Chongqing

Chongqing! General Joseph Warren Stilwell (March 19, 1883 – October 12, 1946) was a United States Army four-star General best-known for his service in China and Burma. It's incongruous to see this American military memorial in the heart of China.
Chongqing - 32 million people in the metropolitan area.
His contempt for formal military dress, his concern for the enlisted man, and his caustic personality would gain him two nicknames: "Uncle Joe" and "Vinegar Joe."
Stilwell's assignment in the China-Burma-India Theater was a geographical administrative command on the same level as the commands of Dwight D. Eisenhower and Douglas MacArthur.
The first step to fighting the war for Stilwell was the reformation of the Chinese Army, which ended with working with both the Nationalists and Mao's Communists - who were strong allies.
Stilwell was infuriated by the rampant corruption of the Chiang regime. In his diary, which he faithfully kept, Stilwell began to note the corruption and the amount of money ($380,584,000 in 1944 dollars) being wasted upon the procrastinating Chiang and his government.
Stilwell, pressing for his full command of all Chinese forces, had made diplomatic inroads with the Chinese Communist Red Army commanded by Mao Zedong. He bypassed his theater commander Chiang Kai-Shek and had gotten Mao to agree to follow an American commander. His confrontational approach in the power struggle with Chiang utimately led to Chiang's determination to have Stilwell recalled to the United States.
The "24 courves" supply road.
Stilwell was well known for his no-nonsense appearance and disregard for military pomp and ceremony. His trademarks were a battered Army campaign hat, GI shoes, and a plain service uniform with no insignia of rank; he frequently carried a .30 Springfield rifle in preference to a sidearm.
One of the most significant conflicts to emerge during the war was between General Stilwell and General Claire Lee Chennault, the commander of the famed "Flying Tigers" and later air force commander. As adviser to the Chinese air forces, Chennault proposed a limited air offensive against the Japanese in China in 1943 using a series of forward air bases. Stilwell insisted that the idea was untenable, and that any air campaign should not begin until fully fortified air bases supported by large infantry reserves had first been established. Stilwell then argued that all air resources be diverted to his forces in India for an early conquest of North Burma. Following Chennault's advice, Generalissimo Chiang rejected the proposal.
Inside the Stillwell museum.
With the rapid deterioration of the China front after Japanese launched Operation Ichi-Go in 1944, Stilwell saw this as an opportunity to gain full command of all Chinese armed forces, and convinced Marshall to have Roosevelt send an utimatum to Chiang threatening to end all American aid unless Chiang "at once" place Stilwell "in unrestricted command of all your forces."
An exultant Stilwell immediately delivered this letter to Chiang despite pleas from Patrick Hurley, Roosevelt's special envoy in China, to delay delivering the message and work on a deal that would achieve Stilwell's aim in a manner more acceptable to Chiang.
Seeing this act as a move toward the complete subjugation of China, a humiliated Chiang gave a formal reply in which he said that Stilwell must be replaced immediately and he would welcome any other qualified U.S. general to fill Stilwell's position.
On October 19, 1944, Stilwell was recalled from his command by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Stilwell's return to the United States was not accompanied by the usual ceremony. Upon arrival, he was met by two Army generals at the airport, who told him that he was not to answer any media questions about China whatsoever.
New York Times drama critic-turned-war correspondent Brooks Atkinson, who had visited Mao in Yenan, saw the Communist Chinese forces as a democratic movement (after Atkinson visited Mao, his article on his visit was titled Yenan: A Chinese Wonderland City), and the Nationalists in turn as hopelessly reactionary and corrupt.
This view represented that of many of the U.S. press corps in China at the time.
The negative image of the Kuomintang in America played a significant factor in Harry Truman's decision to end all U.S. aid to Chiang at the height of the Chinese civil war, a war that resulted in the Communists takeover of mainland China and Chiang's retreat to Taiwan.
On August 24, 2000, the United States Postal Service issued a 10¢ postage stamp honoring Stilwell.
The Chongqing area is exceptionally fertile.
A constant haze - known long before industrialization - creates a greenhouse effect and a somewhat tropical climate.
As a result, you can pretty much throw seeds out your windows and things will grow.
Public gardens dot the city.
And as in most of China, the traditional sits side-by-side with the modern.
A market street in Chongqing...
... in the shadows of continual growth.


The toilet paper delivery service.
Rich odors.
Rich flavors.
Rich greenery.
Rich colors.
Poor frogs.
Ewwww...
Ahhhh...
Hmmmmm...
Awwwwww....
Yum!