Chongqing Facts

Chongqing or Yu, the youngest municipality that established in 1997 directly under the central government in China, is also an extra large city in its administrative division and population in China. As a city in the mountains, it is surrounded by two rivers, and has high-rises and buildings in graceful disorder. Chongqing enjoys a tropical moist climate of the central Asia, with cloudy days, less frost and snow. In spring and autumn, the city is often enveloped by heavy fog, hence the name the 'Capital of Fog'.



As the cradle of the Ba culture, Chongqing is an ancient cultural city with a history of 3,000 years, thus enjoying advantageous tourism recourse. Chongqing with rich tourist resources is gifted with tourist items represented by the famous Three Gorges of the Yangtze River, the Mountain City and the stone carvings of Dazu, and 44 charming scenic zones, including eight scenic zones of Four-A grade of the state, ten state forest parks and five major scenic zones at the state level.

Due to its focus on heavy industrial operations, Chongqing is perennially ranked on the most polluted cities in the world including the World Bank's list of most polluted cities.

Basis Information 

• Chinese Name: 重庆
• Location: Southwest of China
• Dialing code: (+86) 023
• Zip code: 400000
• Area: Chongqing has an area of 82,400 square kilometers
• Main attractions in Chongqing: Dazu Rock Carving, Ancient Town of Ciqikou, Chongqing People Square, Liberation Stele

Geography

Chongqing is the largest inland city of China, located in the southeast of the Sichuan Basin at the junction of the Yangtze River and Jialing River. It is an extremely large metropolis on the upper reaches of the Yangtze and an industrial and commercial importance in West China. Surrounded by waters on three sides, and by the mountains on four sides, Chongqing is laso known as 'mountain city', 'foggy city' and 'furnace city'.

Administration Distribution

 

 

History

 

The History of Chongqing can be traced back to 3,000 years ago, endowing with much historical and cultural significance. Traces of man's presence have been found from as far back as the end of the Old Stone Age 20,000 to 30,000 years ago.

From the beginning of the Shang Dynasty (16th century BC) to the close of the Warring States Period (221 BC), it was the capital of the state of Ba. From the Qin Dynasty through the Eastern Han Dynasty (221 BC - 220 AD), it was a prefecture also known as Ba. During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, (AD 581-907), it was known as the sub-prefecture of Yuzhou, hence its standardby name 'Yu'. Subsequently, during the Northern Song Dynasty (AD 960-1127), it was renamed Gongzhou. In 1189, during the Southern Song Dynasty, Zhao Dun, later the Guangzong Emperor, was given the title Prince of Gong. Regarding this as an exceedingly joyous event, he upgraded its status to that of a prefecture and renamed it as 'Chongqing'' which means 'double celebration' in Chinese, the name has been carried until now.

Climate

 

Chongqing has a humid subtropical climate with the two-season monsoonal variations typical of South Asia. As one of the "Three Furnaces", the summer season is amoung the hotest in China, with highs of around 33 °C (91 °F) in August, in the central portions of the city. Yet even in the hottest weather the wind is often cool, making such high temperatures more bearable. Winters are fairly mild, but damp and overcast; average January highs are 9.5 °C (49.1 °F). Its location in the Sichuan Basin causes Chongqing to have one of the lowest sunshine totals annually in China.

 

• Best Time to Visit

 

♦ Spring (March to May): Chongqing spring, temperature is appropriate and joyful. It is very suitable for viewing natural scenery in spring. Spring temperature is instable, and there is large temperature difference between day and night.
 

♦ Summer (June to August): Although the summer heat is high, but eating hot pot in summer to is a kind of enjoyment. Because Chongqing summer is so hot, so choose summer to travel tourists have better bring some medicine for preventing heatstroke, such as Ageratum Liquid, ageratum rheo-camphoradin, etc. And if you eat hot pot in summer, remember to bring some medicines to cool you off.
 

♦ Autumn (September to October): During late summer and early autumn, Chongqing often accompanied by silence rain at night, thus there is "Evening Rain in Bashan Mountain". Although the scenery is not as good as two season's natural beauty in spring and winter, but also can experience the feeling of unique artistic conception of poem "the patter of evening rain in Bashan Mountain filled the autumn pool". Autumn is overcast and rainy, cool. And because of the fog is heavy, the mountains are mist-shrouded, therefore Chongqing is known as the “foggy city”.
 

♦ Winter (November to next February): And in the winter because of rain and snow weather day is less, so also it is a good time to travel. And Chongqing in the winter is the time when wintersweet flower in the Nanshan Mountain open, standing on the hill there is fragrance of flowers. The weather of rain and snow in the winter is less, but more foggy days.

 

• Dressing Tips 

♦ Spring (March to May): the average temperature in March is 11 to 18 degree, and the average temperature in April is 15 to 18 degree. Recommending wearing T-shirt, jeans and other cozy clothe during the daytime, and wearing windcoat, jacket and light sweaterin the morning and evening.

♦ Summer (June -August): temperature in summer is very hot with strong sunshine. Sun protection is necessary, such sunglasses, hats, umbrellas, etc. T-shirts with skirts and shorts are the best choice for summer when the temperature can be rather high. Summer is the rainy season, but even it is raining, you won’t feel cool. If you worry about rainy days, you can bring blouse.

♦ Autumn (September to October): autumn is windy and cool. Temperature difference is a little large. So a thick coat is necessary.

♦ Winter (November to February): the average temperature in winter can be between 7-13 degrees. Winter is cold and moist; recommend wearing suit, coat, jacket, sweater etc. to keep warm.

Tourism

 

With a long history of more than three thousand years, Chongqing is of rich tourism resources, as well as mountain, water, forest, springs, waterfalls, gorge, and cave, etc., as one of the magnificent natural scenery, and with Bayu culture, national culture, immigration culture, three gorges culture, capital culture, urban culture it is a rich cultural landscape. Especially in the Yangtze River Three Gorges is famous for its natural sights. Chongqing has a total of natural and cultural scenic spots in the city for more than 300, including 1 world cultural heritage (Dazu Rock Carvings), 1 world natural heritage (Chongqing Wulong Karst Tourist Area), 13 national key cultural relics protection units, 6 national key scenic spots, 24 national forest parks, 6 national geological parks, 4 national nature reserves, 20 national key cultural relics protection units. In May 2015, the institute (China) has released the "2015 China tourist city attractive list", Chongqing ranked first and became the most attractive tourist cities in China.

 

• Best Places to Visit

 

♦ Dazu Rock Carvings –Dazu Rock Carvings is located in Dazu district area Chongqing municipality directly under the central government, 167 km away from Chongqing urban nine districts, over 50,000 carved stone figures relating mainly to Buddhism are spread around 74 places. It is religious inscriptions on precipices during the period of late Tang dynasty and early Song dynasty, which was given priority to with Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism statues. The content and craftsmanship are best at Beishan Hill and Baoding Hill. Beishan cliff carvings statues located in Beishan Hill which is 1.5 km of Dazu district in Chongqing area. Beishan cliff carvings statues are about more than three hundred meters long, is the national key cultural relic’s protection units, the world cultural heritage.
 

♦ Ancient Town of Ciqikou –Ancient Town of Ciqikou is located in Chongqing Shapingba district, west of the main Chongqing area, and it gains its name of ware (ware in Chinese pronounce Ciqi).Ancient Town of Ciqikou close to Jialing River in the east, was a very busy land and water wharf, later with the development of the highway, the port gradually was on the decline. Ancient Town of Ciqikou now is more of a good place for leisure and experience folk customs over the weekend.

Walking in the dozens of ancient streets of Ancient Town of Ciqikou, on both side of street is the architecture in the style of the Ming and Qing dynasties, and the road is blue flagstone. Of course, like other ancient town near the city, everything in sight is renovated again in recent years. But this does not affect you feel the local conditions and customs of "old Chongqing" in here.

♦ Liberation Stele Pedestrian Street –Liberation Stele walking street is located in Yuzhong district in Chongqing, is always the most prosperous commercial center in Chongqing. There are numerous department stores, hotels, restaurants, etc., is a good place for shopping, food, and walk around Chongqing, also it is one of the fashionable landmarks of Chongqing. The perimeter of the pedestrian street in the Liberation Stele as the center, including Minquan Road, Minzu Road, Zourong Road, Bayi Road and Wuyi Road etc. Many malls, many snacks, many beauties, are “three many” in the pedestrian street. You can get almost all food and snack of Chongqing on the pedestrian street. And here is a Baiyi Road Haochi Jie Food Street, you can find cheap and delicious hot and sour noodle, mountain city small Tangyuan and Chaoshou here. Here the Liberation Stele on the pedestrian street is the only monument in memory of the victory of war of resistance against Japanese aggression.

Shopping

 

Chongqing has various resources in its vast land. In the long history of "State of Ba" there were formed many of the famous native products. Folk arts and crafts like: Rongchang folding fan, the three gorges inkstone, etc; Local flavor foods like: Fuling szechuan pickle, Hehuan Sliced Walnut Cake; Among folk handicrafts in Chongqing, Shu embroidery is the most important.

There are five shopping areas in Chongiqng, Jiefangbei Business District, Shapingba Three Gorges Square, Yangjiaping, Guanyinqiao, Nanping Pedestrian Street.

Transportation
 

Chongqing is located in the central and western parts of China, railway, waterway, highway, aviation, pipeline and other transport mode develop rapidly. Chongqing is the only large city collects water resources, land and air traffic in the China's Yangtze River upstream region, and it is one of the comprehensive transportation hubs in southwest China.

 

Airport

Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport
♦ Address: At the Lianglu Town of Yubei District
♦ Official website: http://www.cqa.cn/u/jichang/

Chongqing Jiangbei international airport was established on January 22, 1990, located in the Lianglu town of Yubei district that 21 km away from the northeast of Chongqing downtown. Jiangbei International Airport is one of the three civil airports in Chongqing. It is also the main base airport of Chongqing Airlines, West Air Co., LTD, China Express Airlines, and base airport of Sichuan Airlines, Air China and China Southern Airlines.

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