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Ch'ung-ch'ing)
Chongqing (重慶/重庆; pinyin: Chóngqìng; Wade-Giles: Ch'ung-ch'ing; Postal System Pinyin: Chungking) is the largest and most populous of the People's Republic of China's four municipalities, which have provincial-level status. It is the only municipality to the west of the densely populated eastern half of China. The placename literally means "Double Celebration".
The municipal abbreviation, Yu, was approved by the State Council on April 18, 1997. Yu had previously been used by the Kuomintang. It is the old name of a part of the Jialing River that runs through Chongqing with the Yangtze.
The city centre (市区) consists of the districts of Jiangbei, Shapingba, Jiulongpo, Dadukou, and Yuzhong.
History
Chongqing is said to be the semi-mythical State of Ba (巴國) 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 (江州) and Chu Prefecture (楚州).
In 581 AD (Sui Dynasty), Chongqing was renamed to Yu Prefecture (渝州).
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" (雙重喜慶), 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 Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek during World War II (Second Chinese-Japanese War).
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). The first official ceremony took place on June 18 of that year.
In March 14, 1997, the original Chongqing City was promoted to the status of Municipality. The municipality was formed 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.
Subdivisions
The municipality is divided in to 40 county-level subdivisions (3 were abolished since 1997): 15 districts, 4 county-level cities, and 21 counties.
Geography
Located on the edge of the Tibetan Plateau, Chongqing is intersected by the Jialing River and the upper reaches of the Yangtze. It contains Daba Mountain in the north, Wu Mountain in the east, Wuling Mountain 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.
Economy
Chongqing waterfront on the Jialing. See the
funicular article for some details
Located at the head of the reservoir behind the Three Gorges Dam, Chongqing is planned to be the beachhead for the development of the western part of the country. Massive public works are currently under way in the city, including overhead and surface commuter rail lines connecting the many districts of the city.
The GDP per capita was 9038 RMB (ca. 1090 USD) in 2003, ranking no. 303 among 659 Chinese cities.
Climate
Magnolia bloom street lights in Chongqing
The climate is semi-tropical, with the two-season monsoonal variations typical of south asia. During World War II the frequent dense fogs were welcomed for their protection from Japanese aircraft bombing attacks.
As is true of most of China, severe air pollution is frequently present, largely as a result of the burning of coal without pollution controls, both for industrial processess and for the production of electric power.
Landmarks
- 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 metropolitain area.
City tree
The city's tree is the evergreen magnolia (magnolia delavayi) abundant in street plantings, with the tulip-like shape of its mature unopened blooms repeated in street lights.
Miscellaneous topics
Professional sports teams in Chongqing include:
Colleges and Universities
[National]
[Public]
Note: Institutions without full-time bachelor programs are not listed.
External links
de:Chongqing
ja:重慶市
pl:Czungcing
fi:Chongqing
zh-cn:重庆
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