Travel Guides & Tips in this video
RiskyRegg sets out to see how far £100 will go in Chongqing. He discusses a 10-yuan-to-£1 exchange rate and begins with a taxi costing about 50p. The day includes a rice cake from a local stall, a £3 photo session near the train-through-building site and a descent on the steep Crown Escalator. He samples night-market food, then visits a beer bar where prices fluctuate with demand. At the end he has spent about £25, including taxis, food, drinks and experiences.
Next travel video:
More about the current video:()
Exploring Chongqing on a budget
RiskyRegg arrives in Chongqing with £100 and wants to find out how much of the budget he will spend in China's futuristic city. He begins with the city's unusual vertical architecture, where a train passes through a residential building and what looks like street level may be the 34th floor. He explains the currency conversion he uses: 10 yuan is about £1. His first taxi costs around 50p, booked and paid for with Alipay.
At a local food stall, he buys a rice cake for 4 yuan. The vendor speaks English and invites him to a night boat show. RiskyRegg describes some of the difficulties using WeChat and Alipay and compares the challenge of communicating with people to his previous night out. At the train-through-building landmark, he pays a local photographer about £3 for souvenir photos.
Escalators, night food and the final tally
RiskyRegg tries the Crown Escalator, a steep, multi-section system that takes about five minutes to descend. He is uneasy with heights, and the route leads into a large construction area. The night market offers many options, including foods he is reluctant to try, such as rabbit and dog. He eventually chooses fruit with a rice pudding combination.
At a stock-market-themed beer bar, drink prices rise and fall according to demand. There he meets another traveler who has lost an iPhone, and they search the mall's toilets for it. The traveler also describes a hotel that costs about £35 a night and has city views. At the end of the challenge, RiskyRegg totals his spending at about £25 of the £100, covering transport, food, drinks and activities. He presents Chongqing as affordable while showing how its unusual architecture and steep streets shape a day of exploring. The challenge also includes a short taxi ride through the city's vertical streets and a walk around the night market. RiskyRegg tries to use digital payments and is candid about how difficult it can be to communicate without Chinese. He considers several food stalls before settling on fruit and a rice pudding dish. The market is full of unusual choices, and he explains which foods he decides not to try. At the beer bar, prices change with demand, so the setting becomes part of the spending challenge. The traveler spends the rest of the evening looking for the other visitor's missing phone before calculating the final amount.
His cost breakdown includes transport, meals, drinks and activities, and he estimates the hotel at about £35 per night. The total is much lower than the original £100 budget, which surprises him. The trip demonstrates that moving around Chongqing can be inexpensive, though the steep escalator, layered roads and tall buildings make the city physically unusual to navigate.
FAQs (From the traveler's perspective)
- Q: What was the most surprising thing about Chongqing?
- A: RiskyRegg was surprised by the city's different levels. A place that looks like ground level may be the 34th floor, and trains pass through residential buildings.
- Q: How much money did you spend in total?
- A: RiskyRegg spent about £25 of his £100 budget in total. That amount covered taxis, food, drinks and experiences during the day in Chongqing.
- Q: What was the best food you ate?
- A: He liked a rice pudding with watermelon and small balls, and says simple fruit and rice dishes can be reliable when the menu is hard to read.
- Q: Is it easy to get around without speaking Chinese?
- A: It can be tricky because people may speak Chinese assuming you understand. RiskyRegg says Alipay helps with taxis and payments and can support translated chats with locals.
