My first solo trip to China: Chongqing

It's 2026 and a lot of people probably still have biases about China, but traveling there is genuinely very safe. I was grabbing food at a lively night market at 2am without any concerns.

Chongqing has incredible scenery. It's a city built on mountains with a cyberpunk aesthetic.

You can be on the 1st floor and simultaneously be on the 10th floor, or the minus 3rd floor. It's wild.

Hongyadong, Laojunmiao, Kuixing Tower, Chongqing Grand Theatre, and the Cloud Eye for night views are the places I'd say are absolute must-visits.

The hot pot is extremely spicy. All the food is extremely spicy. For me personally, the city is incredible but the food was not my thing at all. That said, if you love spice you will be in heaven. There are actually a ton of great Western restaurants too, but I still wanted to try the local food. When ordering I couldn't read the menu and ended up accidentally ordering stir-fried intestines.

The next day in the bathroom, the spice nearly sent my soul out of my body.

Before the trip I had serious language anxiety and safety anxiety because I'd heard people in Chongqing don't speak much English. I even got a pair of real-time translation glasses. But the whole experience was so much better than I expected. Just keeping your phone connected solves about 80% of any communication issues. And as long as you're genuine, Chinese people are incredibly welcoming and happy to help foreign visitors.

It was a really meaningful trip. The one thing that actually sucked is that Google Maps is completely useless there. Absolutely zero help.

I'll definitely be going back to China. This country is truly beautiful.

The pictures in order from left to right:The pictures in order from left to right:

Hongyadong, Laojunmiao, Kuixing Tower, Chongqing Grand Theatre