Real Estate

Chongqing 重庆
—  Municipality  —
Municipality of Chongqing • 重庆市
Clockwise from top: Jiefangbei CBD Skyline, Baidicheng temple, Chaotianmen Bridge, Qutang Gorge, and the Great Hall of the People.
Location of Chongqing Municipality within China
Coordinates: 29°33′30″N 106°34′00″E / 29.55833°N 106.5666667°E / 29.55833; 106.5666667Coordinates: 29°33′30″N 106°34′00″E / 29.55833°N 106.5666667°E / 29.55833; 106.5666667
Country	People's Republic of China
Settled	ca. 316 BCE
Divisions  - County-level  - Township-level	19 districts, 19 counties 1259 towns, townships, and subdistricts
Government
• Type	Municipality
• CPC Ctte Secretary	Zhang Dejiang
• Mayor	Huang Qifan
Area
• Municipality	82,401 km2 (31,815 sq mi)
Elevation	237 m (778 ft)
Population (2010)[1]
• Municipality	28,846,170
• Density	350/km2 (910/sq mi)
Demonym	Chongqinger
Time zone	China standard time (UTC+8)
Postal code	4000 00 - 4099 00
Area code(s)	23
GDP	2011
- Total	CNY 1001.1 billion US$ 158.9 billion (23rd)
- Per capita	CNY 27,596 US$ 4,077 (14th)
HDI (2008)	0.783 (18th) — medium
Licence plate prefixes	渝 A, B, C, F, G, H
ISO 3166-2	CN-50
City flower	Camellia
City tree	Ficus lacor
Website	(Chinese) www.cq.gov.cn (English) english.cq.gov.cn

Chongqing
Simplified Chinese	重庆
Traditional Chinese	重慶
Hanyu Pinyin	Chóngqìng
Sichuanese Pinyin
Literal meaning	double celebration or celebrate again
Transcriptions Hakka - Romanization Tshùng-khin Mandarin - Hanyu Pinyin Chóngqìng - Wade–Giles Ch'ung-ch'ing - Postal Map Chungking - Sichuanese Pinyin Min - Hokkien POJ Tiōng-khèng Wu - Romanization zon上chin去 Cantonese (Yue) - Jyutping cung4hing3

Chongqing (simplified Chinese: 重庆; traditional Chinese: 重慶; Chinese Postal Map Romanization: Chungking) is a major city in Southwest China and one of the five national central cities in the People's Republic of China (PRC). Administratively, it is one of the PRC's four direct-controlled municipalities (the other three are Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin), and the only such municipality in inland China.

The municipality was created on 14 March 1997, succeeding the sub-provincial city administration that was part of Sichuan province. As of November 2010, the municipality had a population of 28,846,200,^[1] although the urbanized area is estimated to have a population of only 6 or 7 million. ^[2] Chongqing is the largest direct-controlled municipality, and comprises 19 districts, 15 counties, and 4 autonomous counties.

The official abbreviation, 渝 (Yú), 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 (1937–1945). 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.

Chongqing is one of the most notable cities for history and culture in China (历史文化名城), and serves as the economic centre of the upstream Yangtze area. It is the major manufacturing centre and a transportation hub for Southwest China.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Open to the world 1.2 Provisional Capital of the Republic of China 1.3 Municipality status 2 Geography 2.1 Climate 3 Administrative divisions 3.1 Cityscape 4 Demographics 5 Politics 5.1 Military 6 Five Chongqing city developing program 7 Economy 7.1 Organised crime 7.2 Economic and technological development zones 8 Transport 8.1 River port 8.2 Railways 8.3 Highways 8.4 Airport 8.5 Public transport 9 Culture 9.1 Language 9.2 Tourism 9.3 Media 9.4 Cuisine 9.5 Sports 9.6 Religion 10 Education 10.1 Colleges and universities 10.2 Middle and high schools 10.3 International schools 11 International relations 11.1 Consulates 11.2 Twin towns — sister cities 11.3 Africa 11.4 Asia 11.5 Europe 11.6 North America 11.7 Oceania 11.8 South America 12 See also 13 Notes 14 References 15 External links

History

Tradition associates Chongqing with 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 later 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 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.

Between 1627–1645, with the fall of the Ming Dynasty, Chongqing, together with the rest of 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.

Open to the world

In 1890, the Consulate General of UK was opened in Chongqing^[3]

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

In 1896, the French Consulate General was opened in Chongqing^[4]

In 1896, the Japanese Consulate General was opened in Chongqing

In 1896, the US Consulate General was opened in Chongqing

In 1904, the German Consulate General was opened in Chongqing^[5]

Provisional Capital of the Republic of China

A letter from Franklin D. Roosevelt to Chongqing in 1945:

In the name of the people of the United States of America. I present this scroll to the city of Chungking as a symbol of our admiration for its brave men, women and children. Under blasts of terror from the air, even in the days before the world at large had known this horror. Chungking and its people held out firm and unconquered. They proved gloriously that terrorism cannot destroy the spirit of a people determined to be free. Their fidelity to the cause of freedom will inspire the hearts of all future generations.

In 1949, when the Peoples' Republic of China was established, Chongqing was still a municipality.

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

Municipality status

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 became 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 the 18 June 1997.

On 8 February 2010, Chongqing became one of the five National Central/Core cities, the other four are Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Tianjin.

On 18 June 2010, Liangjiang New Area was established in Chongqing, which is one of the 3 National New Areas, the other two being Pudong new area in Shanghai and Binhai new area in Tianjin.

• 

  'Chongqing' in simplified script Chinese (简体中文：重庆)

• 

  'Chongqing' in traditional script Chinese (繁體中文：重慶)

• 

  Japanese bombing of Chongqing, 1941

• 

  Crowded street near a dock of Chongqing, 1945

• 

  Streetscape in Chongqing, 1945

• 

  Residential areas in Chongqing, 1945

Geography

This section requires expansion with: more physical geography.

Geographic coordinates 

Latitude 28° 10' to 32° 13' N, Longitude 105° 17' to 110° 11' E.

Neighbouring provinces 

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

Located at the northern end of the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau and the eastern limits of the Sichuan Basin, Chongqing is intersected by the Jialing River and the upper reaches of the Yangtze. It contains the Daba Mountains in the north, the Wu Mountains in the east, the Wuling Mountains in the southeast, and the Dalou Mountains in the south.

The city is very hilly and as a result is unusual in China for its lack of significant numbers of bicycles.

Climate

All climatic data listed below comes from the central parts of the city.

Annual average 

18.2 °C (64.8 °F) ^[6]

January average 

7.8 °C (46.0 °F) ^[6]

August average 

28.5 °C (83.3 °F) ^[6]

Historical Temperature range 

−3.0 to 44.0 °C (27 to 111 °F) ^[7]

Total annual hours of sunshine 

1055

Annual precipitation 

~ 1,140 millimetres (45 in)

Chongqing
J F M A M J J A S O N D     20   10 6     21   13 8     36   17 11     105   23 15     152   27 19     171   29 22     175   33 25     134   34 25     128   28 21     92   22 16     46   17 12     25   12 8 Average max. and min. temperatures in °C Precipitation totals in mm
Imperial conversion J F M A M J J A S O N D     0.8   51 43     0.8   55 46     1.4   63 52     4.1   73 60     6   80 66     6.7   85 72     6.9   91 76     5.3   92 76     5   82 69     3.6   71 62     1.8   62 54     1   53 46 Average max. and min. temperatures in °F Precipitation totals in inches

Chongqing has a monsoon-influenced humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa), and for most of the year experiences very humid conditions. Known as one of the "Three Furnaces" of the Yangtze River, along with Wuhan and Nanjing, its summers are long and among the hottest and most humid in China, with highs of 33 to 34 °C (91 to 93 °F) in July and August in the urban area. Winters are short and somewhat mild, but damp and overcast. The city's location in the Sichuan Basin causes it to have one of the lowest sunshine totals annually in China, at only 1055 hours.

Conditions are cooler in the southeast part of the municipality due to the higher elevations there.

Climate data for Chongqing (Shapingba District, 1971–2000)
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Average high °C (°F)	10.3 (50.5)	12.5 (54.5)	17.4 (63.3)	22.9 (73.2)	26.9 (80.4)	29.4 (84.9)	32.8 (91.0)	33.6 (92.5)	27.7 (81.9)	21.9 (71.4)	16.9 (62.4)	11.6 (52.9)	22.0 (71.6)
Average low °C (°F)	6.0 (42.8)	7.5 (45.5)	11.0 (51.8)	15.3 (59.5)	19.1 (66.4)	22.0 (71.6)	24.6 (76.3)	24.7 (76.5)	20.8 (69.4)	16.4 (61.5)	12.0 (53.6)	7.6 (45.7)	15.6 (60.1)
Precipitation mm (inches)	19.5 (0.768)	20.6 (0.811)	36.2 (1.425)	104.6 (4.118)	151.7 (5.972)	171.2 (6.74)	175.4 (6.906)	134.4 (5.291)	127.6 (5.024)	92.4 (3.638)	45.9 (1.807)	24.9 (0.98)	1,104.4 (43.48)
% humidity	83	80	76	77	78	80	76	73	80	84	84	85	79.7
Avg. precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm)	10.2	9.9	11.3	14.9	15.6	15.7	12.4	10.5	14.4	15.4	12.2	9.5	152.0
Mean monthly sunshine hours	27.3	34.1	67.4	98.0	108.5	109.7	180.1	196.0	102.4	62.5	43.1	25.8	1,054.9
Source: China Meteorological Administration [6]

Administrative divisions

Chongqing is the largest of the four direct-controlled municipalities of the People's Republic of China. The municipality is divided into 38 subdivisions (3 were abolished in 1997, and Wansheng and Shuangqiao districts were abolished in October 2011^[10]), consisting of 19 districts, 15 counties, and 4 autonomous counties. The boundaries of Chongqing municipality reach much farther into the city's hinterland than the boundaries of the other three provincial level municipalities (Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin), and much of its administrative area, which spans over 80,000 square kilometres (30,900 sq mi), is rural.

Districts Pinyin name Hanzi Previous associationa Banan 巴南区 Chongqing Beibei 北碚区 Changshou 长寿区 Dadukou 大渡口区 Fuling 涪陵区 Fuling Hechuan 合川区 Chongqing Jiangbei 江北区 Jiangjin 江津区 Jiulongpo 九龙坡区 Nan'an 南岸区 Nanchuan 南川区 Fuling Qianjiang 黔江区 Qianjiang Shapingba 沙坪坝区 Chongqing Dazu 大足区 Qijiang 綦江区 Wanzhou 万州区 Wanxian Yubei 渝北区 Chongqing Yongchuan 永川区 Yuzhong 渝中区

Counties Pinyin name Hanzi Previous associationa Bishan 璧山县 Chongqing Chengkou 城口县 Wanxian Dianjiang 垫江县 Fuling Fengdu 丰都县 Fengjie 奉节县 Wanxian Kai 开县 Liangping 梁平县 Rongchang 荣昌县 Chongqing Tongliang 铜梁县 Tongnan 潼南县 Wulong 武隆县 Fuling Wushan 巫山县 Wanxian Wuxi 巫溪县 Yunyang 云阳县 Zhong 忠县

Autonomous counties

Pinyin name	Hanzi	Previous associationa
Pengshui Miao and Tujia	彭水苗族土家族自治县	Qianjiang
Shizhu Tujia	石柱土家族自治县
Xiushan Tujia and Miao	秀山土家族苗族自治县
Youyang Tujia and Miao	酉阳土家族苗族自治县

^a Indicates with which district the division was associated below prior to the merging of Chongqing, Fuling, Wanxian (now Wanzhou) and Qianjiang in 1997.

The urban area of Chongqing Municipality (重庆主城区市区) includes the following districts:

• Yuzhong District (渝中区, or "Central Chongqing District"), the central and most densely populated district, where government and international business offices are located.
• Jiangbei District (江北区, located in the north of Jialing River)
• Shapingba District (沙坪坝区)
• Jiulongpo District (九龙坡区)
• Banan District (巴南区)
• Dadukou District (大渡口区)
• Yubei District (渝北区, or "Northern Chongqing District")
• Beibei District (北碚区)
• Nan'an District (南岸区, or "Southern Bank District")

Cityscape

Demographics

Historical populations
Year	Pop.	±%
1949	1,003,000	—
1979	6,301,000	+528.2%
1983	13,890,000	+120.4%
1996	15,297,000	+10.1%
1997**	30,220,000	+97.6%
2000	30,512,763	+1.0%
2004	30,550,000	+0.1%
2010	28,846,170	−5.6%
**Population size in 1997 was affected by expansion of administrative divisions.

According to a July 2010 article from the official Xinhua news agency, the municipality has a population of 32.8 million, including 23.3 million farmers. Among them, 8.4 million farmers have become migrant workers, including 3.9 million working and living in urban areas of Chongqing.^[11]

This would mean that the locally registered farmers who work in other jurisdictions number 4.5 million, reducing the local, year-round population of Chongqing in 2010 to 28.3 million, plus those who are registered in other jurisdictions but live and work in Chongqing. According to China's 2005 statistical yearbook, of a total population of 30.55 million, those with residence registered in other jurisdictions but residing in the Chongqing enumeration area numbered 1.4 million, including 46,000 who resided in Chongqing "for less than half year". An additional 83,000 had registered in Chongqing, but not yet settled there.^[12]

The 2005 statistical yearbook also lists 15.22 million (49.82%) males and 15.33 million (50.18%) females.^[12]

It terms of age distribution in 2004, of the 30.55 million total population, 6.4 million (20.88%) were age 0-14, 20.7 million (67.69%) were 15-64, and 3.5 million (11.46%) were 65 and over.^[13]

Of a total 10,470,000 households (2004), 1,360,000 consisted of one person, 2,940,000 2-person, 3,190,000 3-person, 1,790,000 4-person, 783,000 5-person, 270,000 6-person, 89,000 7-person, 28,000 8-person, 6,000 9-person, and 10,000 households of 10 or more persons per household.^[14]

Politics

The politics of Chongqing is structured in a dual party-government system like all other governing institutions in the People's Republic of China.

The Mayor of Chongqing is the highest ranking official in the People's Government of Chongqing. Since Chongqing is a centrally administered municipality, the mayor occupies the same level in the order of precedence as provincial governors. However, in the city's dual party-government governing system, the mayor has less power than the Chongqing Communist Party of China Municipal Committee Secretary, colloquially termed the "Chongqing CPC Party Chief".

Chongqing also has the distinction of having been the wartime capital of China during the Second Sino-Japanese war, and, for a brief period, being the seat of administration for the Republic of China government before its departure to Taiwan.

Preceded by Nanjing

Capital of China 1937-1945

Succeeded by Nanjing

Military

Chongqing is headquarters of the 13th Group Army of the People's Liberation Army, one of the two group armies that comprise the Chengdu Military Region responsible for the defence of China's southwestern borders with India and Myanmar, as well as security in Tibet.

Five Chongqing city developing program

Five Chongqing city developing program, which contains "Healthy Chongqing program", "Safe Chongqing Program", "Livable Chongqing Program", "Accessible Chongqing Program" and "Forest Chongqing Program" was first raised on 20th, August, 2008 and becoming the goal of the development of this city.Chongqing government is trying its best to achieve this goal in the coming years

Economy

Chongqing was separated from Sichuan province and made into a municipality in its own right in March 1997^[15] in order to accelerate its development and subsequently China's relatively poorer western areas (see China Western Development strategy).^[16] An important industrial area in western China,^[17] Chongqing is also rapidly urbanising. For instance, statistics^[18] suggest that new construction added approximately 137,000 square meters (1.5 million square feet) daily of usable floor space to satisfy demands for residential, commercial and factory space. In addition, more than 1,300 people moved into the city daily, adding almost 100 million yuan (US$15 million) to the local economy.

Traditionally, due to its geographical remoteness, Chongqing and neighbouring Sichuan have been important military bases in weapons research and development.^[19] Chongqing's industries have now diversified but unlike eastern China, its export sector is small due to its inland location. Instead, factories producing local-oriented consumer goods such as processed food, autos, chemicals, textiles, machinery and electronics are common.

Chongqing is China's third largest centre for motor vehicle production and the largest for motorcycles. In 2007, it had an annual output capacity of 1 million automobiles and 8.6 million motorcycles.^[20] Leading makers of cars and motor bikes includes China's fourth biggest automaker; Changan Automotive Corp and Lifan Hongda Enterprise. The municipality is also one of the nine largest iron and steel centres in China and one of the three major aluminium producers. Important manufacturers include Chongqing Iron and Steel Company and South West Aluminium which is Asia's largest aluminum plant.^[21] Agriculture remains significant. Rice and fruits (especially oranges) are the area's main produce. Natural resources are also abundant with large deposits of coal, natural gas, and more than 40 kinds of minerals such as strontium and manganese,^[22] although the mining sector has been criticised for being wasteful, heavily-polluting, and unsafe.^[23] Chongqing is also planned to be the site of a 10 million ton capacity refinery operated by CNPC (parent company of PetroChina) to process imported crude oil from the Sino-Burma pipelines. The pipeline itself, though not yet finished, will eventually run from Sittwe (in Myanmar's western coast) through Kunming in Yunnan province before reaching Chongqing^[24] and it will provide China with fuels sourced from Myanmar, the Middle East, and Africa. Recently, there has been a drive to move up the value chain by shifting towards high technology and knowledge intensive industries resulting in new development zones such as the Chongqing New North Zone (CNNZ).^[25] Chongqing's local government is hoping through the promotion of favorable economic policies for the electronics and information technology sectors, that it can create a 400 billion RMB high technology manufacturing hub which will surpass its auto industry and account for 25% of its exports.^[26]

The city has also invested heavily in infrastructure to attract investment.^[20][27] The network of roads and railways connecting Chongqing to the rest of China has been expanded and upgraded reducing logistical costs. Furthermore, the nearby Three Gorges Dam which is the world's largest, will not only supply Chongqing with power once completed but also allows ocean going ships to reach Chongqing's Yangtze River port.^[28] These infrastructure improvements have led to the arrivals of numerous foreign direct investors (FDI) in industries ranging from auto to finance and retailing; such as Ford, Mazda, HSBC, Standard Chartered Bank, Citibank, Deutsche Bank, ANZ Bank, Scotiabank, Wal-Mart, Metro AG and Carrefour among other multinational corporations.^[29]

Chongqing's nominal GDP in 2011 reached 1001.1 billion yuan (US$158.9 billion) while registering an annual growth of 16.4%. However, its overall economic performance is still lagging behind eastern coastal cities such as Shanghai. For instance, its per capita GDP was 22,909 yuan (US$3,301) which is below the national average. Nevertheless, there is a massive government support to transform Chongqing into the region's economic, trade, and financial centre and use the municipality as a platform to open up the country's western interior to further development.^[30]

Chongqing has been identified by the Economist Intelligence Unit in the November 2010 Access China White Paper as a member of the CHAMPS (Chongqing, Hefei, Anshan, Maanshan, Pingdingshan and Shenyang), an economic profile of the top 20 emerging cities in China.^[31]

Organised crime

In the first decade of the 21st century, the city became notorious for organised crime and corruption. Gangsters oversaw businesses involving billions of yuan and the corruption reached into the law-enforcement and justice systems. In 2009, city authorities under the auspices of municipal Communist Party secretary Bo Xilai undertook a massive crackdown, arresting 4,893 suspected gangsters, 'outlaws' and corrupt cadres, leading to optimism that the period of gangsterism was over.^[32]

However, local media later highlighted the apparent reliance by the authorities on torture to extract confessions upon which convictions were based. In December 2009, one defence lawyer was controversially arrested and sentenced to 18 months in prison for "coaching his client to make false claims of torture" and in July 2010, another lawyer released videotapes of his client describing the torture in detail.^[33][34]

Economic and technological development zones

The city includes a number of economic and technological development zones:

• Chongqing Chemical Industrial Park
• Chongqing Economic & Technological Development Zone
• Chongqing Hi-Tech Industry Development Zone
• Chongqing New North Zone (CNNZ)
• Chongqing Export Processing Zone
• Jianqiao Industrial Park (located in Dadukou District)

Transport

Since its elevation to national-level municipality in 1997, the city has dramatically expanded its transportation infrastructure. With the construction of railways and expressways to the east and southeast, Chongqing is a major transportation hub in southwestern China. The municipality now has 25 bridges across the Yangtze River including half a dozen in the city's urban core.

River port

Chongqing is one of the most important inland ports in China. There are numerous luxury cruise ships that terminate at Chongqing, cruising downstream along the Yangtze River to Yichang, Wuhan, Nanjing or even Shanghai. In the recent past, this provided virtually the only transportation option along the river. However, improved rail, expressways and air travel have seen this ferry traffic reduce or been cancelled altogether, thus most of the river ferry traffic consists of mostly leisure cruises for tourists rather than local needs. Improved access by larger cargo vessels has been made due to the construction of the Three Gorges Dam. This allows bulk transport of goods along the Yangtze River. Coal, raw minerals and containerized goods provide the majority of traffic plying this section of the river. Several port handling facilities exists throughout the city, including many impromptu river bank sites.

Railways

Major train stations in Chongqing:

Chongqing Railway Station (Chongqing Zhan - Caiyuanba 重庆站), Cai Yuan Ba Li Jiao Qiao, Yuzhong (Line 1 & 3 Lianglukou Metro Station). Original station closest to the centre of Chongqing handling mostly long distance services. There are plans for a major renovation and overhaul of this station, thus many services have been transferred to Chongqing North Railway Station.

Chongqing North Railway Station (Chongqing Bei Zhan) is a newly constructed station handling many long distance services and high speed rail services to Chengdu. It is connected to Metro Line 3.

Chongqing West Railway Station (Chongqing Xi Zhan) was formerly called Shapingba Railway Station after the district that it is in. It is undergoing redevelopment. Many local and regional services stop here.

Chongqing is a major freight destination for rail with continued development with improved handling facilities. Due to subsidies and incentives, the relocation and construction of many factories in Chongqing has seen a huge increase in rail traffic.

Chongqing is a major rail hub in south central China.

• Chongqing-Chengdu (Sichuan province) railway
• Chengdu–Chongqing High-Speed Railway (under construction)
• Chongqing-Guiyang (Guizhou province) railway
• Chongqing-Xiangyang (Hubei province) railway
• Chongqing-Huaihua (Hunan province) railway
• Chongqing-Suining (Sichuan province) express railway
• Chongqing-Lichuan Railway (Yuli Railway), providing access to the Yichang-Wanzhou Railway in Hubei (under construction)
• Chongqing-Lanzhou (Gansu province) railway (under construction)

Highways

Long distance buses travel to Chongqing from almost anywhere. There are numerous buses into Chongqing, most notably is the hourly service to and from Chengdu, Nanchong, and Xi'an. From the west Chengdu is 2.5 hours and to the east Wanzhou is three hours, both on good highways and good buses.

Traditionally the road network in Chongqing has been narrow, winding and limited to smaller vehicles because of the natural terrain, large rivers and the huge population demands on the area. Especially in the central Yuzhong district. In other places, such as Jiangbei, large areas of homes and buildings have recently been cleared to improve the road network and create better urban planning. This has seen many tunnels and large bridges needing to be built across the city. Construction of many expressways have connected Chongqing to neigbouring provinces. Several ring roads have also been constructed. The natural mountainous terrain that Chongqing is built on makes many road projects difficult to construct, including for example some of the worlds highest road bridges.

Unlike many other Chinese cities, it is rare for motorbikes, electric scooters or bicycles to be seen on Chongqing Roads. This is due to the extremely hilly and mountainous nature of Chongqing's roads and streets. However, despite this, Chongqing is a large manufacturing centre for these types of vehicles.

• Chongqing-Chengdu Expressway
• Chongqing-Chengdu 2nd Expressway (under construction)
• Chongqing-Wanzhou-Yichang highway (Wanzhou-Yichang section under construction)
• Chongqing-Guiyang highway
• Chongqing-Changsha Expressway (Xiushan-Changsha section under construction)
• Chongqing-Dazhou-Xi'a highway (Dazhou-Xi'an section under construction)
• Chongqing-Suining Express way
• Chongqing-Nanchong Express way
• China National Highway 210
• China National Highway 212

Airport

Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport (Simplified Chinese: 重庆江北国际机场, Traditional Chinese: 重慶江北國際機場, Pinyin: Chóngqìng Jiāngběi Guójì Jīchǎng) (IATA: CKG, ICAO: ZUCK) is an airport located in the Yubei District of Chongqing, People's Republic of China offering a growing network of direct flights to China, South East Asia, the Middle East and Europe. It is located 21 km north of the city-centre of Chongqing and serves as an important aviation hub for south-western China. Jiangbei airport is a hub for China Southern Airlines, Chongqing Airlines, Sichuan Airlines and HNA's new China West Air, and Chongqing is a focus city of Air China. Therefore it is very well connected with Star Alliance and Sky Team's international network. It currently has two parallel runways in operation.

Currently Jiangbei airport has two terminals: Terminal 1 (old original terminal) serving international flights; Terminal 2, larger building split into Halls A and B serving domestic flights. The first, second and third phase of the airport came into operation in January 1990, December 2004, and December 2010 respectively. The domestic terminal is capable of handling 30 million passengers while its international terminal is able to handle more than 1 million passengers annually. A third terminal is currently in the planning stage along with a third runway construction due to commence shortly.

In terms of passenger traffic, Chongqing airport was the 10th busiest airport nationwide in 2010, handling 15,802,334 people. Also, the airport was the 11th busiest airport by cargo traffic and by traffic movements in China. During the first half of year 2011, Chongqing airport handled 8.87 million passengers, and surpassed Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport(8.48 million) to become the 9th busiest airport in terms of passenger traffic in mailand China.

Freight development has increased, especially in the export of high value electronics, such as laptop computers. It is envisaged that Chongqing can become the global leading exporter of these products by air.

Currently, it's the only airport in central and western China which has railway (light-rail) city transportation access, (CRT Line 3) and two runways in normal use.

Public transport

The three main forms of public transport in Chongqing are CRT metro, intercity railway, and the ubiquitous bus system.

According to the Chongqing Municipal Government's ambitious plan in May 2007, Chongqing is investing 150 billion RMB over 13 years to finish a system that combines underground metro lines with light rail (heavy monorail). By 2020 this network will consist of 6 straight lines and 1 circular line; Line 1 and Line 6 are underground subway while Lines 2 and 3 are High Capacity monorail. These improvements will add 363.5 kilometers of road and railway to the existing transportation infrastructure and 93 new train stations will be added to the 111 stations that are already in place.

As of 2012^[update] three metro lines, the 14 km long CRT Line 1, a conventional subway, and the 19 km long heavy monorail CRT Line 2 (through Phase II), Line 3, a new heavy monorail connects the airport and the southern part of downtown, have already opened. A new subway, Line 6, is currently in trials and is expected to open later in 2012.

By 2050 Chongqing was initially planning to have ten metro lines, totaling 513 kilometres, with 270 stations.,^[35] although more recent reports have now indicated as many as 18 lines are planned to be in operation.

Culture

Language

The language native to Chongqing is Southwestern Mandarin. More precisely, the great majority of the municipality, save for Xiushan, speak Sichuanese, including the primary Chengdu-Chongqing dialect and Minjiang dialect spoken in Jiangjin and Qijiang.^[36] There are also a few speakers of Xiang and Hakka in the municipality, due to the great immigration wave to the Sichuan region (湖广填四川) during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. In addition, in parts of southeastern Chongqing, the Miao and Tujia languages are also used by some Miao and Tujia people.^[37]

Tourism

As the provisional Capital of China for almost ten years (1937 to 1945), the city was also known as one of the three headquarters of the Allies. Chongqing has many historical World War II buildings or sites (some of which have since been destroyed):

• The People's Liberation Monument, located in the center of Chongqing city used to be the highest building in the area but is now surrounded and dwarfed by numerous shopping centres. Originally named the Monument for the Victory over Axis Armies, it is the only building in China for that purpose. Today, the monument serves as a symbol for the city.
• Chongqing Museum
• General Joseph W. Stilwell Museum dedicated to General "Vinegar Joe" Stilwell.
• Great Hall of the People (Chongqing), based on the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. This is one of the largest public assembly buildings in China which, though built in modern times, emulates traditional architectural styles. It is adjacent to the densely populated and hilly central district, with narrow streets and pedestrian only walkways.
• Renmin Hotel
• Luohan Si, Ming Dynasty temple
• The air force cemetery in the Nanshan area, in memory of those air force personnel killed during the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945);
• The former sites for embassies of major countries during the 1940s. As the capital at that time, Chongqing had many residential and other buildings for these officials.
• Red Rock Village Museum, a diplomatic site for the Communist Party in Chongqing led by Zhou Enlai during World War II. It is where Mao Zedong signed the "Double 10 (10 October) Peace Agreement" with the Kuomintang.

Besides these historical sites, Chongqing also has the following attractions:

• Wuxi County is noted as a majour tourism area of Chongqing.
• The Dazu Rock Carvings, in Dazu county, are a series of Chinese religious sculptures and carvings, dating back as far as the 7th century A.D., depicting and influenced by Buddhist, Confucian and Taoist beliefs. Listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Dazu Rock Carvings are made up of 75 protected sites containing some 50,000 statues, with over 100,000 Chinese characters forming inscriptions and epigraphs.
• The Three Natural Bridges and Furong Cave in Wulong Karst National Geology Park, Wulong County are listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site as part of the South China Karst).
• Ciqikou is a 1000-year-old town in the Shapingba District of Chongqing. It is also known as Little Chongqing. The town, located next to the lower reaches of the Jialing River, was at one time an important source of chinawares and used to be a busy commercial dock during the Ming and Qing Dynasties.

• Fishing Town or Fishing City, also called the “Oriental Mecca” and “the Place That Broke God's Whip”, is one of the three great ancient battlefields of China. It is noted for its resistance to the Mongol armies during the Southern Song Dynasty (1127–1279) and the location where the Mongol leader Möngke Khan died in 1259.
• A modern and well stocked zoo exhibits many national and regional animals, including the Giant Panda and the extremely rare South China Tiger.

Media

Cuisine

This section requires expansion.

One distinct trait of Chongqing cuisine is that it is spicy and numbing (麻辣), as opposed to the spicy and fragrant (香辣) flavours of Chengdu cuisine.

• Hot pot is Chongqing's local culinary specialty. Tables in hotpot restaurants usually have a central vat (or pot) where food ordered by the customers is boiled in a spicy broth. As well as beef, pork, lotus and other vegetables, items such as pig's kidney, brain, duck's bowels, and cow's stomach are often consumed.

Sports

Professional sports teams in Chongqing include:

• Chinese Football Association Super League
  • Chongqing Lifan

Religion

Arhat Temple is a Buddhist temple, which includes monks. The Dazu Rock Carvings are religious sculptures, which present a World Heritage Site. A large Buddha sculpture is outside Shuangjiang. Laitan has a Buddha Temple. Though the Christian population is small, a Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chongqing exists.

Education

Colleges and universities

Middle and high schools

• Chongqing Nankai Middle School (重庆南开中学) founded in 1935
• Bashu Middle School (巴蜀中学) founded in 1933
• Chongqing No. 1 Middle School (重庆第一中学）
• Chongqing No. 8 Middle School (重庆第八中学)
• Chongqing Foreign Languages School (重庆外国语学校) founded in 1963

International schools

• Yew Chung International School of Chongqing (重庆耀中国际学校) website in English
• QSI International School of Chongqing (重庆科爱赛国际学校) website in English

International relations

Consulates

Consulate	Date	Consular District
Canadian Consulate, Chongqing[38]	05.1998	Chongqing, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan
British Consulate-General, Chongqing[38]	03.2000	Chongqing, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan
Cambodian Consulate-General, Chongqing[38]	12.2004	Chongqing, Hubei, Hunan, Shaanxi
Japanese Consulate-General, Chongqing[38]	01.2005	Chongqing, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan
Danish Consulate, Chongqing[38]	07.2005	Chongqing, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan
Filipino Consulate-General, Chongqing[38]	12.2008	Chongqing, Guizhou, Yunnan
Hungarian Consulate-General, Chongqing[38]	02.2010	Chongqing, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan, Shaanxi, Gansu
Ethiopian Consulate-General, Chongqing[38]	11.2011	Chongqing, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan

Twin towns — sister cities

Chongqing is twinned with:

Africa Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Asia Hiroshima, Japan Mito, Ibaraki, Japan Bangkok, Thailand Banjarmasin, Indonesia Shiraz, Iran Chiang Mai, Thailand Europe Toulouse, France Leicester, England, United Kingdom Wales, United Kingdom[39] Düsseldorf, Germany[40] Trikala, Greece Vladimir, Russia Voronezh, Russia Sør-Trøndelag, Norway[41] Zaporizhia, Ukraine

North America Seattle, United States Vacaville, California, United States Detroit, United States Toronto, Canada Waterloo, Ontario, Canada Oceania Brisbane, Australia South America Córdoba, Argentina

See also

• List of cities in the People's Republic of China by population

Portals Access related topics

People's Republic of China portal China portal

Notes

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Chongqing

• Chongqing Revisited in 2006
• Chongqing Municipal Government website
• Video: A Bird's Eye View of the New Chongqing (2008)
• Video: A Bird's Eye View of the New Chongqing (2005)
• CCTV9 Apr. 2009 program - Chongqing: Visions of Change
• Chongqing travel guide from Wikitravel
• Economic profile for Chongqing at HKTDC

		Shaanxi
	Sichuan		Hubei
		Chongqing
		Guizhou	Hunan

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