It’s 5:00 pm and we’ve just arrived in Chongqing, China. While we wait to get into our rooms, we’re all asking each other what the game plan is for tonight. Some were going to see friends or family, others shopping, or sleeping, but most of us wanted to head out to grab something to eat and see a little of the famous night lights of the city. We gave ourselves an hour and agreed to meet back downstairs.
Now this wasn’t my first time in China but it is my first time in Chongqing. Cyberpunk-like cityscapes and mouth-numbing food are what it’s famous for, and I was ready to dive right into it.
An hour later, I headed back down to the lobby to meet the rest of the group. I was the first one down and slowly but surely, I saw a few tired faces make their way to the couch where I was waiting. Tired faces, but still a lively crowd. We booked two cars to get to where we wanted to go. Mind you, I still had no idea where we were going at that time, we all just followed the guy who had been there before and knew a place. All he told us was, “We’re going for a hotpot dinner first.” Say no more and off we went.
In the car I was amazed at the city’s architecture. The city is nestled between hills and mountains, but it seemed like they didn’t remove any of the topography to make way for civilization. They built around it instead. Walkways run between buildings, and a street that looks like it sits on the ground turns out to be the twenty-first floor of whatever is holding it up. The roads do the same thing, running at different heights and dropping into tunnels that corkscrew around to come out on another level. The city was so dense that it looked like everything was connected to each other.
I was also told that Chongqing was the most populated area in China. The traffic was fine until we got downtown near Jiefangbei, and then it was pretty much gridlock. Offices emptying out at that hour, and on top of that the number of tourists who flock to the downtown area. The spot we were going to was only about six kilometers away, but it took us 40 minutes to get there.
It was still light when we arrived, and the road traffic turned into a sea of people. I had no other way to describe how many people were there. It was so crowded that you could easily get separated from your group. So we got in line and played follow the leader. When we got to the front of the restaurant, there was no mistaking what they served there. The smell of Sichuan peppercorns and chilies wafted out of the doors like a punch on the nose. I definitely knew what we were in for.
As we climbed up the stairs of the restaurant, the smell just kept getting stronger until we reached the main dining room. The source of the fiery smell was none other than large, steaming vats of mala hotpot on everyone’s table. Around those vats, different cuts of meat, vegetables, and personal concoctions of sauces. Seeing and smelling all this, my appetite was overflowing at that moment. We got to our table and not surprisingly, the whole menu was in Chinese. Thankfully one of us was fluent enough to ask the waiter what everything was and he ordered for our group.
While we waited for our hotpot to come, we hopped over to the sauce bar where we were able to make sauces to our own preferences. Chilies, garlic, coriander leaves, soy sauce, sesame sauce, chili oil, sesame oil, and other things I had no idea what they were. I went with minced garlic, coriander, soy sauce, sesame paste, and a bit of black vinegar. I just hoped I mixed something good enough to accompany the hotpot.
Back at the table, a big glistening pot of soup was waiting for us. The aroma kicked my hunger into overdrive and thankfully it didn’t take long for the copious amounts of meat and veggies to arrive. Thinly sliced beef, pork belly, luncheon meat, mushrooms, and just a little bit of greens surrounded the cauldron. As soon as it arrived, we dumped bits and pieces into the soup and waited until they were cooked. I kept checking every few seconds if it was. Once cooked, I pulled it out of the pot, dunked it in my bowl of sauce, and down the hatch.
An explosion of flavor hit my taste buds. Upfront was the spice of the chilies and Sichuan peppercorns. The chilies put my tongue on fire while the Sichuan peppercorns numbed it. The sauce turned out well. The black vinegar and the sesame paste cut the heat and the oiliness coming off the soup, enough that I could keep going back in. Not long after, my whole body felt it too. I started sweating from the heat of the spices but I didn’t mind. Back home we had a lot of spicy food, and someone once told me that you haven’t eaten in Indonesia if you didn’t sweat through your meal from the spice. To chill down the heat, I ordered a beer which to this day I have no idea what it’s called. A bottle with a lion’s head on a blue label, and it tasted like a pilsner. That’s the whole of what I know about it. It did the job of quenching my thirst and cooling everything down.
After finishing all the meat we had ordered and going through a whole box of tissues, we all grunted. One of those ones after a good meal. I really find it enjoyable to eat food where it came from. I’ve had mala hotpot before, but to have it where it’s their specialty, it’s something else. The food itself is already good, but add to that the lost in translation feeling of an all Chinese menu and a beer with a name you have no idea about, it’s one of my favorite things about traveling. Actually, it might be at the top of the list.
We had gone in while it was still light. We came out into the dark, and the aroma of the hotpot lingered on. It was like the city had mala-hotpot-scented air fresheners, and it accompanied us all the way to the spot we were going to. I think this place was the most popular attraction in the city. Earlier I thought it was crowded, but when we got to Hongyadong, it was another level of crowded. People everywhere. The sidewalks were crammed with people walking and taking pictures of this neon-lit building that stood off the ground on stilts. I must admit it makes a very cool scene, a traditional looking building lit up with warm light against modern skyscrapers behind it. Even so, I had to take a step back and find a place away from the crowd once in a while.
That night we saw Hongyadong from all different viewpoints: below, above, and from across the river. All of them were very nice but my favorite one was the one across the river. You’re somewhere between five hundred and eight hundred meters out, with the water and the Qiansimen bridge in between, the bridge lit up red the whole way across. From there you get the wider view of the contrast between traditional and modern, and it’s ever so slightly less crowded. There are seating areas along that side too. The rest of the group went down to the river’s edge for their pictures while I stayed in one of the seats and took mine from there.
After everyone was happy with their pictures, we headed back. The traffic had calmed down and we were at the hotel in no time. Back in my room I realized the city didn’t have mala-scented air fresheners after all. Just shirts that smell like mala.
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