For about three days in late February, the weather in Chongqing was close to what summer feels like for me. Temperatures during the day were as high as 24 degrees Celsius, and for just a few days, it felt like, not even spring, but summer. After a year of Covid-19 and just coming off a long, cold winter, these few warm and sunny days felt like nothing less than a blessing.

I met up with my friend Patrick, a teacher and YouTuber who also lives here in Chongqing. We initially just met to catch up and eat, but then eventually decided to take a walk and enjoy the weather outside, and I took him to a place called Mountain City Alley, where I had been just a few days before with my wife.

Patrick, being the YouTuber that he is, almost instinctively took out his camera and started recording everything, and for a while, I just joined the fun with him, before realizing that I was naturally also carrying my camera in my bag, so there really was no reason for me not to start vlogging as well.

This was a fun, unplanned, and sort of random event but one that I am thankful for. Patrick has this way of inspiring me to do more, just simply by being around and doing what he loves. So, we ended up walking along the streets of the Mountain City Alley, I did plan to take a bunch of photos as well but alas, I can only do so much at once. We started at the entrance near a court building on the south side of the Yuzhong Peninsula. You can find this entrance easily by taking the subway to JiaoChangKou Station, the interchange of line 1 and line 2, and exiting from exit 5 to the South, turn right as you come out, and then just follow the road for a bit. You’ll walk for a few minutes, pass a small shopping area and a court building and you’ll find the entrance on your right. It is called 山城步道 (Shan Cheng Bu Dao) in Chinese.

The Mountain City Alley is a collection of smaller older streets that date back quite some time. Inside you’ll of course find an assortment of shops and stalls, but also a photo and art gallery, a plank walk on the side of the hill along the riverside, ruins of old buildings that were destroyed in the bombings during the second world war, like a French Charity Church and an old Hospital.

While inside, we ran into a group of three guys, who happened to be authors and painters who invited us to their little exhibition inside of the pedestrian area as well which was quite a wild experience to be honest. It was all good fun. I always enjoy hanging out with Patrick and thank him for getting me out of my shell sometimes. I really need that little push sometimes, and he always delivers.