The city of Chongqing can be best described as southwest China’s
commercial capital. Since 1997, the city has become the fourth
municipality, independent from Sichuan Province, to be under the
direct control of the central government. The major port of the upper
Yangzi River and gateway to the famous “Three Gorges,”
Chongqing now includes most of the former eastern Sichuan
Province, with a population of 30 million. It is a major center of iron
and steel production, motorcycle manufacturing and shipbuilding, as
well as chemical and pharmaceutical production. The religious cliff
sculptures of Dazu and Baodingshan and the Three Gorges scenic
region of the Yangzi River are all nearby, making Chongqing an
important center for tourism despite the scarcity of notable sights
within the city proper.
Chongqing lies at the confluence of the Yangzi and Jialingjiang
Rivers, centered on a hilly peninsula encircled by the rivers, in what
was formerly the eastern part of Sichuan Province. Also known as
the Mountain City, Chongqing is 1,025 km (640 miles) northwest of
Hong Kong, and 1,800 km (1,120 miles) southwest of Beijing. It is
one of the four “furnace cities” of China, with blazingly hot and humid
summers and cold, foggy winters.
Chongqing traces its ancient history all the way back to the 13th
century BC, when it was the capital of the Ba kingdom, with a
distinctive local culture contemporary with the Shang. It was given its
present name, which means “Double Celebration,” by the Southern
Song Emperor Guangzong in 1189, to commemorate his accessions
to princely and then imperial rank. At the end of the Song period,
from 1242 to 1278, Song forces held off Mongol invaders in the
longest continuous military campaign ever on Chinese soil, lasting
some 36 years at nearby Hechuan, 60 km to the north of the city.
Chongqing was opened as a treaty port to British and Japanese
traders in 1890. Chongqing gained political importance following the
Japanese invasions of the late 1930’s. After Nanjing fell in 1937,
Chongqing became the wartime capital of the Kuomintang regime
from 1938 on, and a focus for refugees and bombing raids that
destroyed most of the city’s historical fabric. After the Japanese
surrender in 1945 and the breakdown of U.S. sponsored
negotiations held in Chongqing between the Kuomintang leader
Chiang Kai-shek and the Communist leader Mao Zedong,
Chongqing remained a Kuomintang stronghold until it fell to the
People’s Liberation Army in 1949. Since then Chongqing has grown
dramatically in population and economic importance, becoming the
major industrial center of southwestern China.
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THE THREE GORGES
The Three Gorges (San Xia) scenic area on the Yangzi River
includes some 200 km of rapids and dramatic, sharp bends set close
between high limestone cliffs on either side, in the area between
Baidicheng in Sichuan and Yichang in Hubei Province. The
scheduled completion of the Three Gorges Dam project upstream
from Yichang around 2008 will raise the water levels some 100 m,
forever changing some of the most historically celebrated scenery in
China. The area is reached via ferries or cruise ships running
downstream from Chongqing to Yichang, or on to Wuhan or all the
way to Shanghai.
In earlier times all the way down to the early 20th century navigating
this stretch of the Yangzi River was dangerous and back-breaking
work. Upstream vessels often needed the labor of hundreds of
trackers on the riverbanks who hauled boats against the current
using long ropes, sometimes taking weeks. By the 1950’s the most
troublesome rocks and reefs had been removed, making the river
navigable to ferry boats and cruise ships.
The first stop on the route downstream from Chongqing is the town
of Fuling, overlooking the mouth of the Wu River that runs south into
Guizhou. In the middle of the Yangzi River here is a huge rock
known as Baihe Ridge, with three carvings known as “stone fish” on
one side that may have served as watermarks for navigation since
ancient times. The next major town is Fengdu, 193 km (120 miles)
northeast of Chongqing, and known as the “city of devils.”
The first of the three Yangzi Gorges is known as the Qutang Gorge,
which, at 8 kilometers long, is the smallest and shortest of the Three
Gorges, but contains the fastest water. On the north bank are
remains of Warring States Period peoples who buried their dead in
coffins set in crevices in high caves along the riverside cliffs. Nine
coffins discovered in such crevices include bronze swords and armor
from the period. The cliff sides include square holes bored into the
rock to hold support timbers for plank roads and scaffolds.
Wu Gorge (Wu Xia) is about 40 km long, with sheer, narrow cliffs on
either side rising up to 900 m above the water and sometimes
seeming to close over approaching boats. A nearby rock inscription
is attributed to Zhuge Liang of the Three Kingdoms period, and the
Kong Ming tablet, a large inscribed rock slab at the foot of the Peak
of the Immortals. A side trip leads to the Three Little Gorges (Xiao
Sanxia) along the Daning River for 33 km, passing the Dragon Gate
Gorge and remains of a Qing dynasty road cut into the cliffs.
Xiling Gorge is the longest and deepest of the three at 80 km, with
cliffs that rise as high as 4,000 feet. It begins at the town of Zigui,
known as the birthplace of the poet Qu Yuan of the late Warring
States period (3rd century BC), whose suicide is commemorated by
dragon-boat races throughout southern China. In former times this
was the most dangerous gorge, negotiated only with arduous efforts
by trackers on shore. At the end of the gorge is the site of the
Three Gorges Dam at Sanduoping, known as the Gezhouba
(Gezhou Dam), or sometimes as the Da Ba (Big Dam). When
finished the dam will be 607 ft high and 2 km (1 1/2 mi) long. It is
designed to furnish one-third of the entire country’s electrical power,
to alleviate flooding problems, improve river navigation, and aid the
economic development of rural areas along the river.
commercial capital. Since 1997, the city has become the fourth
municipality, independent from Sichuan Province, to be under the
direct control of the central government. The major port of the upper
Yangzi River and gateway to the famous “Three Gorges,”
Chongqing now includes most of the former eastern Sichuan
Province, with a population of 30 million. It is a major center of iron
and steel production, motorcycle manufacturing and shipbuilding, as
well as chemical and pharmaceutical production. The religious cliff
sculptures of Dazu and Baodingshan and the Three Gorges scenic
region of the Yangzi River are all nearby, making Chongqing an
important center for tourism despite the scarcity of notable sights
within the city proper.
Chongqing lies at the confluence of the Yangzi and Jialingjiang
Rivers, centered on a hilly peninsula encircled by the rivers, in what
was formerly the eastern part of Sichuan Province. Also known as
the Mountain City, Chongqing is 1,025 km (640 miles) northwest of
Hong Kong, and 1,800 km (1,120 miles) southwest of Beijing. It is
one of the four “furnace cities” of China, with blazingly hot and humid
summers and cold, foggy winters.
Chongqing traces its ancient history all the way back to the 13th
century BC, when it was the capital of the Ba kingdom, with a
distinctive local culture contemporary with the Shang. It was given its
present name, which means “Double Celebration,” by the Southern
Song Emperor Guangzong in 1189, to commemorate his accessions
to princely and then imperial rank. At the end of the Song period,
from 1242 to 1278, Song forces held off Mongol invaders in the
longest continuous military campaign ever on Chinese soil, lasting
some 36 years at nearby Hechuan, 60 km to the north of the city.
Chongqing was opened as a treaty port to British and Japanese
traders in 1890. Chongqing gained political importance following the
Japanese invasions of the late 1930’s. After Nanjing fell in 1937,
Chongqing became the wartime capital of the Kuomintang regime
from 1938 on, and a focus for refugees and bombing raids that
destroyed most of the city’s historical fabric. After the Japanese
surrender in 1945 and the breakdown of U.S. sponsored
negotiations held in Chongqing between the Kuomintang leader
Chiang Kai-shek and the Communist leader Mao Zedong,
Chongqing remained a Kuomintang stronghold until it fell to the
People’s Liberation Army in 1949. Since then Chongqing has grown
dramatically in population and economic importance, becoming the
major industrial center of southwestern China.
Country Information
General Information
History
Culture & Art
Festival & Activities
Government
Provinces & Cities
Embassy/Consulate
Related Laws
Shopping
Art & Crafts
Maps
Books
Antique
Souvenirs
Canadian Web Hosting
by WebServe Canada
THE THREE GORGES
The Three Gorges (San Xia) scenic area on the Yangzi River
includes some 200 km of rapids and dramatic, sharp bends set close
between high limestone cliffs on either side, in the area between
Baidicheng in Sichuan and Yichang in Hubei Province. The
scheduled completion of the Three Gorges Dam project upstream
from Yichang around 2008 will raise the water levels some 100 m,
forever changing some of the most historically celebrated scenery in
China. The area is reached via ferries or cruise ships running
downstream from Chongqing to Yichang, or on to Wuhan or all the
way to Shanghai.
In earlier times all the way down to the early 20th century navigating
this stretch of the Yangzi River was dangerous and back-breaking
work. Upstream vessels often needed the labor of hundreds of
trackers on the riverbanks who hauled boats against the current
using long ropes, sometimes taking weeks. By the 1950’s the most
troublesome rocks and reefs had been removed, making the river
navigable to ferry boats and cruise ships.
The first stop on the route downstream from Chongqing is the town
of Fuling, overlooking the mouth of the Wu River that runs south into
Guizhou. In the middle of the Yangzi River here is a huge rock
known as Baihe Ridge, with three carvings known as “stone fish” on
one side that may have served as watermarks for navigation since
ancient times. The next major town is Fengdu, 193 km (120 miles)
northeast of Chongqing, and known as the “city of devils.”
The first of the three Yangzi Gorges is known as the Qutang Gorge,
which, at 8 kilometers long, is the smallest and shortest of the Three
Gorges, but contains the fastest water. On the north bank are
remains of Warring States Period peoples who buried their dead in
coffins set in crevices in high caves along the riverside cliffs. Nine
coffins discovered in such crevices include bronze swords and armor
from the period. The cliff sides include square holes bored into the
rock to hold support timbers for plank roads and scaffolds.
Wu Gorge (Wu Xia) is about 40 km long, with sheer, narrow cliffs on
either side rising up to 900 m above the water and sometimes
seeming to close over approaching boats. A nearby rock inscription
is attributed to Zhuge Liang of the Three Kingdoms period, and the
Kong Ming tablet, a large inscribed rock slab at the foot of the Peak
of the Immortals. A side trip leads to the Three Little Gorges (Xiao
Sanxia) along the Daning River for 33 km, passing the Dragon Gate
Gorge and remains of a Qing dynasty road cut into the cliffs.
Xiling Gorge is the longest and deepest of the three at 80 km, with
cliffs that rise as high as 4,000 feet. It begins at the town of Zigui,
known as the birthplace of the poet Qu Yuan of the late Warring
States period (3rd century BC), whose suicide is commemorated by
dragon-boat races throughout southern China. In former times this
was the most dangerous gorge, negotiated only with arduous efforts
by trackers on shore. At the end of the gorge is the site of the
Three Gorges Dam at Sanduoping, known as the Gezhouba
(Gezhou Dam), or sometimes as the Da Ba (Big Dam). When
finished the dam will be 607 ft high and 2 km (1 1/2 mi) long. It is
designed to furnish one-third of the entire country’s electrical power,
to alleviate flooding problems, improve river navigation, and aid the
economic development of rural areas along the river.
| Chongqing, China |
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