Chongqing (or Chunking, 重庆， “double celebration”) is one of the biggest cities in China, also directly administrated by the Chinese government (“direct municaplity”)). Actually because of the urban population it is supposed to be that with about 28mio inhabitants. Quite hilly, hot and dry weather which opposes the east coastal regions with moisty, sticky air in summer.
I was there as the Summer School’s third part took place there. For living we were put into the Keyuan Hotel, which is next to the main campus’ entrance. It’s actually not that good as in Shanghai, not to speak of the breakfast neither but quite okay! What did the Chinese people told me? Chongqing is famous for two things, they say. It’s beautiful girls and spicy food. While of course the first statement is quite subjective and hard to prove (I admit there’s a tendency that the Chongqing female population look more appealing to me than from other regions), the latter one is definitely true. Spicy food such as the hot pot are famous. They also say “You eat the hot and spicy food to stand the heat, because you sweat more and that’s good for your body”. 
The Chinese language course was best here for me. The teaching level was quite steep, probably equivalent to a 4-5级 so I learned a lot of words and vocab. It felt well organised! 
Other lectures were quite good, too. For example when we talked about the challenges of the three gorges dam, which a friend translated for us. In result, we learned about the Five Chongqing Program, which lies focus on Health, Living Standard, Safety, Ecology and Convenience (also see here) as it is a masterplan of the local government. I also didn’t know that this region was flooded that often sometimes even overflooding the city.
Sights
If you go to Chongqing, you should see these places
Jiefangbei
The main square in Chongqing
Great place for shopping as always, but don’t expect anything special. Around this place are also nightclubs, discos and bars. And surprisingly, a lot of foreigners/expats gather at this place too to have beers in the pubs.
People’s great hall and the museum on the opposite
Dazu Rock carvings
Man made buddhist rock craving that are also on the list of the UNESCO world heritage. If you stand there and have a look at all the cravings, you cannot believe how many people and years it must have taken to do that epic work. And now think about some religious fanatics who dynamite such places just for the sake of their own monotheistic beliefs…unbelievable still.
Ciqikou
A famous place for shopping gifts and souvenirs. For example you could let people make your own name as a keychain by putting together Chinese characters ingrained on some small dices, but unfortunately my middle name 富 is too popular, so I didn’t get mine.
River cruise
Of course you can do a river cruise with food and beer like in every city with a river flowing through…. but that shouldn’t be a surprise to you, right? Any more recommendations?