Shopping Tour In Chongqing

Today, we spent time getting some needed rest. We took a late breakfast about 9:00 a.m.

In the afternoon, we took a short tour of the shops around the hotel. First, we went down to the underground tunnels. Just like downtown Houston, the tunnels were full of shops, restaurants, eateries, entertainment venues, workout facilities, etc. There were even a couple of massage shops. Our CCAI representative told us that the massage shop is one of the favorite "hang outs" for the locals. She told us that you can get a one and half hour massage for about 60 RMB's which is a little less than $9 US. Helen and some of the gals have decided to take an excursion later in the week and leave the babies for the husband to take care of.

Next, we went above ground and looked around the city square. There were several shopping malls and department stores surrounding the square. Our guide even showed us where the Starbuck's, Hagen Das, KFC, Pizza Hut, and McDonald's were located in the event that we got tired of eating Chinese food.

After the tour, we went to a local bakery and bought some Chinese pastries and some Chinese birthday candles. These Chinese birthday candles are very unique in that it will blossom into a lotus flower and play happy birthday when you light it. Later, we went to a local bookstore and bought some souvenir books of Chongqing and the surrounding area.

We went back to the hotel to get ready for a group dinner outing at one of the well known seafood restaraunts in Chongqing. It's should be very good!

Special thanks goes to our son Jonathan who has helped us load the pictures on the blog!