you next time!