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Chongqing is the largest and most populous of the People's Republic of China's four provincial-level municipalities, and the only one in the less densely populated western half of China. The municipality of Chongqing has a registered population of 31,442,300 (2005), most of them living outside ... more »
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Hotels Chongqing is the largest and most populous of the People's Republic of China's four provincial-level municipalities, and the only one in the less densely populated western half of China. The municipality of Chongqing has a registered population of 31,442,300 (2005), most of them living outside the urban area of Chongqing proper, over hundreds of square kilometres of farmland. The population of the urban area of Chongqing proper was 12.057 million in 2005, ranking it as the 3rd largest city in China in terms of population.
Located on the edge of the Yungui Plateau, Chongqing is intersected by the Jialing River and the upper reaches of the Yangtze. It contains Daba Shan in the north, Wu Shan in the east, Wuling Shan in the southeast, and Dalou Mountain to the south.
The city is very hilly and is the only major metropolitan area in China without significant numbers of bicycles.
Historically, Chongqing has been a major trading inland port, transporting goods from the southwestern provinces to eastern China. During the Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945), Chongqing was transformed into a heavy industrial city, especially the military industry which continued to thrive for decades after 1949. Since the 1980s, many of these military industry enterprises have undergone reforms and turned from producing military goods to mostly civilian products for survival and growth.
Chongqing and surrounding areas are full of tourism resources. The most famous is the Three Gorges, a scenic area along Yangtze river. The 200-km long area is the most visited canyon in China. Besides its gorgeous natural scene, it is also a culturally rich area. Other tourism sites include Dazu Stone Carvings, mainly Buddhist themes, it was carved from the Tang Dynasty, now belongs to UNESCO World Heritage. City sightseeing is also a famous part of Chongqing tourism. Historical sites in World War II are located in the metropolitan area. In the surrounding areas, Fishing town is an important battlefield event in world history. In 1243, Mongol prince Mongke Khan was defeated and died here and it stopped the Mongols' expansion in Europe and Africa because of turmoil after his death.
Things to do * The city is home to one of the largest public assembly buildings in China, the Great Hall of the People, built in modern times but in the classic Tang Dynasty style - as a large circular building. This is adjacent to the densely populated and hilly central district, with narrow streets and pedestrian only walkways. * There is a museum at the World War II headquarters of General "Vinegar Joe" Stilwell. The preservation and presentation of the materials here reflect the long and historic affection between China and the U.S., despite the global frictions between their respective governments of the late 20th century.
* A giant ferris wheel offers spectacular views of the metropolitan area, although it is currently out of action.
* A modern and well stocked zoo exhibits many national and regional animals, including the Giant Panda and the extremely rare South China Tiger.
Chongqing is said to be the semi-mythical State of Ba that began in 11th century BC, when the Ba people began living here until they were destroyed by the State of Qin in 316 BC. The Qin emperor ordered a new city to be constructed, called Jiang and Chu Prefecture.
In 581 AD (Sui Dynasty), Chongqing was renamed to Yu Prefecture.
In 1102, the city was renamed Gong Prefecture.
In 1189, when Prince Zhao Dun of the Southern Song Dynasty was first made a king then crowned as Emperor Guangzong, he commented that it was "double/repeated happy celebration", so renamed Yu Prefecture to Chongqing Subprefecture.
In 1362 (Yuan Dynasty), Ming Yuzhen, a peasant rebel leader, established Daxia Kingdom at Chongqing for a short time.
In 1621, another short-lived kingdom of Daliang was established there.
In 1891, Chongqing became the first inland commerce port open to foreigners.
Since 1929, Chongqing was a municipality of the Republic of China. Chongqing was the provisional capital of the government of Chiang Kai-shek during the Second Chinese-Japanese War from 1937 to 1945 and was heavily bombed by the Japanese Air Force, called "Bombing of Chongqing". It holds the distinction of being the most bombed city in history. During the war a lot of factories and universities from eastern China were moved to Chongqing and surrounding areas, transforming it from an inland port to a heavy-industrial city.
In 1954, the municipality was reduced to a provincial city of the People's Republic.
For three years, Chongqing had been a sub-provincial city of Sichuan Province, until March 14, 1997, as decided in the Eighth National People's Congress, the original Chongqing City was merged with the neighbouring Fuling, Wanxian, and Qianjiang that had been governed by Chongqing City on behalf of the province since September of the previous year. These four prefecture-level entities were all abolished as distinct administrative divisions and formed one new Chongqing Municipality that contained 30,020,000 people in their 43 former counties (without intermediate political levels), to spearhead China's effort to develop its western regions as well as to coordinate the resettlement of refugees from the Three Gorges Dam project. The first official ceremony took place on June 18 of that year.
Chongqing is the biggest inland river port in western China. Historically, most of its transportation, especially to the eastern China is through the Yangtze river. Now Chongqing is linked to other parts of the country through several railways and highways, including: Chongqing-Chengdu (Sichuan province) railway, Chongqing-Guiyang (Guizhou province) railway, Chongqing-Xiangfan (Hubei province) railway, Chongqing-Huaihua (Hunan province) railway, Chongqing-Suining (Sichuan province) express railway, Wanzhou-Yichang (Hubei province) railway (under construction), Chongqing-Lanzhou (Gansu province) railway (under construction), Chongqing-Chengdu highway, Chongqing-Wanxian highway, Chongqing-Guiyang highway.
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Also, Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport, located north of Chongqing provides links to most parts of China and to other countries and regions such as Hong Kong, Japan, and Thailand.
Meanwhile, the transportation system in the metropolitan area is also being developed to modern standards. Due to its hilly geography and Yangtze and Jialing rivers which run through it, ground transportation in the city requires an unusual number of bridges and tunnels, which increases cost dramatically. However, the highway network around the city and to nearby satellite towns is almost completed. One unique form of transportation in the city are the cable cars which are suspended over the rivers. Recently, the Chongqing metro system was completed and entered service in June 2005.
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* The climate is semi-tropical, with the two-season monsoonal variations typical of South Asia. It has hot summers, and the temperature can be as high as 40 C (102F). It is known as one of the "three furnaces" of China, the other two being Wuhan and Nanjing. In the winter, it is wet and warm. While it seldom snows, most days are foggy. During World War II, the frequent dense fogs were welcomed for their protection from Japanese bombing attacks.
As is true of most of China, the city often experiences severe air pollution, largely as a result of the burning of coal without pollution controls. Coal is burned both for industrial processess and for the production of electric power. Also, due to the surrounding mountains, a lack of wind makes the air pollution in the city even worse.
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* This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the Source wikipedia.
