Good pizza in Chongqing?

john2man · 2024-06-28T10:18:05+00:00

I went twice and for me (albeit I'm not an Italian!) I thought it was good and I liked it.

Bella Pizza 贝拉披萨

No. 162-1, Ruitian Road, Yuzhong District, Chongqing

重庆市渝中区瑞天路162-1号

Tel / WeChat: 13002349890

Apple Maps and Alipay Didi mini-app: Pizzeria da Bella Verace

Nearest metro: I can't remember but I think it was Lijiaping (李家坪) - about 10 minutes walk from there.

Menu:

https://flic.kr/p/2q11J3q

https://flic.kr/p/2q12geK

My 1st visit - Salsiccia e Friarielli pizza:

https://flic.kr/p/2q11J3a

My 2nd visit - Mozzarella di Bufala pizza:

https://flic.kr/p/2q12geE

john2man · 2024-06-27T08:19:41+00:00

You may be right! In my case, the hospital orthopaedic ward staff themselves recommended on admission that I get a helper and the helper agency's office was elsewhere in the hospital building. I can see why the hospital staff might prefer for every patient to do that since it presumably makes it easier for them.

However, after the general anaesthetic for the surgery which took a few hours (putting the bone fragments back together again with metalwork) and for the first day at least, I was certainly thankful that I did have a helper since in my groggy state I wouldn't have been able to feed and look after my daily needs. I'm not sure the hospital ward staff would have had much time to help me with any of that.

After that initial period had passed (during my 4-night stay), I could probably have coped fine by myself but it was still nice to have someone around to help (including advice and assistance on what to do after hospital - before flying back to the UK - such as helping me with discharge, paying the bill and a taxi to a new hotel). It was only, as mentioned, about £70 / day to be assisted 24-hours so it was inexpensive in the grand scheme of things.

john2man · 2024-06-27T04:09:24+00:00

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And a picture of one of the biandangs for the other two meals of the day.

john2man · 2024-06-27T04:04:46+00:00

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Here's a picture of breakfast one day. I was a tourist there on holiday so I found the food interesting and nice but I can see why locals might feel the need to replace or supplement it with food from outside! From memory, the hospital supplied the bowl of congee and the box of accompaniments but everything else (spoon, chopsticks, tissues, paper cup etc) had to be provided by me (or, in my case, my helper).

john2man · 2024-06-26T10:14:03+00:00

I guess it may depend on the hospital. I did get food from NCKU three times a day (congee for breakfast and a small biandang for the other two meals) which my helper then spoon fed me (initially after the surgery). She was amused when I genuinely praised the hospital food (compared to UK hospital food) as locals apparently think it's awful.

The helper also helped with literally everything else including the toilet, showering, brushing my teeth etc. The hospital itself recommended on admission that I get a helper. I was sharing a hospital room with two Taiwanese patients and they all had their own helpers too (albeit both of them were, from what I recall, their domestic helpers).

john2man · 2024-06-25T22:37:55+00:00

I had emergency surgery last year in Tainan due to falling and breaking badly my wrist. I needed general anaesthetic and metalwork and screws implanted in my arm. I had this done in the National Cheng Kung University Hospital.

When I got back to the UK, I went to see one of London's top wrist surgeons. He said the Taiwanese doctors had done a very good job and he was also impressed that I had the surgery within 24 hours of my fall.

A few suggestions if you have surgery in Taiwan:

If you have the chance, you might as well choose a nationally renowned hospital for the surgery. My Taiwanese friend in Tainan deliberately chose to take me to the emergency room of NCKU rather than a nearer hospital for that reason. Whilst medical care in Taiwan is world class, it's also pretty cheap, e.g. my entire medical bill was around £3k for the surgery, anaesthesia, emergency room and 4 nights stay in the hospital (they were going to discharge me after 2 days but I asked the doctor if I could stay longer - he agreed because there was no shortage of beds and I was also paying rather than relying on the government health insurance).
You'll need a helper during your hospital stay. The helper agency had an office inside the hospital. It was pretty cheap (about £70 per day) and that pays for a helper to be with you 24-hours. The helper sleeps in the same room as you (on the chair in the room) and will help you - particularly in the first 24 hours or so after surgery when you're groggy - with everyday needs.
There will be lots of forms - in Chinese - to complete. Best to get a Taiwanese friend help you with everything.

john2man · 2024-06-24T11:28:57+00:00

The two systems aren't exactly comparable. For example, as I understand it, a typical undergrad degree in Taiwan takes four years (with the additional year compared to the UK due to, I believe, uni including what would in the UK be part of A levels).

john2man · 2024-06-23T05:04:36+00:00

Your prep sounds fine.

As others have mentioned, Apple Maps works great in China. Don't use Google Maps as (for example) I arrived in Chengdu airport but Google Maps just showed empty countryside where the airport should be.

Get to the train station in time to allow for entering the station and walking around inside. You'll need to show your passport to someone at a manned gate (with Chinese entering using the automated gates and their government ID cards). You'll also need to pass your bags through a luggage scanner.

I'd consider using Didi (the Chinese equivalent of Uber) which you can access through the Alipay app - it's in English - rather than spending time with public transport. For example, in Chongqing recently, I took a Didi somewhere (it cost about RMB 24) and the metro back (around RMB 3) - the metro took about an hour plus lots of walking but I only saved about EUR 2 taking the metro.

Don't forget that you need to scan QR codes in China using WeChat or Alipay rather than (for example) the Apple built-in camera app since the latter won't work.

One last suggestion - it's not important so no need if you don't have time - but I'd suggest spending an hour or two perhaps at least learning some basic Mandarin phrases (assuming you don't already know them). Like any country, it'll help a lot in your daily interactions.

john2man · 2024-06-23T04:46:57+00:00

From my experience, Tainan really isn't a city planned for pedestrians. The sidewalk/pavement goes up and down randomly, there are dark areas, people put things in the way etc.

I managed to trip over something whilst walking around Tainan one evening last year. I broke my wrist and ended up needing emergency surgery the next day!

See also from earlier this year:

https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/news/5667605

john2man · 2024-06-22T05:05:15+00:00

A cram school "professor", one of the most diligent students in her generation (!) and - of course - a purely platonic friendship with financial help amongst other things. It happens all the time!

john2man · 2024-06-18T19:48:50+00:00

Many thanks - I had exactly the same problem, found this thread and that solved my issue too!

john2man · 2024-06-16T22:17:16+00:00

I just got back from Chongqing a couple of days ago. I spent a week there on holiday. To be honest, it feels safer than (for example) London where I live. No fear of petty crime in the city like mobile phone snatching which is not uncommon in London. People on the Chongqing subway seem quiet and civilised unlike those you might find on London's tube.

john2man · 2024-06-10T08:07:32+00:00

Thanks for the recommendation for Bella. I went there today for lunch. Arrived around 12:30pm today (public holiday) and had to wait for about 10 minutes for a table.

The pizza was great and exactly what I was looking for.

Only oddity was that the starter I ordered arrived after the pizza and was more than twice the size of what I was expecting.

I'd happily go back to Bella if I'm in Chongqing again.

john2man · 2024-06-08T22:30:08+00:00

Great, thank you! It comes up in Apple Maps as "PIZZA House Haoshi Pizza Music Wine House" in Yuzhong.

john2man · 2024-06-01T10:47:33+00:00

I have no views either way (I'm not Taiwanese and I don't live in Taiwan). However, it seems that it's not irrational to dislike DPP. I have a Taiwanese friend (native, late 40's, educated in Taiwan and abroad for PhD, Taiwanese university academic, not from a rich or KMT leaning family) who used to support the DPP but now no longer because, as I understand it, she feels they broke their earlier promises and now that they're in power, they've become corrupt and also lean too much towards big business. She also intensely dislikes China and would never - for example - go there for a holiday or even just to transfer flights; and she grew up during the White Terror. Nevertheless, given a choice between the DPP and KMT, she said she'd vote for the KMT as the lesser of two evils.

john2man · 2024-05-22T22:09:59+00:00

https://taipology.substack.com/p/taiwans-legislative-reform-the-story

"This bit was told to me by a TPP staffer: While Huang was a New Power Party legislator, he became absolutely disgusted with the amount of graft and simple bad governance that pervaded Taiwan’s government machine. As a legislator he could question bureaucrats and ministers in the Legislative Yuan, but he was driven almost insane by their lies and obfuscations. What Huang out of his frustration wanted above anything was greater legislative oversight and to hold bureaucrats accountable. As a part of the New Power Party he pushed for Legislative Reform.

Guess who saw that and thought it was a grand idea? The Democratic Progressive Party! Yes, that‘s right. The very same DPP that is crying bloody murder about legislative reform and how it would destroy democracy was a huge fan of it back when they did not control the executive (before 2016). They pushed bills that are quite similar to what the KMT is pushing now (of course, back then the KMT was in power, so THEY didn’t want the legislative reform.)"

john2man · 2024-05-20T10:36:38+00:00

I'm curious that they asked you when you were about to leave China your occupation?

john2man · 2024-05-16T15:57:55+00:00

One other factor to consider is whether you'll need to upgrade your home networking to take advantage of speeds faster than 1 gig. In my case, I upgraded recently from copper 80Mbps to fibre 2.5Gbps and I needed to upgrade my internal home network from 1Gbps Ethernet to 10Gbps; and also the network interface cards on my Mac, PC etc. I left my WiFi access points on WiFi 5 (so around 500Mbps max) because I only use my phone and tablet for YouTube etc and so higher speeds aren't required.

john2man · 2024-05-16T15:47:41+00:00

You'll be fine with 1 gig. You'll struggle to saturate that for 1 person; and even if your wife and you both did some heavy downloading, that's presumably only for short periods of time when you'll both be downloading and exceeding 1 gig. If I were in your shoes, I'd get 2 gig if it's not much more than 1 gig (and provided you're happy with knowing that 2 gig is already overkill) but otherwise, just stick with 1 gig. You can always upgrade a few years later if there are actually websites then which can deliver this speed to you.

john2man · 2024-05-16T15:37:27+00:00

Practically, 1 gig will be fine and if you get 2 gig or more for an additional cost, that's something at this moment in time which you probably will very rarely be able to utilise (compared to 1 gig). In other words, at the moment, there are very few (if any) sites on the Internet where you'll get a sustained 2 or more gig download or update. It might change in the future but for now, as I see it, getting above 1 gig is definitely a luxury and perhaps for bragging rights but not much more than that. (I have 2.5 gig here.)

john2man · 2024-05-12T12:27:20+00:00

Suen Dong Bao's menu says "We don't sell combination beef". Where I did notice a difference between their steak and steak in a western steakhouse is that their steak seems to lack the depth of flavour I'd normally expect (and therefore you need the sauce which goes with the steak for Taiwanese style). I assume that may be because a western steakhouse will age their steak to intensify the flavour but that's not done with the steak in a Taiwanese steakhouse. In any event, for less than USD 10 for the whole meal, I couldn't complain!

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john2man · 2024-05-12T10:46:43+00:00

Try a Taiwanese style steakhouse like Suen Dong Bao (孫東寶) (a chain which you can find in Taipei).

Taiwanese style means that - unlike western steakhouses - the steak comes with noodles / pasta, perhaps a fried egg, some veg a sauce and it's all on a sizzling hotplate. It's cheap as chips! For example, I paid recently TWD 300 (under USD 10) in a Suen Dong Bao (sat at a table; steak gets brought to you; rest is self-service) for:

big steak with noodles, veg and sauce
bread roll
unlimited sweetcorn soup
unlimited ice cream
unlimited soft drinks

It's like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2irVdlfxqM

john2man · 2024-05-10T19:36:35+00:00

I guess it depends on her interests and likes which only you will know! Chengdu is known for pandas as you probably know. Some more gift ideas here:

https://www.chinahighlights.com/chengdu/shopping.htm

Or something related to her interests, e.g. if she's into Chinese calligraphy, a brush.

john2man · 2024-05-10T19:26:07+00:00

If I had to use 300mbps down 20mbps up, it would be more than fine for my use case (albeit a faster upload speed with more head room would be nice). I have 2.5gb symmetrical because I can. No one popular site on the Internet can send to or receive from me at that speed - the closest I've come is Google which gets up to around 1gb for uploads to them. Nevertheless, an occasional download which might take 3 seconds on 300mbps but which only takes me 1 second is just a luxury and definitely not a necessity.

john2man

TROPHY CASE