Hi, we got up early this morning and took a short flight to Chonqing. It is a massive city, with 33 million people!! It is the most populated city in all of China. It was very old and run down until 15 years ago, when the government declared it its own municipality and growth expanded. Now, in many places, it is a modern city just like Beijing or Shanghai. Upon arriving in Chongqing, we went and ate the best lunch of the trip. The highlight was the Kung Pao Chicken. As the Chongqing municipality is surrounded by Szechwaun, the chicken definitely had a kick. Our tour guide, Coco, told us that two things are spicy in Chonqing: the food and the women. I happen to agree with Coco. The women here are more beautiful than any other city we've visited. After lunch, we went to the Chongqing zoo to see the panda bears. I learned today, that 78% of female panda bears and 98% of male panda bears are infertile. This is due to the fact that they only eat bamboo and there's not enough nutrition in it. The panda bear exhibit at this zoo was really well done. At the zoo, I was approached by many "spicy" girls to have their picture taken with me. That was fun. We also saw a baby tiger. This particular type of tiger is in extreme danger of becoming extinct. It was really cute. We also went to see the tiger's mom and dad. The dad must not have liked that we were watching it, because it came up to the glass, turned around and peed on the window.

I keep forgetting to tell you, that only 5% of the people in China are religious. Guess what the main religion is? Catholic. Apparently, more and more people are starting to choose a religion here in China.

After the zoo, we boarded the bus to our ship. When we got to the ship, there was a man carrying four pieces of luggage on his shoulders that were hanging from a bamboo stick. It seemed literally back breaking. Currently, we are on the Century Diamond. It is a ship that holds about 300 people. It is first class. We have our own balcony and our room is very nice. I have to leave for dinner now, and I might not be able to blog everyday if there is no satellite connection, but I'll try. Thanks for reading!

Tony