left work early at 2:30 to take a company minivan to the chonqqing airport. it then took me another hour to get into the city, and 30 minutes to find my hotel (fx hotel, has an independent movie house motif, not bad for RMB$127 a night, RMB$10 more if you want a room with a window). i then met my aunt and uncle, visiting chongqing for the first time from california. we chatted a little bit in their hotel room (my uncle was ranking the pretty girls in my office) before we went out and found a gan guo hot pot place for dinner. later we returned to their 5 star hotel to chat until it got late enough (10:00) for me to return to my own 1 star hotel to get some sleep and get ready for a big day tomorrow. altitude sickness here i come! i should be at the kangding airport by 10:00, but then i'll be onboard a bus traveling northwards to parts unknown, destination ganzi, with an overnight in one of the small towns along the way. i doubt i'll find internet access but maybe i'll be surprised.