Foggy, Fiery, and Fascinating: The Chongqing Adventure I S2, EP112

Can you teach him some Chongqing dialect? Chongqing dialect? Chongqing dialect is... Climb the slope and look up! That's not it. Climb the slope and look up! It's like going up here. Good morning everyone, welcome back. Today I am in Chongqing, a city that made its fame on social media. This time I have another task. That is to get Flo a motorbike driving license. For some reason, although Flo has been an experienced driver, he has to retake the exam in China in order to get a long-term driving license. Since I did my driving license in Chongqing, we signed him up for the driving school yesterday. That's a long story. Probably I will tell it in another episode. Today our main task is just to have fun. So we got a scooter from our friend and then we decided to go for a ride in Chongqing and discover the city. Are you ready? Yes. Get in the car. Ok. My motorbike just shaked. Ok, let's go. It's actually very confusing to drive in Chongqing because there are so many signages, so many turns. Sometimes I really get confused. Even I have navigation with me. How do you like my driving so far? From 1 to 100, how would you rate my driving skill? 200. I mean, given that there is a heavy weight on the back, you are doing quite well. I'm not boasting, but I got my driving license in Chongqing. That was some real mountain ride. And here we are in Laojingdong. It's a Taoist temple. And it's on the top of a mountain range to the south of the urban area. And due to this mountain terrain, Chongqing is always quite foggy. So I'm having a real hike now. This temple has different stages, different terraces. And there is one last temple exactly on the top of this mountain. Let me show you the view from the mountain top. So look at that. This is Jiangzi River, Changjiang River, China's longest river. And that is Yuzhongqu, the central part of Chongqing with lots of high rises. So the city itself is very compact. And there are multiple big suspension bridges connecting different districts. Today is also a foggy day. So this is perhaps the most typical weather in winter. Chongqing has a nickname, Wudu, which means a city of fog because the mountain range trapped the cloud in this basin. With over 100 foggy days per year, Chongqing is one of the world's foggiest and cloudiest cities. The city is built on hills and cliffs and is packed with skyscrapers that peels through the mist. The roads and bridges rise above the river valley and the buildings stand at different levels. It is not the most famous Chinese city, but it definitely has a unique character. Yuzhongqu I dropped the bike in the middle of the city in Linghua Road. It's not particularly famous. And I am going to start a city walk from here. Those are very old residences. I feel as if I am in the 1980s. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 There are 13 floors. I wonder if there is an elevator inside. Do you think that there is an elevator inside? No, I don't think there is an elevator. No elevator? Let's go in and have a look. I don't think so. You are right. There is no elevator. This building totally has 12 floors, but there is no elevator. On the rooftop, there is a cute garden. Here you can see all the other old residences which are much higher than this one. Do you think there is an elevator next to this building? I don't think there is an elevator. Why? Because it is very old. I think there is an elevator in the new building. There is no elevator here? No elevator. Those old buildings are all old buildings. Those old buildings are old buildings. There are 14 floors. There are 14 floors in this building. We are 12. He is 12 years old. So you have been climbing up and down? We have been climbing up and down. The old man in white hair was 90 years old. He is 82 years old. He is 80 years old and 82 years old? Yes, the old man in white hair is 92 years old. Chongqing is a tough place. It is said that there are few earthquakes in so many cities. Very few earthquakes. Although Chongqing is like this, there are very few earthquakes. Chongqing is a tough place. It is not easy to have an earthquake. So there is a way. The building is very high. If there is no elevator, there is no earthquake in the new building. Do you understand Chongqing dialect? Almost. This is the first house built since the reform and opening up. This is the earliest house in the first row. Chongqing used to be a three-story building. Yes, it was a three-story building. It was half open. Grandma, you are more than 90 years old, right? He gave me 12 floors. 12 floors? I climb up and down every day. Climb up and down every day? I have to go down every day. How many years have you been living in this building? More than 30 years. I moved in 1992. You have lived in this building since 1992. How old do you climb every day? Climb every day? When I was old, I climbed up every day. I used to climb very high. So I had to climb very high. I used to climb very high. There are a lot of people. Do you still climb every day? Yes, I still climb every day. I'm used to it. She's used to it. You look very young. Yes, very young. Very young. She sees that I'm young. Yes, because you are healthy. You can still climb very high. We walk from the middle of the building. No one goes up or down. Just walk from the middle. You can go down from the middle. Thank you very much. Bye-bye. Let's go down and have a look. You can go down. Okay. People living in this neighborhood are so friendly. They will come to you. You can start a conversation like that. They told us that normally high-rises in Chongqing especially the old one are built in this way. That's a bridge. That's the main entrance of the high-rises. Normally you can enter from there. Either you can go down or go up. Look at that. There's also another bridge. That's actually the ground floor. One catty. It's so convenient. On the overpass, you can buy fresh produce. We just got some maji. It's a root of a plant. It tastes like apple and it's slightly sweet. The buildings are very tall in the city center. The distance between the buildings are very close. Occasionally, you'll find an open-air space like this. Kids are playing around. It's also quite convenient. Look, that's a barbershop. Another barbershop and another barbershop. Some grocery store. Some hot-pot restaurant. How many times have you been up there? Twice. I've been up there twice. That's impressive. We're in good shape. You're not fat. He thought you said... I said you're in good shape. He said you're in good shape. I said you're in good shape. Have you eaten in Chongqing? Can you teach him some Chongqing dialect? Chongqing dialect? We met some very friendly aunties and uncles and Flo picked up some Chongqing dialects. So we just dropped our motorbike near the street and walked to this area. This is a famous Kuixinglou and it's actually a hospital. Yet today this hospital has become an attraction because so if we walk to the rooftop it's going to be a completely different world. Coming from the other side this is the third floor but if you walk here and if I stick my camera out of this bridge it's actually the 22nd floor. Even though old high-rise buildings don't have elevators there are plenty of outdoor escalators and lifts to make it easier to get around the hilly city. Since people have to climb slopes as soon as they step outside motorcycles are very common in Chongqing. They weave skillfully through the busy streets and you'll see many motorbike taxi drivers waiting for passengers. So how many years have you been doing this? We found this most local restaurant and we're going to share a wanzamian together. So a wanzamian is a typical Chongqing dish. It's noodle with some pea and some green leafy vegetables with lots of chili sauce and citron pepper. It is salty, savory, spicy, aromatic and I can definitely taste the intense flavor of the citron pepper. This time we skipped hot pot because the last time we were in Chongqing we ordered a mildly spicy hot pot but still ended up with upset stomach. Hot pot is delicious but since it's made with beef fat and insane amount of chili peppers people who aren't used to heavy oil and strong spice might have trouble digesting it. After finishing the noodles we rode through the lion light city. Along the way we saw many others like us cruising around on motorcycles just for fun. Chongqing is just such a busy and lively city and standing on this bridge I can see airplanes passes by every two minutes a new plane is landing and I can hear the roaming of the trams. Every five minutes there is a tram that going through the bridge and in the river there are lots of ferries and also the cable car is very busy. There are lots of people on the street. It's such a nice vibe. 9 p.m we are enjoying the last moment of Chongqing on Nanshan Park. We just ordered a tea and the view from here is simply amazing. Chongqing is even more lively at night. It feels so sleepless. So if you are a city person if you like metropolitan remember to come to Chongqing. I am sure you will love it. So that's all for today's video. Thanks for watching and bye-bye.