one thing i've taken for granted growing up in america, was the ever present availability of doughnuts.  whether its my favorite organic, vegan doughnut from seattle's(one of CQ's sister cities) "Mighty O,"  or a pack of the hostess donettes from the nearest gas station, doughnuts, in america are everywhere.  and no matter where you are, its not easy to find a bad doughnut.  of course some are far superior to others, but most doughnuts are in some way enjoyable, even in china. 
i have found one however that goes beyond merely being enjoyable (i would go as far to say it is absolutely delicious), and that is the dico's doughnut.  yes dico's the over-priced fast food haven finally gives us a reason to enter its doors and that reason comes in two flavors, powdered sugar, and chocolate.  both being tasty, the chocolate exceptionally so, and at RMB3 and 3.5 respectively you can't go wrong.

da li shao kao is definitely a place you need to find your self at some point and time while your in CQ, right outside ci qi kou in shapingba by the guys that nagg you to rent a bike, is the food  from the south of the clouds province  known for itsspecialty herbs and beautiful scenery. now like most shao kao places that cook it for you, here you can experience the pleasure of grilling the food yourself while drink some old mountain city beer or bai jiu if you prefer. I personally have been known to douse my food with a bit a brew on the grilling plate , and for those who really are not the biggest fans of thatgourmet powder well you can regulate that so called gourmetness....

If you find yourself there on a Thursday you can continue the evening and boogie on with a reggae woman click for details.

PRICE RANGE: 2-20 per plate

As much as i love da pan ji, gong bao ji ding and the ever so good xin jiang ban mian. There is nothing and i mean nothing like the sweet satisfaction of stuffing your face into a half pound of pure minced beef cooked medium well surrounded by fresh lettuce, red onion, tomato and relishhhh, bathed in a healthy serving of mustard and ketchup, with the extra ketchup for the the double  dipps 'ahhhhh'. Ohh! lets not forget the thick fresh cut wedge fries that are the size of Chinese roaches " BIIIIGGG, " AND ITS UNDER 50 RMB. So in the words of  Senator  Clay Davis form Maryland " SHEEEEEEEEEEIIT....."  this burger is definitely worth buying flowers for. and you can find her on the 6th floor of da du hui plaza in jie fang bei across the new york new york building.

Dont forget your flowers, cause she is a beauty!!!

Address: L626 METROPOLITAN PLAZA NO.68 ZOURONG ROAD
Tell: (86)023-63726100

as i sit in createa(bottom floor of the "capital retail" shopping mall @ san xia guang chang), my coffee shop of choice here in shapingba, i am overly annoyed by what i assume is some of that infamously horrible chinese pop music playing throughout the cafe. a quick google search of the lyrics reveals that the song is "pretty pretty boy" by the group m2m, which is in-fact a norwegian pop group(my ancestors must be rolling in their graves), but a bad pop group all the same. the song has played for the 2nd time in less than an hour, and is tempting me to pay the extra 7-20 RMB for a cup of caffeination over at starbux, but my past experiences, all of which pleasant, especially to my wallet(10RMB espresso/americano, 16 RMB med. soy latte), convince me to stick it out, and turn my annoyance into inspiration.
inspiration to share with you, what the unkowing may consider to be oxymoronic.   good chinese pop music, or shall i say "indie-pop."  in particular, a couple of bands who recently made their way to chongqing.
Life Journey(gallery) and Hedgehog. 

Hedgehog - (24 hr rock party)24小时摇滚聚会 [dwnld]
Hedgehog - (day dreaming)白日梦蓝 [dwnld]
Life Journey - (back to babylon)回到巴巴拉拉的城堡 [dwnld]
Life Journey - Dog Dog Dogs [dwnld]

rumor had it that a new pizza restaurant opened up in shapingba, and after reading a post on cqexpat, i decided for myself to see what and where the hype was all about.  as I read in the post, suzie's was in the most unassuming of locations, located on the 23rd floor of an apartment building, but with the simple directions i had(across from the 2-story mcdonalds in shapingba[not the one by starbux]), it was fairly easy to find(if standing with your back to mcdonalds its in the tall gray building across the street and to the right), and well worth the trip. 
I tried both the chicken oregano and the hot & spicy pizzas, and both were quite good.  I was especially pleased with suzie's use of real cheese, a  homemade sauce, and crust that was delightfully crispy.  

suzies is located @ 沙平坝，[三峡广场重庆大酒店旁边]商社电器楼上，金沙国际B-23-4
or you can call her @ 136 9641 9353 for 24 hour delivery anywhere in CQ. [menu]

as many of you may know, subway makes its chongqing debut today(wed. 5/20) at hong ya dong in jeifangbei(No# 88 Jia Bin Road Chongqing CQ 400015 ).

 i feel shame to be taking up increasingly less valuable web space by posting about/promoting subway, but i'm sure many of you here in cq, myself included, yearn for the (up until today) evasive combo of  bread-meat-vegetables-cheese-bread, or as my friend Andy of the band Acorn Project used to eat, just plain 'ole 'bread-meat-bread.'
and in celebration of all things "sub," i'm offering some tracks from the 'sub-chongqing' cd series, an annual compilation cd made of tracks from cq's 'cold-cutty' underground music scene.

Yuren Chuan - from subCQ2 [dwnld]
unnown artist - from subCQ2 [dwnld]

although it does contain some succulent swine! 
in the alley behind bar 88 in jeifangbei(jfb from here on out), can be found arguably cq's best fried baozi(steamed buns).  in addition to the aforementioned swine, these particular baozi also contain crab meat, making them oh so divine.
to get there, walk behind 88 and look for this sign, and a line leading outside.

Good beer from Fuling(out in the boondocqs) now available in CQ supermarkets, "Quanling Beer Black." it costs 'bout 1 kuai more than a bottle of Shancheng, but tastes a lot less like water.
whats your favorite chinese beer? Are you a qingdao person? a harbin person? I like the yanjing beer from beijing. how bout you? let me know what's good.

poseed by sidewalkspew