History

Chongqing was originally the capital of the State of Ba over three thousand years. The place was called Jiangzhou during the Western Han Dynasty. Later on, it was changed into Yuzhou during the Sui, Tang, Wudai and Northern Song Dynasties. 

Before long, the place was renamed once more as Gongzhou for a short period of time. By the time when Zhao Dun was confered the title of Prince Gong, he stayed in this place. For the sake of celebration, he renamed the city of Gongzhou as Chongqing (Double Celebration) immediately after he had ascended the throne. This name remains all the same over the previous eight hundred years, though the scope of this city had sometimes had a little change. 

Geo-location and Population

Chongqing is the biggest municipality in terms of area and population in China that directly under the Central Government. Chongqing municipality is now made up 15 districts, 4 county-level cities and 21 counties. Chongqing lies in the southwest of China and the upper reach of Yangtze River . It borders on such provinces as Hubei , Hunan , Guizhou , Sichuan and Shanxi . It lasts 470 kilometers from Chongqing east border to west and 450 kilometers from south to north. As a result, Chongqing 's total area is 82,269 square kilometers. Its east longitude is between 105'17" and 110'11" and its north latitude is between 28'10" and 32'13".

Chongqing has a population of 31.3 million, among which the urban population is 6.35 million (China Statistics Yearbook 2003).

Climate

Chongqing belongs to sub-tropical monsoon climate. The features are warm winter, hot summer, early spring and short autumn. Annual average temperature is around 19.2 centigrade degree. The average lowest temperature is 6-8 centigrade degree in winter. The average highest temperature is 27-38 centigrade degree in summer and the extreme temperature can reach as high as 43.8 centigrade degree. Hence it had got the name of 'furnace city'.

The monsoon concentrates in summertime. The annual average rainfall is 1000-1100mm. There is plenty of night rain in summer, hence the saying 'Ba mountains' night rain'. 

Chongqing is also called 'foggy city'. There is much fog from the end of autumn to early spring with at least 68 foggy days a year. Chongqing is also one of the cities with shortest sunshine time in China . The annual sunshine time is 941.9 hours.

City Infrastructure

Chongqing is endowed with a convenient communication in the field of water, air and land transportation. In terms of water transportation, since the city is located at the confluence of the Yangtze and Jialing River , ships and boats can navigate their way upstream from coastal cities and ports on the lower reaches of the river all the year round.

Each day, planes to various big cities in China will set off from Chongqing Airport to Beijing , Shanghai , etc. And nonscheduled flights will take passengers to or from Thailand and Japan .

In whole, there are 19 pairs of trains shuttling between Chongqing and other big cities as Beijing , Shanghai , Guangzhou , Kunming , Chengdu , Xi'an , Zhengzhou , etc., with passenger traffic of 7.08 million in 2003 according to China Statistics 2004.

At the end of 2003, the length of all highways in Chongqing territories adds up to 3278.8 kilometers in whole, with a highway coverage ratio of 0.040 kilometers per square kilometers. Several highways connect Chongqing directly with the peripheral cities: Chengdu , Yibing, Leshan, etc.

There were 5333 buses and trolley buses and 17233 taxis in Chongqing at the end of 2003. In the whole year, the number of passengers carried by public vehicles was 904.07 million person-times.

t the end of 2003, the number of Chongqing telephone users was 5.33 million, with an average of 17.0 sets per 100 persons. And the number of mobile phone users was 6.19 million.

Economy

In 2003, Chongqing got a GDP of RMB 225.1 billion yuan, and GDP per Capita was RMB 7209 yuan per person according to China Statistics Yearbook 2004.

Main Attractions

here are many attractions for visitors to Chongqing , such as Wu Gorge, Qutang Gorge, Baidi City , Beishan Hill, Baoding Mountain , Three Gorges, Gezhouba Dam, Three Gorges Dam Project, Chaotianmen Wharf , etc. The Gezhouba Water Conservancy Project is one of the famous scenic spots in Chongqing , which includes the barrage, the power plant, the ship brake, the flood discharge brake, and the fishway, etc.

The embankment is 2,561m long and 70m high, which controls a drainage area of 1,000,000 kilometers with total content of 1.58 billion steres. The station possesses of 21 dynamos, with electric energy production of 2,715 kilowatts, about 13.8 billion kilowatt-hours annually.