Chongqing : Shibati and Ciqikou - China

On our first day in Chongqing we managed to cover most tourists attractions within walking distance from our hotel at Chaotianmen. See the post here.

Our travel companion only has two days in Chongqing so we tried to maximize those two days. We were able to check out Liberation Monument, Bayi Food Street, Kuixing Tower, Daijia Alley and Hongya Cave.

Out of those places I thought if we have more time, I would want to go back and check out Hongya Cave. As the place was bigger than I thought. In fact, we almost got lost finding our way out from it. 😟 But I must say I'm impressed with how the building and the roads in Chongqing were constructed. So many layers and so many surprises. 😁

Shibati 十八梯

From our hotel at Chaotianmen we walked to Shibati. We started from the top where there was a big square and lots of tourist buses. 

Shibati also known as Eighteen Steps is a preserved historic area with traditional architecture and narrow alleyways that represent old Chongqing. Supposedly the view from the top is especially beautiful at night especially with all the lightings. Ah, unfortunately we went there during day time.

There are plenty of shops, restaurants and little carts selling street food. The first few shops near the top were tea shops. Those shops looked so nice and comfortable to sit down for a cup of tea.They are similar to the ones we saw last night at Daijia Alley. But these shops were bigger.

We spent about an hour at Shibati then took a Didi to go to Ciqikou

Ciqikou 磁器口

Ciqikou means Porcelain Port. The name Ciqikou can be traced back to the production of porcelain during Ming and Qing Dynasties. Surprisingly we didn't see too many shops selling porcelain products while we were there.

Looking back at our picture, I think the entrance we took was the backside of Ciqikou. We found a tea place there for tea and lunch. The tea set was an elaborate setting with tea pot heating up on a claypot stove and numerous side items to be grilled along side the teapot.

Unfortunately the items for lunch were just so so. In my opinion the price was a bit inflated and the taste was ordinary. We ordered a chicken soup and mapo tofu. Total bill for those two items was RMB 130 (USD 18.39). I think the tea set was RMB 120 (USD 16.97).

The tea set though was fun but most items for grilling turned out to be glutinous rice based. They required slow heat to soften them up. I didn't care much for the taste.

The wine here in my opinion was a good deal. A lot of choices and they packed it in a nice ceramic container for you. We did ask, a container of rice wine was RMB 99 (USD 14). It's about 500 ml. Taking it on a plane is a bit harder to do though even when packed nicely.