Chongqing, one of China’s most happening cities, has a layered history. The city, at the confluence of the Jialing and Yangtze rivers, has sprung up on the lush green hills on either side of the waterway. Locals say bike-sharing — very common in the rest of China — has come a cropper in Chongqing. The steep slopes of the city, in the heart of the Sichuan basin, have been forbidding, deterring the mainstreaming of a thriving bicycle culture. So visitors or locals prefer the more regular buses, tube and taxis to commute for leisure or work.
Tourists flock to an abundance of eateries, big and small, often serving the famous Chongqing hotpot. The local speciality is a spicy broth on the boil, to which are added select meat and vegetables. Local and foreign brews that go along with hotpot are never in short supply in this elegant southwest China metropolis.
At night, the Yangtze is on fire — its multi-hued waters mirroring the glow of dense city lights. In the past, Chongqing grew from the bowels of the Second Word War. When imperial Japan invaded China, the pre-communist Republican government moved from Nanjing to Chongqing, which became the new capital. Industry, seeking refuge, too was moved into the protective highlands of Chongqing. The movement of assembly lines and machinery spurred the rise of the city as China’s new regional industrial hub.
During the war, Chongqing also became the abode of General Joseph Stilwell. The Stilwell Road that he helped build became the lifeline for the embattled Chinese resistance against Japan. The road snakes its way from Ledo in Assam to the jungles of Myanmar. From there, it heads further into Yunnan in China, branching into smaller towns and villages that still echo the powerful memories of the war.
In recent years, Chongqing has acquired a new mantle. It has become the hub for lifting residual poverty in southwest China. This is the first step for achieving regional prosperity under the ambitious Yangtze River Economic Belt plan. Chongqing is leveraging its location, and prized connectivity, in the upper reaches of the Yangtze, to become the engine of regional growth. The city is at the heart of a well-developed network of roads, railways, river ports and airports.
Transportation hub
At a 40-minute driving distance from Chongqing is Guoyang, a regional transportation hub. From the rail tracks that pass through this multi-purpose port, the western route to the German city of Duisburg opens up. Back-and forth movement of the China-Europe trains from Guoyang to Germany has now become routine.
“At Guoyang, we can handle two million containers and trans-ship one million vehicles every year,” says Guo Yuan, an official at Guoyang Port Container Company.
Mr. Guo points out that Guoyang is also a major river port on the Yangtze, capable of handling heavy ships along its 16 berths. These vessels sail towards Shanghai, passing through designated funnels that breach the massive Three Gorges Dam en route.
Some of the cargo is transshipped at Yibin, another river port along the Yangtze, in the neighbouring province of Sichuan. Yibin is an important junction along the southern transport corridor. From here, containers can be sent overland to the port of Qinzhou. In future, this harbour in the impoverished Guangxi province can become China’s natural gateway to the 10-nation Association of South East Asian Nations, with Singapore as its prime destination.
