Sichuan (; ) is a province in western China with its capital at Chengdu. It is also informally called 蜀 (). Its Governor is Wei Hong and its CPC Ctte Secretary is Wang Dongming. With a population of 87,250,000 (2006), Sichuan is the third most populated administrative division of China. Sichuan used to be the province with the most people in China before Chongqing was separated from it, making Henan the most populous. However, when including migrants, Guangdong has more people than Henan.

Name 
The name 四川 () is an abbreviation of 四川路 (, translated as "Four circuits/subdivisions of rivers"), which is itself shortened from 川峡四路 (, translated as "Four circuits of rivers and gorges").

Subdivisions 
There are 18 subdivisions within Sichuan, including both prefecture-level cities and autonomous prefectures:
 Chengdu
 Mianyang
 Deyang
 Yibin
 Panzhihua
 Leshan
 Nanchong
 Zigong
 Luzhou
 Neijiang
 Guangyuan
 Suining
 Ziyang
 Guang'an
 Ya'an
 Meishan
 Dazhou
 Bazhong
 Aba Tibetan Qiang Autonomous Prefecture
 Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture
 Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture

People 
Most people living in Sichuan are Han Chinese. There are also Tibetans, Yi people, Qiang and Naxi in the western side.

Culture 
The Li Bai Memorial (located at his birthplace, Zhongba Town of northern Jiangyou County) is a museum in memory of the Chinese poet of the Tang Dynasty, Li Bai. It was prepared in 1962 on the occasion of 1,200th anniversary of his death, completed in 1981 and opened to the public in October 1982. The memorial is built in the style of the classic garden of the Tang Dynasty.

Music 
Sichuan has a long history of folk and classical music. Sichuan opera is an ancient tradition that very is well-known. The Sichuan lantern drama is popular in Sichuan. The Sichuan Conservatory of Music in Chengdu is one of the oldest of musical education in China, having been established in 1939.

There is also religious music in Sichuan, played by Taoist priests in their temples.

Traditional Sichuan folk music is usually played with instruments such as the bamboo flute, pan and cymbals, gong and horn.

Food 
Sichuan cuisine has an international reputation for being hot and numbing (), because of the common ingredient of the Sichuan peppercorn ().

Some well-known Sichuan dishes include Kung Pao chicken () and Twice Cooked Pork ().

Language 
Most dialects of the Chinese language spoken in Sichuan, including the Chengdu dialect, are similar to the dialects of neighbouring provinces Yunnan, Guizhou and Chongqing Municipality.

Sports 
 Chinese Basketball Association
 Chinese Football Association Super League
 Chengdu Blades
 Chinese Volleyball League
 Sichuan Volleyball Team
 China Table Tennis Super League
 Sichuan Quan-Xing Table-Tennis Team

Universities 
 Southwestern University of Finance and Economics (Chengdu)
 Sichuan University (Chengdu)
 Southwest Jiaotong University (Chengdu)
 University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (Chengdu)
 Southwest University of Science and Technology (Mianyang)

Tourism 
UNESCO World Heritage Sites include:
 Dazu Rock Carvings - officially part of Chongqing Municipality, not Sichuan
 Huanglong, Scenic and Historic Interest Area
 Jiuzhaigou Valley, Scenic and Historic Interest Area
 Mount Emei, Scenic Area
 Leshan Giant Buddha, Scenic Area
 Mount Qincheng and Dujiangyan Irrigation System
 Sichuan Giant Panda Sanctuaries
 Daocheng Yading Airport (Highest civilian airport in the world)

Notable Sichuanese people 

 Alan Dawazhouma, pop singer
 Deng Xiaoping, communist leader of China
 Jang Ri-In, pop singer

References

 
Provinces of China