DESTINATIONS ESCORTED TOURS | CHINA
expert ASK THE “My favourite part of the trip was
getting out into the countryside, visiting Wulong Karst National Park and witnessing the beauty of the Three Natural Bridges. It can be difficult
travelling alone in this part of China, so going with a group was ideal. I’d
recommend this region of China to clients who enjoy the outdoors and
want to go a little off the beaten track. I like to try a bit of everything and had Chongqing’s signature noodle dish
flavoured with chilli oil, spring onion and coriander – xiaomian – for breakfast!”
Karen Smith, Hays Travel, Petersfield
HOTPOT AND HOT SPRINGS This is the spiritual home of hotpot (huo guo in Mandarin) and there are more than 50,000 restaurants serving up this local speciality here. Eating outside under the awnings at Lao Guo Pa Zi, our group of 14 agents were the only Western faces among a throng of locals eating and laughing for hours around bubbling cauldrons. The most popular is yin and yang: one part tasty
DON’T MISS
The leafy Panda House is one of the highlights of Chongqing Zoo. “I could have watched them for hours chomping on their bamboo lunch,” says Newell’s Travel agent Steph Borys from Truro. “And watching the ‘teenagers’ tumble and play was adorable.” Local people are given free passes to the zoo, which is set in 45 hectares of wooded parkland, and gather to dance or practise tai chi in the cool shadows.
54 14 NOVEMBER 2019
bone broth, the other flaming-hot chilli oil flavoured with cardamom, fennel, star anise and Sichuan peppercorns that fizz on the tongue. Ours was served with Chinese pork sausage, fresh prawns, thin slivers of beef, exotic- looking mushrooms, piles of bean sprouts and vivid- purple sweet potato, all of which you cook yourself by dipping it into the steaming broth. The locals were a little more adventurous: frogs’ heads snipped to order in the open kitchen, eels and duck-blood pâté. Don’t let that put you off. Washed down with cold bottles of Chinese beer, it’s both a delicious meal and riotous local experience. The docks are a reminder that Chongqing’s fortunes
are forever linked to the Yangtze River, and our launch point to explore the wilderness of this part of southwestern China. Given five days, customers could cruise to Wuhan, taking in the spectacular canyons and cliffs of the Three Gorges. But even over the course of an evening, we watched the city blink and flash into
33The locals were a little more adventurous: frogs’ heads snipped to order in the kitchen, eels and duck-blood pâté
life in a skyscraper-filled, neon-hued vision of the future. We snatched glimpses of the past too at Ciqikou
Ancient Town, where traders gleefully heckle one another across the street, puppet shows and operas spill from tea houses, and street hawkers sell anything from grilled octopus on sticks to hot, fragrant nuts. Get lost in the winding side streets and peek into real homes and tiny cafes, or watch porters carrying untenably heavy shopping on the end of long bamboo poles. After a day exploring the bustling city, the best place
to rest your weary bodies is one of the city’s many hot springs. At the Ronghui Hot Springs Resort, the 48 options include medicinal hot springs, aromatherapy and herbal medicine pools, as well as a wave pool, infinity pool and foot spa filled with tiny fish that nibble the dry skin off your feet. Spending time splashing between the very hottest and vert coldest pools was positively invigorating, and left my body tingling.
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travelweekly.co.uk
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Chongqing; Ciqikou Ancient Town; a hotpot PICTURES: Shutterstock
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