文、圖/石劍豪 （英國籍，英國駐重慶總領(lǐng)事館雙邊事務(wù)部領(lǐng)事）

重慶魅力

文、圖/石劍豪 （英國籍，英國駐重慶總領(lǐng)事館雙邊事務(wù)部領(lǐng)事）

石劍豪喜歡用鏡頭記錄重慶的美景

巫山小山峽

即使在來到重慶前做了一番功課，在維基百科上和臺灣的旅游指南寂寞星球搜索、了解了一下這個城市，來到這里以后仍然還是感受到了視覺，聽覺，感覺上的超負荷。

老實說，來重慶的前幾周我都是處在迷失方向的狀態(tài)，尤其是在這高大的樓群和熙熙攘攘的人群之中。甚至當(dāng)我在重慶市中心開車閑逛的時候我的車載GPS也變得很迷茫。但是在這一切的背后正是重慶獨特的魅力所在。這里的人們很友好，辛辣的食物是一種情趣；新舊的沖突也是一個禮物，一幢建筑在一分鐘內(nèi)拆除，取而代之的是另一個全新的高樓。令人驚艷的夜景和獨一無二的山地將這座城市與中國的其他城市完全的區(qū)分開來。

與重慶相比，任何城市都變得讓人有點困乏。

我認為要真正游覽享受重慶，最重要的一點是找機會在這座城市走走，特別是區(qū)縣和郊外，那里的一些景色讓人驚艷。幸運的是我有一輛車，所以在周末，我和我太太便會拿著一張重慶地圖然后開始探索這座城市。我們剛來重慶6個月，已經(jīng)游覽了這個城市的很多地方，像大足石刻、戰(zhàn)時蔣介石的住所、萬盛石林和淶灘古鎮(zhèn)等。

最近，我參加了重慶市人民政府新聞辦公室組織的游巫山活動，早就聽說巫山是中國很有名的游覽勝地，但來重慶前我從來沒有聽說過小三峽，不過似乎他們的“親戚”——三峽和在湖北省的三峽大壩在全世界更有名。但是巫山是真的很美麗。來巫山最好的時節(jié)應(yīng)該是秋季，因為正是滿山楓葉變紅的時候；看著迷霧環(huán)繞山間，就像欣賞著一副中國山水畫。我大力推薦每個人都去小三峽。只是6個小時的車程有點遠，不過等到巫山的鐵路通車后，就會方便很多了，我們也急切盼望這一天的到來。

作為一個熱心的業(yè)余攝影師，我已經(jīng)開始記錄下我在中國去過的每個地方，我也把自己在重慶的照片搜集到自己的Flic kr網(wǎng)站上，大家有興趣都可以去瀏覽一下。

大足石刻

巫山紅葉

古鎮(zhèn)風(fēng)情

洪崖洞夜景

夜幕下的重慶

Even a fte r doing m y W ikiped ia and Lone ly Plane t resea rch no thing quite p repa res you fo r the visua l and au ra l senso ry ove rload when first a rriving in Chongq ing.

Honestly m y first few weeks he re we re a d iso rien ta ting expe rience espec ia lly w ith the ta ll h igh-rises and the bustle o f peop le. Even to this day m y in-ca r GPS still ge ts con fused when d riving a round down town Chongq ing. Bu t the re is a ce rtain cha rm to this c ity behind o f a ll this. Peop le a re friend ly and the sp icy food is a de ligh t. The c lash o f o ld and new is eve r p resen t, w ith build ing s dem o lished one m inu te and a b rand new high rise rep lac ing it the next. The am azing nigh t view and un ique land scape sepa ra tes it from m ost o the r Chinese c ities.

Eve rywhe re e lse seem s s leep y in com pa rison!

I think one o f the keys to en joy Chongq ing is taking the op po rtunity to ge t a round the m unic ipa lity, p a rticu la rly the coun tryside. Som e o f the scene ry is p re tty am azing. I'm quite fo rtuna te (o r b rave) enough to own a ca r. O ften, a t the weekend s, m y w ife and I w ill ge t a m ap o f Chongq ing and dec ide a t the d rop o f a ha t whe re we shou ld go next. We have been in Chongq ing fo r just unde r 6 m on ths and have a lread y done a fa ir am oun t o f trave lling. Fo r exam p le we have visited the Dazu Rock Ca rvings, the o ld wa rtim e residence o f Chiang Ka i-shek, Wansheng Stone Fo rest and Laitan Anc ien t Town. l

La te ly I was in Wushan taking pa rt in trip o rganised by the Chongq ing Munic ipa l In fo rm a tion O ffice. I unde rstand tha t Wushan is we ll known in China bu t adm itted ly I had neve r hea rd o f Wushan and the Lesse r Th ree Go rges be fo re com ing to Chongq ing. Its la rge r and m o re fam ous b ro the r, the Th ree Go rges and the Dam in Hubei p rovince, ce rtain ly has a h ighe r p ro file ove rseas. Bu t tha t sa id Wushan is genu ine ly beau tifu l. The best tim e o f cou rse is au tum n, when the leaves a re tu rning red. Seeing the m ist c ling on to the m oun ta ins looks like som e thing ou t o f a Chinese pain ting. I'd recomm end anyone to go and see the Lesse r Th ree Go rges bu t the long coach jou rney (6 hou rs) to Wushan from down town Chongq ing is a d rawback. I unde rstand the re a re p lans to build a railway to reach Wushan. Le t's hope it is built soone r ra the r than la te r.

As a keen am a teu r p ho tog raphe r I have sta rted a little p ro jec t to reco rd the p laces we have been in China. I have a lread y bu ilt a sm a ll co llec tion o f Chongq ing p ic tu res on m y Flickr site. If anyone is in te rested fee l free to b row se.

The Secret Charm of Chongqing

W ritten by Kon rad Shek, cu rren tly w o rk at the British Consu late General in Chongq ing as the Consu l fo r Bilateral Affairs