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Oskar G arrives in Chongqing, China's city of 36 million people, nicknamed "cyberpunk city," "fog city" and "mountain city." His first day takes him through confusing vertical streets where Apple Maps gives up, across a pedestrian bridge that turns out to be 22 floors up, and into a quick friendship with a local tour guide and an Indian spice merchant. He eats at an unlimited rice restaurant, gets his mouth numbed by Sichuan peppercorn, walks night markets where strangers ask for photos, and finds Chongqing's well-known nightlife at 1 AM. After dark, the city finally looks like the neon cyberpunk scene he had only seen online.
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Arriving in a city built on hills
Oskar G's first day in Chongqing starts with a 2.5-hour train ride from Zhangjiajie. The city doesn't match what he expected. As soon as he's on the street, he notices the warmth, 22°C, which feels great after the cooler weather he's come from, and how steeply everything is stacked on the hills.
The first problem shows up fast. Apple Maps can't handle the city. It thinks he's inside buildings, keeps rerouting, and has no idea what to do with streets where ground level on one side equals the 22nd floor on the other. Getting to his hotel turns into a small expedition: it's in a 31-floor building, reception is on floor 10, and the only way up is an elevator behind what looks like a normal residential entrance.
New friends and the 22nd-floor bridge
The day changes when Oskar meets two strangers. Kev is a Chongqing local starting his own tour business, and Prasanth is an Indian spice merchant. Together they head through the city's multi-level pedestrian area, and Oskar sees the vertical layout for himself. He crosses what seems like an ordinary footbridge and finds out he's 22 stories above where he started, with sky-bridges linking buildings high above the street.
Unlimited rice and Sichuan peppercorn
Food turns into its own adventure. Kev suggests a local place with unlimited rice: you take as much as you want, eat, and go back for more. The Sichuan peppercorn in his beef and tofu dish isn't what Oskar expected at all. It isn't hot. It makes his whole mouth numb and tingly, which he compares to "static TV" on his tongue. The feeling is so strange that he keeps touching his lips to check them.
Chongqing after dark
The city looks very different once the sun goes down. Back at his hotel, the view has changed, with red buildings glowing against the night sky and the first signs of the cyberpunk look Chongqing is known for around the world. When he meets up with his new friends again, he picks up on things guidebooks don't cover: sanitation workers mopping the streets at midnight, motorbike videographers offering city tours from the back of their bikes, and the local habit of buying cheap cans at Family Mart and drinking them streetside next to the barbecue.
At 1 AM, the streets are only getting started. Strangers come up to ask for photos. The "street manager" of a whole nightlife district introduces himself and talks up a huge end-of-May party that draws tens of thousands of people. They go through buildings where bars are stacked over several floors like a vertical mall. Even a Cybertruck that's been shipped in draws a crowd, and someone asks Oskar if it's his.
What stands out in Oskar's first 24 hours isn't a list of landmarks. It's how differently the whole city works: you need people to find your way, the food does things that are hard to describe, night doesn't mean bedtime, and a solo traveler keeps getting pulled into groups of new friends. Chongqing takes some effort to figure out, Oskar finds, but if you're willing to get lost and say yes to strangers, it pays you back.
FAQs (From the traveler's perspective)
- Q: How do you pay for public transport in Chongqing?
- A: You set up a metro card in your Alipay account and scan a QR code at the gates. My Revolut card worked in Shanghai but not here.
- Q: What does Sichuan peppercorn feel like?
- A: It isn't really spicy. It just numbs your mouth. Picture what static TV looks like, and that's how my tongue felt.
- Q: How do you find your hotel in Chongqing?
- A: It took some work. My hotel was hidden inside a normal-looking building with 31 floors, and reception was on floor 10. Apple Maps kept glitching the whole time.
- Q: What is the multi-level city like?
- A: I was on what felt like ground level, crossed a bridge, and suddenly I was on the 22nd floor. The city is built on a hill, so you never know what floor you're really on.
- Q: What's the nightlife like in Chongqing?
- A: The streets get busy after 1 AM. People sit outside Family Mart with cheap cans, and there's barbecue, motorbike tours and bars stacked on several floors inside buildings.
- Q: How did Oskar get to Chongqing?
- A: He took a 2.5-hour train from Zhangjiajie, on day 7 of his solo trip.