Chongqing Municipality

With 7 districts, 11 counties and 3 county-level municipalities under its jurisdiction at present, Chongqing is the industrial & commercial centre and foreign trade port in the upper reaches of the Changjing River. It is also the hub of water, land, and air transportation in Southwest China with busy rivers and highways radiating in all directions. The three railways connect Chongqing with all other parts of the country. Airliners here fly to & from 39 domestic cities and charter flights fly directly to and from Hongkong and Nagoya of Japan. Chongqing rich and diversified tourist facilities include over 96 travel agencies, 23 tourist hotels which are entitled to receive foreign guests, 50 other appointed institutions and units that are foreign-related, over 360 deluxe tourist coaches of various kinds, Sichuan dishes, huoguo, and over 100 local snacks. Chongqing is a place every tourist desires to visit. Honorable guests and dear friends, make a trip here and you'll be warmly received by the hospitable Chongqing people.

Geographical location:
On the upper reaches of the Yangtze River in southwest of China, bordering provinces of Hubei, Hunan, Guizhou, Sichuan and Shaanxi. The total area is 82,400 square km.

Neighboring Areas: Qinghai, Gansu, Shaanxi, Hubei, Hunan, Guizhou, and Yunnan Provinces, Tibet Autonomous Region

Attractions in Chongqing

Chongqing Package Tour

Population:
30.97 million (at the end of 2001)

Population growth rate: 2.8¡ë

Area: 82,000 sq km

Ethnicity:
Chongqing is inhabited by 50 ethnic groups, including Han, China¡¯s majority, Tujia, Miao, Hui, Manchu, Yi, Zhuang, Bouyei, Mongol, Tibetan, Bai, Dong, Uygur, Korean, Hani, Dai, Lisu, Va, Lahu, Shui, Naxi, Qiang and Gelao. The total population of the minority groups comes to 1.75 million, of which, the Tujia people are the largest, having 1.13 million, and are following by the Miao, 520,000. These two minority peoples mainly inhabit in five minority autonomous counties in the Qianjiang Development District and the Fuling District.

Illiterate and Semi-illiterate Population Aged 15 and Over: 3.65 million

Male: 1.08 million

Female: 2.57 million

Natural resources:
It has crisscrossing rivers and the water resources can generate 7.5 million kw of power. Chongqing has one of the three largest resources of mineral water in China. It has 38 kinds of mineral deposits, including coal, natural gas, strontium, aluminum oxide, manganese, limestone, marble, spar, gypsum, quartz, mercury, and rock salt. Chongqing leads China and ranks second in the world in deposits of strontium.

Chongqing¡¯s weather is changeable, and the area has many species of plants and animals. Chongqing is proud of its tourism resources, with mountains, rivers, forests, springs, waterfalls, gorges, and caves all displaying the majesty, the fantasy, the danger, and the seclusion of nature. The famous tourist attractions include the Three Gorges on the Yangtze River; the night view of the City of Mountains; the rock carvings at Dazu, a World Cultural Heritages site; the Lotus Cave, recently discovered near the Four-Sided Mountains; and Tiankeng (Heavenly Pit) and Difeng (Earthly Rift Valley), two rare geological spectacles at Fengjie.

In addition, Chongqing has vast rural areas with large populations ¡ª a great potential for the development of agriculture. The cost of labor is comparatively low.

History:
Until the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), Chongqing and the surrounding area was alternately an independent state, part of an empire based in northern China, or part of a central Chinese empire. Originally called Yuzhou and then Gongzhou, it was given the name Chongqing ("Double Celebration") by the emperor Zhao Dun of the Southern Song dynasty in 1190, to record his double happiness at having been the prince of the city and then emperor of China. (An alternative explanation is that it got this name from its strategic position between the cities of Nanchong to the north and Pengshui to the southeast.) Although protected by a wall since 250 BC, Chongqing was plundered during the rebellion of Zhang Xianzhong (Chang Hsien-chung) in the 1630s. When the wall was subsequently repaired, 8 of the 17 gates were left closed on the advice of feng shui experts (geomancers).

The first industries developed in Chongqing were related to agriculture, with textile shops and breweries being established under the Ming dynasty. Foreign trade began in 1901, when the British and Japanese established trade concessions in Chongqing. A program of local industrialization was begun in 1928, but this was followed by a huge influx of people, money and machinery in 1938 when the Chinese Nationalist government fled to Chongqing to escape the invading Japanese army. Iron and coal deposits near Chongqing began to be exploited at this time, and industry expanded rapidly. The city was repeatedly bombed by Japanese airplanes, and economic advances were hampered by the mismanagement and corruption of the Nationalists. The military effort of the Nationalists was mostly ineffective due to Chiang Kaishek's obsession with fighting Communists rather than the Japanese. Following the defeat of Japan in 1945, Mao Zedong and Chiang Kaishek conducted peace talks here under U.S. mediation, but ultimately the talks failed and the civil war resumed. The Nationalist government was moved back to Nanjing in 1946, but returned to Chongqing for two months in 1949 when they were driven from Nanjing by Communist forces, before finally fleeing to Taiwan.

The rebuilding program begun by the Communists in 1949 made great progress, despite setbacks during the Great Leap Forward (1958-60) and the Cultural Revolution (1966-76). The close proximity of coal, iron, petroleum and hydro-electric resources have helped to make Chongqing one of the main industrial cities of southwest China. Besides the large complex of iron and steel plants, many other types of heavy and light industries are present, including machinery, chemicals, textiles, papermaking, and food processing. Due to its prime location Chongqing is the focal point of trade for the provinces of Sichuan, Shaanxi, Guizhou, Yunnan and the Tibet Autonomous Region, but transportation can be hampered in winter by the perpetual fog which hangs over the city. The industrial smoke and fog have combined to make Chongqing's air quality among the worst in China.

In 1997, Chongqing was removed from Sichuan Province and promoted to the status of provincial-level municipality, like Beijing, Tianjin and Shanghai.

Culture
Sports and recreation are major activities in Chongqing, with numerous sports facilities, parks and gardens. Nearby are some popular mineral hot springs.

Food
The number one specialty of Chongqing is Sichuan hotpot, in which diners cook their own sliced meat and vegetables in a bubbling pot of soup or spiced oil.

Folklore
Due to its extreme heat in midsummer, Chongqing is called one of the "three furnaces" of China, along with Wuhan and Nanjing.

Climatic Features: sub-tropical humid monsoon climate; little frost and snow and much fog all the year round; 4 seasons clearly with warm winter, hot summer, early spring and short autumn

Average Temperature: average lowest temperature in winter is 6 to 8C and average highest temperature in summer is 27C to 29C; annual average temperature is around 18C to 20C

Rainfall: long rainy season and plenty rainfall, about 1200-1400 mm a year; plenty of night rain

Mountains: Hualuan Mountains, Daba Mountains

Rivers: the Yangtse River - the longest river in China, Jialing River, Wujiang River, Fujiang River, Qijiang River, Qujiang River and Daninghe River; Changshou Lake, Qinglong Lake, Longshui Lake, Baiyun Lake, Shengtian Lake and Nanhu Lake

Transportation
Railways:
Three trunk lines (Chengdu-Chongqing Railway, Changsha-Chongqing Railway and Chengdu-Guizhou Railway) and five feeder railways, totaling 537 km in Chongqing.

Highways:
Five national highways and 17 provincial highways, with traffic mileage totaling 27,200 km in Chongqing.

Waterways:
Dozens of ports and passenger and freight docks have been established along the Yangtze River to facilitate water transportation business from Chongqing to Shanghai and even to overseas countries. The total length of water transportation in Chongqing is more than 4,000 km. After the completion of the Three Gorges water conservation project, ships of over 10,000 tons will be able to reach Chongqing directly.

Airports:
A national Grade 1 civilian airport in Chongqing has opened over 50 domestic and international flights. Two more airports, Wuqiao at Wanzhou and Zhoubai at Qiangjiang, are under construction.

Telecommunications
Telephones:
By the end of 1999, computer-controlled telephones now number 3.39 million in Chongqing, with the number of subscribers reaching 2.12 million. A telecommunications network now links Chongqing and Wuhan, capital of Hubei Province. A satellite telecommunication station has also been established. The residents of Chongqing can reach people in 180 countries and regions through IDD. Telephone numbers now have eight digits.

Radio and TV stations:
There are all together 43 radio broadcasting stations, seven TV stations and 41 cable TV stations in Chongqing. The population coverage rate of radio and TV has reached 85% and 75% respectively.