Chongqing

Chongqingis adirect-administered municipalityinSouthwestern China. Chongqing is one of the four direct-administered municipalities under theCentral People's Government, along withBeijing,Shanghai, andTianjin. It is the only directly administrated municipality located deep inland.The municipality covers a large geographical area roughly the size ofAustria,which includes several disjunct urban areas in addition to Chongqing proper. Due to its classification, the municipality of Chongqing is thelargest city properin the world by population, though Chongqing is not the most populous urban area.
The municipality of Chongqing is the only Chinese municipality with a resident population of over 30 million;however, this number includes its large rural population.In 2020, Chongqing surpassed Shanghai as China's largest municipality by urban population; as of 2022, it has an urban population of 22.8 million.The municipality contains 26 districts, 8counties, and 4autonomous counties. The city served as the wartime capital for the Republic of China (ROC) during theSecond Sino-Japanese War(1937–1945). On 14 March 1997, the current municipality was separated from the surrounding province ofSichuan, with the goal of furthering development in the central and western parts of the country.University of Washington professor Kam Wing Chan argued that Chongqing's status is more akin to that of a province rather than a city.
As one of China'sNational Central Cities, Chongqing serves as a centerfor financein theSichuan Basinand the upstreamYangtze, as well as for manufacturing and transportation. It is a connection in the Yangtze River Economic Belt and a base for the country'sBelt and Road Initiative.Chongqing Jiangbei International Airportis the second-busiest airport in China, and is one of the top 50busiest airportsin the world.The city's monorail system isthe world's longest and busiest, as well as having the greatest number of stations, with 70.Chongqing is ranked as aBeta(global second-tier) city.It is the headquarters of theChangan Automobile, one of the "Big Four" car manufacturers of China.As of 2023, the city hosts 12 foreign representations, the fifth-most in China behind Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Chengdu.It is one of the top 40 cities globally by scientific research output, as tracked by theNature Index;the municipality is home to severalnotable universities, includingChongqing University,Southwest University, andChongqing University of Posts and Telecommunications.
Chongqing's location is historically associated with theState of Ba. Its capital was first called Jiangzhou (江州).
Jiangzhou subsequently remained underQin Shi Huang's rule during theQin dynasty, the successor of the Qin State, as well as the rule ofHan dynastyemperors.
Jiangzhou was subsequently renamed during theNorthern and Southern dynastiesto Chu Prefecture (楚州), then again in 581 AD (Sui dynasty) toYu Prefecture(渝州), and later in 1102 duringNorthern Songto Gong Prefecture (恭州).The name Yu however survives to this day as an abbreviation for Chongqing, as well as for the city's historic center, where the old town once stood; its name is Yuzhong (渝中, Central Yu).It received its current name in 1189, after PrinceZhao Dunof theSouthern Song dynastydescribed his crowning as king and thenEmperor Guangzongas a "double celebration" (simplified Chinese:双重喜庆;traditional Chinese:雙重喜慶;pinyin:shuāngchóng xǐqìng, orchóngqìngin short). To mark the occasion of his enthronement, Yu Prefecture was therefore converted to ChongqingFu.
In 1362 (during theYuan dynasty),Ming Yuzhen, a peasant rebel leader, established the Daxia Kingdom (大夏) at Chongqing for a short time.In 1621 (during theMing dynasty), another short-lived kingdom of Daliang (大梁) was established by She Chongming (奢崇明) with Chongqing as its capital.In 1644, after the fall of the Ming dynasty to a rebel army, Chongqing, together with the rest ofSichuan, was captured byZhang Xianzhong, who was said to have massacred a large number of people in Sichuan and depopulated the province, in part by causing many people to flee to safety elsewhere. TheManchuslater conquered the province, and during theQing dynasty, immigration to Chongqing and Sichuan took place with the support of the Qing emperor.
In 1890, the British Consulate General was opened in Chongqing.The following year, the city became the first inland commerce port open to foreigners, with the proviso that foreign ships should not be at liberty to trade there until Chinese-owned steamers had succeeded in ascending the river. This restriction was abolished by theTreaty of Shimonosekiin 1895, which declared the city open on the same terms as other ports, although it was not until 1907 that a steamship made the journey without the help of manual haulers.From 1896 to 1904, the American, German, French, and Japanese consulates were opened in Chongqing.
During and after theSecond Sino-Japanese War, from November 1937 to May 1946, it was GeneralissimoChiang Kai-shek's provisional capital. After the General and remaining army had lived there for a time following their retreat in 1938 from the previous capital ofWuhan, it was formally declared the second capital city (陪都;péidū;p'ei-tu) on 6 September 1940.After Britain, the United States, and other Allies entered the war in Asia in December 1941, one of the Allies' deputy commanders of operations in Southeast Asia (Southeast Asia Command SEAC),Joseph Stilwell, was based in the city.
The city was also visited by LordLouis Mountbatten, the Supreme Commander of SEAC which was itself headquartered in Sri Lanka. Chiang Kai Shek as Supreme Commander in China worked closely with Stilwell.From 1938 to 1943, the city suffered from continuousmassive bombingcampaigns of theImperial Japanese NavyandArmy Air Forces; battles of which were fought entirely by theChinese Air Forcesquadrons and anti-aircraft artillery units.Many lives were saved by the air-raid shelters which took advantage of the mountainous terrain. Chongqing was acclaimed to be the "City of Heroes" due to the indomitable spirits of its people as well as their contributions and sacrifices during the war. Many factories and universities were relocated from eastern China and ultimately to Chongqing during years of setbacks in the war, transforming this city from inland port to a heavily industrialized city.
After World War II ended, Chongqing became one of the last refuges of the Nationalist Kuomintang government on the Chinese mainland during theChinese Civil War. Following theYangtze River Crossing campaign, the KMT capital ofNanjingwas occupied by the Communists in 23 April. The KMT decamped first toGuangzhou, then Chongqing. Chongqing served as the KMT capital until late November 1949, when the Nationalist KMT government withdrew from the city by air.
On 14 March 1997, the EighthNational People's Congressdecided to merge thesub-provincial citywith adjacentFuling,Wanxian, andQianjiangprefectures that it had governed on behalf of the province since September 1996, and grant it independence from Sichuan. The resulting single entity became Chongqing Municipality,containing 30,020,000 people in forty-three formercountieswithout 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 theThree Gorges Damproject. Its first official ceremony took place on 18 June 1997.
On 8 February 2010, Chongqing became one of the nineNational Central Cities, along with Beijing, Tianjin, Chongqing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Wuhan, Xi'an, and Zhengzhou. According to Zhou Liqun, a consultant for National Development and Reform Commission of China, Chongqing's status as a National Central City would encourage the development ofWestern China. Chongqing, which is located in central-western China, would complement the other National Central Cities, all of which are located along China's eastern coastline.The same year on 18 June, theLiangjiang New Areawas established in Chongqing, which was the third state-levelnew areaat the time of its establishment.
Chongqing is located in thesubtropics, situated in the transitional area between theSichuan Basinand the plain on the middle and lower reaches of theYangtze. Its climate features frequentmonsoonconditions, often raining at night in late spring and early summer. The city's "night rain in the Ba Mountains", features in poems throughout Chinese history, including "Written on a Rainy Night—A Letter to the North" byLi Shangyin.Its territory is 470 km (290 mi) from east to west at its longest, and 450 km (280 mi) from north to south at its widest.It bordersHubeiandHunanto the east,SichuanandShaanxito the north, andGuizhouto the south.
Chongqing covers a large area crisscrossed by rivers and mountains. TheDaba Mountainsstand in the north, theWu Gorgein the east, theWuling Mountainsin the southeast, and theDalou Mountainsin the south. The area slopes downward from north to south towards the Yangtze valley, and features a largemassifof mountains and hills, with steep sloping areas at different heights.Karstlandscape is common in this area, and stone forests, numerous collections of peaks,limestonecaves and valleys can be found in many places. TheLongshuixia Gap(Chinese:龙水峡地缝), with itsThree Natural Bridges, has made the region a popular tourist attraction. The Yangtze River runs through the whole area from west to east, covering a course of 665 km (413 mi), cutting through the Wu Mountains at three places and forming the well-knownThree Gorges: the Qutang, Wuxia and Xiling gorges.Coming from northwest and running through "the Jialing Lesser Three Gorges" of Libi, Wentang and Guanyin, theJialing Riverjoins the Yangtze in Chongqing.
The central urban area of Chongqing, called Chongqing proper, is built on mountains and partially surrounded by the Yangtze and Jialing rivers. With its specialtopography, Chongqing's topography includes mountains, rivers, forests, springs, waterfalls, gorges, and caves. TheTang dynastypoetLi Baiwas inspired by the natural scenery and wrote thisepigram.
The Zhongliang (中梁山) and Tongluo (铜锣山) mountains roughly form the eastern and western boundaries of Chongqing's urban area. Several high mountains are situated outside central Chongqing, including the 1,709.4 m (5,608 ft)-high Wugong Ling Mountain in Jiangjin.
Chongqing has a monsoonalhumid subtropical climate(KöppenCwa), bordering on a humid subtropical climate (KöppenCfa) and for most of the year experiences very high relative humidity, with all months above 75%. Known as one of the "Three Furnaces" of the Yangtze River, along withWuhanandNanjing, its summers are long and among the hottest and most humid in China, with highs of 34 °C (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 theSichuan Basincauses it to have one of the lowest annual sunshine totals nationally, at only 983 hours, lower than much of Northern Europe; the monthly percent possible sunshine in the city proper ranges from a mere 5% in January to 43% in August. Extremes since 1951 have ranged from −1.8 °C (29 °F) on 11 January 1955 (unofficial record of −2.5 °C (27 °F) was set on 8 February 1943) to 43.7 °C (111 °F) on 18 and 19 August 2022(unofficial record of 44.0 °C (111 °F) was set on 8 and 9 August 1933).
Chongqing, with over 100 days of fog per year,is known as the "Fog City" (Chinese:雾都); this is because in the spring and fall, a thick layer of fog enshrouds it for 68 days per year.During theSecond Sino-Japanese War(1937–1945), this special weather possibly played a role in protecting the city from being overrun by theImperial Japanese Army.
Since 1997, Chongqing has been adirect-controlled municipalityin the Chinese administrative structure, making it a provincial-level division with commensurate political importance. The municipality's leader isSecretaryof theMunicipal Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, which, since 2007, has also held a seat on thePolitburo of the Chinese Communist Party, the country's second highest governing council. Under the USSR-inspirednomenklaturasystem of appointments, individuals are appointed to the position by the central leadership of the CCP and bestowed to an official based on seniority and adherence to party orthodoxy, usually given to an individual with prior regional experience elsewhere in China and nearly never a native of Chongqing. Notable individuals who have held the municipal Party Secretary position includeHe Guoqiang,Wang Yang,Bo Xilai,Zhang Dejiang, andSun Zhengcai, the latter three were Politburo members during their term as party chief. The party chief heads the municipalparty standing committee, thede factotop governing council of the municipality. The standing committee is typically composed of 13 individuals which includes the party chiefs of important subdivisions and other leading figures in the local party and government organization, as well as one military representative.
Themunicipal People's Governmentserves as the day-to-day administrative authority, and is headed by themayor, who is assisted by numerous vice mayors and mayoral assistants. Each vice mayor is given jurisdiction over specific municipal departments. The mayor is the second-highest-ranking official in the municipality. The mayor usually represents the city when foreign guests visit.
The municipality also has aMunicipal People's Congress, theoretically elected by lower level People's Congresses. The People's Congress nominally appoints the mayor and approves the nominations of other government officials. The People's Congress, like those of other provincial jurisdictions, is generally seen as a symbolic body. It convenes in full once a year to approve party-sponsored resolutions and local regulations and duly confirm party-approved appointments. On occasion the People's Congress can be venues of discussion on municipal issues, although this is dependent on the actions of individual delegates. The municipal People's Congress is headed by a former municipal official, usually in their late fifties or sixties, with a lengthy prior political career in Chongqing. The municipal Political Consultative Conference (zhengxie) meets at around the same time as the People's Congress. Its role is to advise on political issues. Thezhengxieis headed by a leader who is typically a former municipal or regional official with a lengthy career in the party and government bureaucracy.
Chongqing was the wartime capital of China during theSecond Sino-Japanese War(i.e., World War II), and from 1937 to 1945,the seat of administration for the Republic of China's government before its departure toNanjingand thenTaiwan.After the eventual defeat at theBattle of WuhanGeneral Chiang-Kai Shek and the army were forced to use it as base of resistance from 1938 onwards.It also contains a military museum named after the ChineseKorean WarheroQiu Shaoyun.
Chongqing used to be the headquarters of the13th Group Armyof thePeople's Liberation Army, one of the two group armies that formerly comprised theChengdu Military Region, which was reorganized into theWestern Theater Commandin 2016.
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, andWanshengandShuangqiaodistricts were abolished in October 2011), consisting of 26 districts, 8 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 andTianjin), and much of its administrative area, which spans over 80,000 km(30,900 sq mi), is rural. At the end of year 2018, the total population is 31.02 million. As of 2022, Chongqing is the largest Chinese city by urban population, with a population of 22.80 million.
Indicates with which district the division was associated below prior to the merging of Chongqing, Fuling, Wanxian (now Wanzhou) and Qianjiang in 1997.
The main urban area of Chongqing city (重庆主城区) spans approximately 5,473 km(2,113 sq mi), and includes the following nine districts:
According to the2020 national census, Chongqing has a population of 32,054,159, accounting for around 2.27% of the national total.This makes it themost populous city proper in the world.As of 2010, themetropolitan areaencompassing the central urban area was estimated by theOECDto have, a population of 17 million.
The Census also lists the male percentage as 50.55% and the female percentage as 49.55%. In terms of age distribution, of the total population, 15.91% were age 0–14, 62.22% were 15–64, and 21.87% were 65 and over. Of the population's highest education level achieved, 15.41% were college, 15.96% were high school, 30.58% were middle school, and 29.89% were elementary school.As of 2021, 70.4% of Chongqing's population is estimated to be urban, and 29.6% rural.
The predominant religions in Chongqing areChinese folk religions,Taoist traditionsandChinese Buddhism. According to surveys conducted in 2007 and 2009, 26.63% of the population practicesChinese ancestral religion, while 1.05% of the population identifies asChristian.
The reports did not give figures for other types of religion; 72.32% of the population may be either irreligious or involved inworship of nature deities, Buddhism,Confucianism, Taoism, orfolk religious sects.
In 2010, there were 9,056Muslimsin Chongqing.
Chongqing was a major recipient of China's investment in industrial capacity during theThird Frontcampaign.
There has been a massive government push to transform Chongqing into the region's economic, trade, andfinancial centerand use the municipality as a platform to open up the country's western interior to further development.Chongqing is facing rapidurbanization. For instance, statistics suggest that new construction added approximately 137,000 m(1,470,000 sq ft) daily of usable floor space to satisfy demands for residential, commercial and factory space.Thus, Chongqing was separated from Sichuan province and made into a municipality in its own right on 14 March 1997in order to accelerate its development and subsequently China's relatively poorer western areas (seeChina Western Developmentstrategy).By the 2000s the city had become an important industrial area in western China.
As of 2022, Chongqing'snominal GDPwasUS$433 billion (CN¥2.91 trilion), about 2.41% of the country's GDP and ranked16thamongprovince-level administrative units; the municipality's primary, secondary and tertiary industries were worth CN¥201.21 billion (US$29.92 billion), CN¥1.169 trillion (US$173.86 billion) and CN¥1.542 trillion (US$229.3 billion) respectively. Its nominal GDP per capita was US$13,479 (CN¥90,663) and ranked10thin the country.
Chongqing has been identified by theEconomist Intelligence Unitin the November 2010 Access China White Paper as a member of theCHAMPS(Chongqing,Hefei,Anshan,Maanshan,PingdingshanandShenyang), an economic profile of the top 20 emerging cities in China.
Traditionally, due to its geographic inaccessibility, Chongqing andSichuanhave both been important military bases in weapons research and development.Even though Chongqing's industries are diversified, unlike eastern China, its export sector is small due to its relatively disadvantageous inland location. Instead, factories producing local-oriented consumer goods such as processed food, cars, chemicals, textiles, machinery, sports equipment and electronics are common.
Chongqing is China's third largest motor vehicle production center and the largest for motorcycles. In 2007, it had an annual output capacity of 1 million cars and 8.6 million motorcycles.Leading makers of cars and motorbikes includes China's fourth biggest automaker;Changan Automotive CorpandLifan Hongda Enterprise, as well asFord Motor Company, with the US car giant having 3 plants in Chongqing. The municipality is also one of China's nine largest iron and steel producers in China as well as one of its three major aluminum producers. Important manufacturers includeChongqing Iron and Steel Company(重庆钢铁股份有限公司) and Southwest Aluminum (西南鋁業), which is Asia's largest aluminum plant.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 asstrontiumandmanganese. Coal reserves total approximately 4,800,000,000 metric tons (4.7×10long tons; 5.3×10short tons). Chuandong Natural Gas Field is China's largest inland gas field with deposits of around 270 billion m– more than 1/5 of China's total. Has China's largest reserve of strontium (China has the world's 2nd biggest strontium deposit). Manganese is mined in the Xiushan area. Although the mining sector has been denounced as heavily polluting and unsafe.Chongqing is also planned to be the site of a 10 million ton capacity refinery operated byCNPC(parent company ofPetroChina) to process imported crude oil from theSino-Myanmar pipelines. The pipeline itself, though not yet finished, will eventually run fromSittwe(in Myanmar's western coast) throughKunmingin Yunnan before reaching Chongqingand it will provide China with fuels sourced from Myanmar, the Middle East and Africa. Recently, there has been a drive to move up thevalue chainby shifting towards high technology and knowledge intensive industries resulting in new development zones such as the Chongqing New North Zone (CNNZ).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 car industry and account for 25% of its exports.
The city has also invested heavily in infrastructure to attract investment.The network of roads and railways connecting Chongqing to the rest of China has been expanded and upgraded reducinglogisticalcosts. Furthermore, the nearbyThree Gorges Damwhich is the world's largest, supplies Chongqing with power and allows oceangoing ships to reach Chongqing'sYangtze Riverport.These infrastructure improvements have led to the arrivals of numerous foreign direct investors (FDI) in industries ranging fromcarto finance and retailing; such asFord,Mazda,HSBC,Standard Chartered Bank,Citibank,Deutsche Bank,ANZ Bank,Scotiabank,Wal-Mart,Metro AGandCarrefour,among other multinational corporations.
The city includes a number of economic and technological development zones:
Chongqing itself is part of theWest Triangle Economic Zone, along withChengduandXi'an.
As of 2022, Chongqing hosts 70 institutions of higher education (excluding adult colleges), making it the fourth city with the most higher education institutions nationwide and the first city inWestern China, which comprises Chongqing, six provinces (Sichuan,Guizhou,Yunnan,Shaanxi,Gansu, andQinghai), and threeautonomous regions(Tibet,Ningxia, andXinjiang), with a combination of more than 290 million population.
Chongqing is one of the top 40 cities in the world by scientific research outputs as tracked by theNature Index.
Since its elevation to national-level municipality in 1997, the city has dramatically expanded its infrastructure. With the construction of railways and expressways to the east and southeast, Chongqing is a major transportation hub in southwestern China.
As of October 2014, the municipality had31 bridges across the Yangtze Riverincluding over a dozen in the city's urban core.Aside from the city's first two Yangtze River bridges, which were built, respectively, in 1960 and 1977, all of the other bridges were completed since 1995.
Public transport in Chongqing consists ofmetro, intercity railway, a ubiquitous bus system and the world's largest monorail network.
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 undergroundmetro lineswith heavymonorail.
As of 2017, four metro lines, the 14 km (8.7 mi) long CRTLine 1, a conventional subway, and the 19 km (12 mi) long heavy monorail CRTLine 2(through Phase II),Line 3, a heavy monorail connects the airport and the southern part of downtown.Line 6, runs betweenBeibei, a district in the city's far north to downtown.Line 5opened in late 2017.
It was planned that by 2020 CRT would consist of 6 lines and 1 loop line, adding 363.5 km (225.9 mi) of road and railway to the 2012 transportation infrastructure, and 93 new metro stations would be added to the 111 stations in place in 2012.By 2050 Chongqing would have 18 lines.
Chongqing is the only Chinese city that has kept publicaerial tramways. There were three aerial tramways in Chongqing: the Yangtze River Tramway, the Jialing River Tramway and the South Mountain Tramway, of which the Yangtze River Tramway is the only one still operating, now considered a Class 4A tourist attraction. The 1,160-meter (3,810 ft)-long tramway connects the southern and northern banks of the Yangtze River, carrying about 10,000 passengers a day.
Major stations in Chongqing:
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 regionally.
Chongqing is one of the most important inland ports in China. There are numerous luxury cruise ships that terminate at Chongqing, cruising downstream along theYangtze RivertoYichang,Wuhan,Nanjingor 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 reduced or cancelled altogether. Most of the river ferry traffic consists of leisure cruises for tourists rather than local needs. Improved access by larger cargo vessels has been made due to the construction of theThree 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 exist throughout the city, including many impromptu river bank sites.
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 theYuzhong District. In other places, such asJiangbei, large areas of homes and buildings have recently been cleared to improve the road network and create better urban planning; thus, several ring roads have also been constructed. This has seen many tunnels and large bridges needing to be built across the city. The construction of many expressways have connected Chongqing to its neighbors. The natural mountainous terrain that Chongqing is built on makes many road projects difficult to construct, including for example some of the world's highest road bridges.
Unlike many other Chinese cities, it is rare for motorbikes, electric scooters or bicycles to be seen on Chongqing's Roads. This is due to the extremely hilly and mountainous nature of Chongqing's roads and streets. However, despite this, Chongqing is a manufacturing center for these types of vehicles.
With so many bridges crossing the Yangtze and Jialing rivers in the urban area, Chongqing is sometimes known as the 'Bridge Capital of China'. The first important bridge in urban Chongqing was the Niujiaotuo Jialing River Bridge, built in 1958. The first bridge over theYangtze riverwas the Shibanpo Yangtze River Bridge (or Chongqing Yangtze River Bridge) built in 1977.
As of 2014, within the area of the 9 districts, there were 20 bridges on theYangtze riverand 28 bridges on the Jialing river. The bridges in Chongqing exhibit a variety of shapes and structures, making Chongqing a showcase for bridge design.
The major airport of Chongqing isChongqing Jiangbei International Airport(IATA: CKG, ICAO: ZUCK). It is located inYubei District. The airport offers a growing network of direct flights to China, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, North America, and Europe. It is located 21 km (13 mi) north ofDowntown Chongqingand serves as an important aviation hub for southwest China.Jiangbei airport is a hub forChina Southern Airlines,Chongqing Airlines,Sichuan Airlines,China Express Airlines,Shandong AirlinesandHainan Airlines's newChina West Air. Chongqing also is a focus city ofAir China, therefore it is very well connected withStar AllianceandSkyTeam's international network. The airport currently has three parallel runways in operation. It serves domestic routes to most other Chinese cities, as well as international routes toAuckland,New York City,London,Los Angeles,Moscow,Doha,Dubai,Seoul,Bangkok,Phuket,Osaka,Singapore,Chiang Mai,Phnom Penh,Siem Reap,Malé,Bali, Tokyo, Kuala Lumpur,Batam,RomeandHelsinki. As of 2021, Jiangbei Airport was the4th busiest airport in terms of passenger traffic in mainland China.
Currently, Jiangbei airport has three terminals. Chongqing Airport has metro access (CRT Line 3andLine 10) to its central city, and two runways in normal use.
There are four other airports in Chongqing Municipality:Qianjiang Wulingshan Airport,Wanzhou Wuqiao Airport,Chongqing Xiannüshan Airport, andChongqing Wushan Airport. They are all class 4C airports and serve passenger flights to domestic destinations including Beijing, Shanghai andKunming.
The language native to Chongqing isSouthwestern Mandarin. More precisely, the great majority of the municipality, save forXiushan, speakSichuanese, including the primaryChengdu-Chongqing dialectandMinjiang dialectspoken inJiangjinandQijiang.There are also a few speakers ofXiangandHakkain the municipality, due to the great immigration wave to the Sichuan region (湖廣填川) during theMingandQing dynasties. In addition, in parts of southeastern Chongqing, theMiaoandTujia languagesare also used by someMiaoandTujia people.
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 duringWorld War II, as well as being a strategic center of many other wars throughout China's history. Chongqing has many historic war-time buildings or sites, some of which have since been destroyed. These sites include the People's Liberation Monument, located in the center of Chongqing city. It used to be the highest building in the area, but is now surrounded and dwarfed by numerousshopping centers. Originally named theMonument 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. TheGeneral Joseph W. Stilwell Museum, dedicated toGeneral "Vinegar Joe" Stilwell, a World War II general.the air force cemetery in the Nanshan area, in memory of those air force personnel killed during theSecond Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945), and theRed Rock Village Museum, a diplomatic site for theCommunist Partyin Chongqing led byZhou EnlaiduringWorld War II, and Guiyuan, Cassia Garden, whereMao Zedongsigned the "Double 10 (10 October) Peace Agreement" with theKuomintangin 1945.
Chongqing food is part ofSichuancuisine. Chongqing is known for its spicy food. Its food is normally considered numbing because of the use ofSichuan pepper, also known as Sichuan peppercorn, containinghydroxy alpha sanshool. Chongqing'scity centerhas many restaurants and food stalls where meals often cost less thanRMB10. Local specialties here includedumplingsandpickled vegetablesand, different from many other Chinese cuisines, Chongqing dishes are suitable for the solo diner as they are often served in small individual sized portions.Among the delicacies and local specialties are these dishes:
TheChongqing People's Broadcast Stationis Chongqing's largest radio station.The only municipal-level TV network isChongqing TV, claimed to be the 4th largest television station in China.Chongqing TV broadcasts many local-oriented channels, and can be viewed on many TV sets throughout China.
Chongqing Soaring Dragonsbecame the 20th team playing inChinese Basketball Associationin 2013. They play at Datianwan Arena, in the same sporting complex asDatianwan Stadium.The team moved to Beijing in 2015 and is currently known asBeijing Royal Fighters.
Professional soccer teams in Chongqing include:
Chongqing Liangjiang Athletic was a professional Chinese soccer club that played in theChinese Super League. They were owned by the Chongqing-basedLifan Group, which manufactures motorcycles,carsand spare parts.Originally calledQianwei (Vanguard) Wuhan, the club formed in 1995 to take part in the recently developed, fully professionalChinese Soccer League. They would quickly rise to top tier of the system and experience their greatest achievement in winning the 2000Chinese FA Cup,and coming in fourth within the league. However, since then they have struggled to replicate the same success, and have twice been relegated from the top tier.
Chongqing FC was a soccer club located in the city that competed inChina League One, the country's second-tier soccer division, before being relegated to theChina League Two, and dissolved due to a resultant lack of funds.
Sport venues in Chongqing include:
At the end of 2020, a collaboration between a Danish architecture firm and a Chinese tech company Terminus was announced, taking the form of anAI-controlled campus. The project is named Cloud Valley and aims to use sensors and WiFi-controlled devices to collect data on the city's residents and atmosphere, including weather and eating and sleeping habits. The AI will adapt devices to work in a way that fits the gathered information and improves residents' lives.
Chongqing hassister cityrelationships with many cities of the world including: