6 September 2026 Day 3 took the three of us out of the city centre to Baodingshan, where we spent far longer than expected exploring the Dazu Rock Carvings — so engrossed that we even skipped lunch. Thankfully, our driver had some delicious dinner recommendations for us. We rounded off the day with grilled fish, crayfish, a visit to The Ring Shopping Park, and drinks back at the hotel overlooking Chongqing’s skyline. MIAN CHAOREN CHONGQING NOODLE SHOP (面超人重庆面馆) We started the

5 September 2026 Day 2 started with just the two of us, before our third friend joined us later in the day. We had pandas, souvenir shopping, hotpot and a beautiful temple on the itinerary, followed by a café break overlooking its tiled roofs. To end the evening, we headed uphill for barbecue with sunset views and live music. Quite a full day ahead! CHONGQING ZOO (重庆动物园) I started Day 2 with a visit to Chongqing Zoo (重庆动物园), together with the first friend I met up with on Day

4 September 2026 This trip to Chongqing was a little different from my usual solo travels—I was travelling with two friends! We were all arriving at different time though, so I had the first day to explore on my own before our group of three was complete. BAIXIANGJU (白象居) My first stop was Baixiangju (白象居), known for its unusual hillside layout and views of the Yangtze River Cableway (长江索道). It is a very Chongqing sort of place: exits on the 1st, 10th and 15th floors lead out

12 September 2025 It was my last day in Ningxia before flying back to Shanghai. We had two more places to visit: China Western Film Studios (镇北堡西部影城) and Shuidonggou (水洞沟). CHINA WESTERN FILM STUDIOS (镇北堡西部影城) One last day in Ningxia, starting at China Western Film Studios (镇北堡西部影城). The film studio has been used for several famous Chinese movies, including A Chinese Odyssey《大话西游》, Red Sorghum《红高粱》, Ashes of Time《东邪西毒》and New Dragon Gate Inn《新龙门客栈》. It was quite cool to walk

11 September 2025 FIVE LAKES CROSSING (五湖穿越), TENGGER DESERT Today took me beyond Ningxia’s borders and into Alxa Left Banner of Inner Mongolia. This was the part of the trip I had been looking forward to the most. Ever since I saw photos of the Wulan Lake (乌兰湖) on a Chinese reality TV show, the Five lakes Crossing has been quite at the top of my travel bucket list. Today, that anticipation finally turned into reality. I crossed into Alxa Left Banner, heading towards the Five