the middle kingdom (china) pt. 1

February 7, 2025

It was time to tackle one of the largest and most exciting countries on our journey, the People’s Republic of China. We began by entering mainland china via Gongbei Port in Zhuhai before making our way to Guangzhou.

guangzhou #

We spent a few days in Guangzhou exploring the streets, particularly the streets surrounding Shangxiajiu Pedestratian Street, as there were many fashion shops for seemingly ‘boutique’ labels.

chinese flags — China is very patriotic.

three vans — Three vans, two red lights.

shangxiajiu pedestrian street — Shangxiajiu Pedestrian Street.

school kids — School kids on their way home.

apartments — Average accomodation in Guangzhou.

china internet meme — You can't say they're not self-aware.

whole chicken hotpot #

We went out for some chicken hotpot, and much to our surprise, that meant we were getting an entire chicken.

eating hotpot — A little difficult to eat, but worth it.

local market #

I went for a stroll and wound up at a local market where they were selling all kinds of goods.

fish in styrofoam boxes — Styrofoam boxes are the container of choice for fish.

locals at market — Locals at the market.

food stall — You can't get this at Woolies.

zhangjiejae #

We took a train and then a taxi from Guangzhou to Zhangjiajae, which is located in the Hunan province. As we arrived in the afternoon, by the time we had settled down in our hostel, it was becoming dark.

After avoiding the strange man near our accomodation who kept trying to sell us a ‘massage’, we walked into town, which was lit up in various shades of yellow and orange. We suspected it was due to the approaching Chinese New Year.

lit up houses — Not pictured: a family letting off fireworks over the river.

lanterns — Many of the buildings had lantern light setups like this.

zhangjiejae national forest park #

The reason why we came here was Zhangjiejae National Forest Park, which may be known by Westerners for inspiring the look of the film Avatar.

The park features many pillar formations that dot the landscape which have been formed over many years through erosion. We took the Bailong Elevator up to the top, and then spent a good few hours walking around.

zhangjiejae pillar — Note the trees growing at the top of the pillar.

jade posing — It was surprisingly warm, hence the waist-tied jacket.

pillar — It's hard to understand how these were formed.

finn posing — Obligatory black and white pensive shot.

zhangjiejae landscape — The Zhangjiejae landscape.

growing trees — Silhouette of the cliffside tree growth.

tianmen mountain #

Despite coming here for the national park, what really wowed us was Tianmen Mountain. We took a cable car up, which took about 30 minutes. No chance of us climbing that, especially in the brisk weather.

white houses — White houses with black/brown trim we saw on the way up.

Looking over the edge inspired feelings of fear.

love charm — Considering this was past the barrier, the couple who put this here must have been quite brave. I wonder if they're still together.

The glass walkway. Just in case you wanted to feel more on edge.

thumbs up — Thumbs up for Tianmen Mountain.

jade pose — We probably should have brought gloves.

The last time I had seen a squirrel was in London. Had to take a snap.

heavens gate from top — View from the top of Heaven's Gate.

These 45-degree steps were much scarier in person than this picture portrays.

chongqing #

After a few days in Zhangjiejae, we made the move to our first Chinese megacity, Chongqing. The built up area of the city has around 9.5 million people, but the entire municipality has over 32 million people living here.

Naturally, we had to stop by the building which is famous for having a train run through the middle of it.

liziba station — Liziba Station on Chongqing's Metro Line 2.

dongshuimen bridge and hongya cave #

It’s pretty hard to avoid Dongshuimen bridge (and the accompanying Qiansimen bridge) when walking through Chongqing.

Hongya Cave is probably the thing to visit whilst visiting Chongqing. It’s multiple levels of food stalls and shops and it’s absolutely bonkers inside.

chongqing hotpot #

A visit to Chongqing wouldn’t be complete without having tried their hotpot, which is influenced heavily by Sichuan cuisine. This means a lot of chillies, and plenty of sichuan peppers.

I had experienced what sichuan peppers were like in Hong Kong, but here it was another level. Just for context, sichuan peppers impart a sensation of numbness on your lips and mouth, which supposedly helps with eating larger amounts of chillies.

We were provided with an arrangement of meat, eggs, vegetables and noodles to put into the hotpot, and whilst it was delicious, I was definitely paying for it the next morning.

ciqikou ancient town #

One of our final stops was to visit Ciqikou, which is referred to Little Chongqing. Walking down the streets here, you’ll find many wooden houses, teahouses, shops and temples. The town also has a history of porcelain production, so if that’s your thing you’ll have a good time.

Some kind of concrete structure atop a drum.

candles — Candles at one of the temples.

I have split up my posts about China into two, as they’ll be prohibitively long otherwise.

That’s it for our time in Chongqing. Next, we’re onto Xi’an. You can continue reading here.