Chongqing and Chongqing Hot Pot

Mutton soup or beef soup, then fish, chicken, beef, seafood, potato, mushroom, tofu, rice noodles, and… Whatever you want to eat, you can find in a pot. You know what I’m talking about? Yes, hot pot. You may say everyone loves hot pot, but you may never love hot pot as much as Chongqing people do, unless you are a local Chongqing people. Since we all know Chongqing hot pot has delicious taste, it is unnecessary to mention its great flavor here.


Hot pot to Chongqing people, is like Sichuan cuisine to Sichuan people, and Hunan cuisine to Hunan people. Hot pot has been perfectly blended into the culture of Chongqing and has been an indispensible part of their life. Chongqing people like to eat hot pot, without the restriction of time, place and season. They’ve considered hot pot as one of their tacit belief. You may be surprised at this kind of saying and also you will be amazed when you come to Chongqing and see people are eating hot pot in an extreme hot summer day, you may be scared away.


Because of its special geographical location, Chongqing is one of the “three furnaces ” in China that has an average temperature of 33°in summer and an extreme high temperature of 43.5°in some places of Chongqing. Even this kind of hot weather could not stop Chongqing people eating hot pot. You will see groups of people sitting in a wide square and are excitedly eating their boiled hot pot. Can we say, the hotter the weather is, the more Chongqing people like to eat hot pot? Possibly we can. Eating hot pot in a hot summer day should be a challenge and special experience to many people, but for Chongqing people it is quite common.

What’s special about eating hot pot in summer days? Cold beer, no air-conditioner, and ultra spicy hot pot. This is how Chongqing people eat their hot pots. Actually eating hot pot in summer is a kind of great way to eliminate the humidness because of the hot weather, to improve their appetite and also to drive away tiredness and boredom because of the hot weather.
Chongqing people do not care much about the decoration of the restaurant where they eat hot pot. What they care about is that eating hot pot with friends and the happy atmosphere. Most of hot pot restaurants just have simple decoration, so do some famous and popular ones. This is why you will always see groups of people sitting around a hot pot, talking happily, laughing loudly, someone even with their bare arms and having a full sweat.


Eating hot pot in summer has fully demonstrated the true nature of Chongqing people and has become a unique scene in Chongqing. So after all these, are you eager to experience Chongqing hot pot among Chongqing people? Then do not miss it out when you travel to Chongqing.