As we squeezed our way out of the cable car, people spilling from the gondola like frozen peas pouring out of a bag, we stepped out of the station and towards the road.
On the other side was 龙门浩老街 Lóngménhào Lǎo Jiē (Longmenhao Old Street) – plenty of food stalls and beautiful old buildings. And, because we’d arrived early in the morning, not too many people.
“不好玩儿” (bù hǎowán’er), my husband chuckled. ‘Not fun’. But I happily stretched my arms wide out.
Having come to Sichuan province to visit family, my husband and I had decided to take a side trip to Chongqing to explore the ‘8D Magic City’, as neither of us had been before. Although it might not be as well-known in the West as cities like Beijing and Shanghai, Chongqing is a super popular destination amongst Chinese tourists – currently even more so thanks to influencers promoting it on Douyin (the original Chinese TikTok). So I anticipated crowds, and did my best to avoid too many of them.
There were actually quite a few people who had joined us from the 长江索道 Chángjiāng Suǒdào (the Yangtze River cable car). To me, it was busy in a relaxed way. To my husband, however – a Sichuan man born and bred – it may as well have been a ghost town.
When it comes to having fun in China, the more 热闹 rènào (lively) the better. So much so, that there’s an official term for when so many people crowd together that things become congested: 人山人海 rén shān rén hǎi (literally ‘people mountain people sea’).
I’ve been travelling to China regularly for a few years now, and I always challenge myself to do two things. One: speak only Chinese so I can push my Mandarin learning experience further. And two: avoid a 人山人海 situation by never visiting a tourist spot on a Saturday.
I always get great results from the first challenge, ending each trip able to chat more fluidly. The second one depends very much on timing (and weather).
For most of our trip to Chongqing, I’d managed to coordinate most of this well. Visiting 十八梯 Shíbātī (18 Steps) and 山城巷 Shānchéng Xiàng (Shancheng Lane) on a Sunday, and taking the Yangtze River cable car and the famous 李子坝站 Lǐzǐbà Zhàn (Lizaba Station) train on a Monday had mitigated some crowding.
Hitting 八一路好吃街 Bāyī Lù Hào Chī Jiē (One Eight Road Tasty Street) on a Friday night was risky for a popular night street food market, but avoiding ‘peak time’ when the locals got off work worked well.
But there was a Saturday in our schedule – and this time there was no way around it.
We chose this Saturday to visit 磁器口 Cíqìkǒu (Ciqikou Ancient Town) during the day. And, because my husband’s cousin had the night off work around the area and we wanted to meet up, 洪崖洞 Hóngyádòng (Hongya Cave) later that evening.
Because it had been raining in the morning, Ciqikou wasn’t too busy. And as the rain stopped quite early on, we got to enjoy the gorgeous ancient town without the usual crowds. But this also meant that the weather was lovely for the rest of the day, so I knew Hongya Cave was going to be a different story on a Saturday night.
It’s one of the most-visited tourist spots in China. Lit up with an array of bright, colourful lights, packed full of delicious food stalls and featuring a small waterfall running over a cave that you can walk behind, Hongya Cave is a magical place to be when the sun goes down.
On a Saturday night though, you’ll discover the true meaning of 人山人海.
There were people as far as the eye could see, and we all moved as a singular entity in the same way the water of the sea does. It was packed, it was noisy, and yet… it wasn’t complete chaos.
Megaphone-wielding ushers kept the crowd moving along in the right direction, and although a little overwhelming, it was very effective. Everyone was compliant under the understanding that we were all on the same metaphorical boat – and although Hongya Cave is a deceptively huge place and we were moving slowly, we were moving steadily.
Before we knew it, we were at the bottom of the cave, enjoying the beautiful view with plenty of space. I playfully nudged my husband and asked him what he thought, and he said it was super impressive.
And was it ‘热闹’ enough for him?
“人太多了” (rén tài duō le – ‘too many people’), he admitted.
You can’t control the crowds or weather while you’re on holiday. But you can take control of your language learning experience. Why not take your Mandarin adventure further and book an immersion programme in China or Taiwan with Lingoinn?
