Chongqing

Chongqing
重庆
—  Direct-controlled municipality  —
Municipality of Chongqing · 重庆市
From top:Yuzhong Skyline , CRT Line 2 Monorail, Chaotianmen Bridge, and Great Hall of the People

Location of the Municipality of Chongqing within China
Coordinates: 29°33′00″N 106°30′25″E / 29.55°N 106.50694°E / 29.55; 106.50694Coordinates: 29°33′00″N 106°30′25″E / 29.55°N 106.50694°E / 29.55; 106.50694
Country  People's Republic of China
County-level divisions 40
Township divisions 1259
Settled ca. 316 BC
Government
 - CPC Chongqing Bo Xilai Committee Secretary
 - Mayor Huang Qifan
Area(ranked 26th)
 - Direct-controlled municipality 82,300 km² (31,776.2 sq mi)
Elevation 435 m (1,427 ft)
Population (2007)
 - Direct-controlled municipality 31,442,300
 - Density 382/km² (989.5/sq mi)
 - Urban 5,087,197
 - Ranks in China Populations: 20th; Density: 12th
 - Major nationalities Han - 91%
Tujia - 5%
Miao - 2%
 
Time zone China Standard Time (UTC+8)
Postal code 4000 00 - 4099 00
Area code(s) 23
License plate prefixes 渝 A, B, C, F, G, H
ISO 3166-2 CN-50
GDP (2009) CNY 652.7 billion
 - per capita CNY 22,909
HDI (2008) 0.783 (18th) — medium
Website (Chinese) www.cq.gov.cn
(English) english.cq.gov.cn/
City trees
Ficus lacor City flowers
Camellia (Camellia japonica)

Chongqing
Chinese name
Simplified Chinese 重庆
Traditional Chinese 重慶
Hanyu Pinyin Chóngqìng
Literal meaning double celebration
Transliterations
Hakka
- Romanization Tshùng-khin
Mandarin
- Hanyu Pinyin Chóngqìng
- Wade–Giles Ch'ung-ch'ing
- Postal Map Chungking
Min
- Hokkien POJ Tiōng-khèng
Cantonese
- Jyutping cung⁴hing³


Sichuanese name
Sichuanese Cong²qin⁴

Chongqing (simplified Chinese: 重庆; pinyin: Chóngqìng; Sichuanese Pinyin: Cong²qin⁴; Sichuanese pronunciation: [tsʰoŋ²¹tɕʰin²¹⁴]; Postal map spelling: Chungking; Wade-Giles: Ch'ung-ch'ing) is a major city in southwestern mainland China and one of the five national central cities. Administratively, it is one of the People's Republic of China's four direct-controlled municipalities (the other three are Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin), and the only such municipality in western China.

The municipality was created on 14 March 1997, succeeding the sub-provincial city administration that was part of Sichuan Province. In 2007, the municipality of Chongqing had a population of 31.4 million. It has jurisdiction over 19 districts, 17 counties, and four autonomous counties. With an area of 82,300 km² (31,800 mi²), it is the largest direct-controlled municipality, larger even than one province and an autonomous region, as well as Taiwan. It is possibly the world's largest municipality by area.

The municipal abbreviation, Yú (渝), was approved by the State Council on 18 April 1997. Chongqing was also a municipality of the Republic of China administration, serving as its wartime capital during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Its abbreviated name is derived from the old name of a part of the Jialing River that runs through Chongqing and feeds the Yangtze River.

Today, it is the economic centre of the Upstream Yangtze area, and outsiders have speculated that, due to its ever-growing number of river bridges and hyper-dense skyline, it will be China's "Chicago on the Yangtze".

History

Chongqing is said to be the semi-legendary State of Ba that the Ba people supposedly established during the eleventh century BCE. By 316 BCE, however, it had been overrun by the State of Qin. The Qin emperor ordered a new city to be constructed, which was called Jiang (江州) and Chu Prefecture (楚州).

Chongqing was subsequently renamed in 581 CE (Sui Dynasty) and l;;1102, to Yu Prefecture (渝州) and then Gong Prefecture (恭州). It received its current name in 1189, after Prince Zhao Dun of the Southern Song Dynasty described his crowning as king and then Emperor Guangzong as a "double/repeated happy celebration" (simplified Chinese: 双重喜庆; traditional Chinese: 雙重喜慶; pinyin: shuāngchóng xǐqìng). Hence, Yu Prefecture became Chongqing subprefecture to mark the occasion.

In 1362, (Yuan Dynasty), Ming Yuzhen, a peasant rebelling leader, established the Daxia Kingdom (大夏) at Chongqing for a short time.

In 1621 (Ming Dynasty), another short-lived kingdom of Daliang (大梁) was established by She Chongming (奢崇明) in Chongqing as its capital.

Between 1627-1645, with the fall of the Ming Dynasty, Chongqing, together with Sichuan, were captured by the Revolts who overthrew the Ming Dynasty across the nation. Later during the Qing Dynasty, immigration to Chongqing and Sichuan took place with the support of Qing emperor.

In 1891, Chongqing became the first inland commerce port open to foreigners.

From 1929, Chongqing became a municipality of the Republic of China. During the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945), it was Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek's provisional capital and was heavily bombed by the Japanese Air Force. Due to its mountainous environment, many people were saved from the bombing. Many factories and universities were moved from eastern China to Chongqing during WWII, transforming this city from inland port to a heavily industrialized city. In late November 1949 the Nationalist KMT government fled the city.

In 1954, the municipality was demoted to a sub-provincial city within the Sichuan Province of the People's Republic of China.

On 14 March 1997, the Eighth National People's Congress decided to merge the city with the neighbouring Fuling, Wanxian, and Qianjiang prefecture-level districts that it had governed on behalf of the province since September 1996. The resulting single division was the Chongqing Municipality, containing 30,020,000 people in forty-three former counties (without intermediate political levels). The municipality became the spearhead of China's effort to develop its western regions and to coordinate the resettlement of residents from the reservoir areas of the Three Gorges Dam project. Its first official ceremony took place on 18 June 1997.

In 2009, Chongqing hosted the Second "Chinese Bridge" Chinese Proficiency Competition For Foreign Secondary School Students, organised by Hanban, from the October 16 to October 31.

Geography

All climactic data listed below comes from Yubei District

Geographic coordinates  

Longitude —— 105°17' to 110°11' E。Latitude —— 28°10' to 32°13' N。

Annual average temperature 

17.7 °C (63.9 °F)

January average  

7.2 °C (45.0 °F)

August average  

28.0 °C (82.4 °F)

Temperature range  

−3.0 to 44.0 °C (27 to 111 °F)

Total annual hours of sunshine 

1024

Annual precipitation 

~ 1,120 millimetres (44.1 in)

Neighbouring provinces  

Hubei (east), Hunan (southeast), Guizhou (south), Sichuan (west), Shaanxi (north)

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 as such it is the unique in China for lacking significant numbers of bicycles.

Chongqing
Climate chart (explanation)
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