The virtue of the admirable taxi drivers are just a microcosm of the permanent enchantment and charming demeanor that Chengdu is endowed.

Owing to their wisdom, diligence and creativity, from ancient time to present, Chengdu people have been creating uncountable Firsts in the fields of economy, science and technology, and on human culture, which include First in China and First in the world.

Dujiangyan

Let's start with one of Chengdu’s ‘World Firsts.’ The Dujiangyan Irrigation System was built around 250 B.C. and it has been benefiting Chengdu people almost 2000 years. It is the first in the world.

In the year of 61 B.C., a deep well was drilled to tap natural gas in Linqiong (a city under Chengdu's jurisdiction) and the gas was used in salt making, cooking and lighting. Chengdu Shu Brocade, also named Brocade Satin, is the earliest brocade silk in the world. The foot-driven loom invented in Chengdu during the Eastern Han Dynasty (202-220BC) was the most advanced in the world at the time. By the Han Dynasty, Chengdu had become the world’s lacquer making center and the birthplace of tea culture. During the Tang Dynasty, for the first time, engraving printing was invented and widely used in Chengdu. The Tuoluoni Scripture and Incantation of Bian Family, the remnant pages of Diamond Sutra of Guo Family in west Sichuan, the remnant pages of the Fan Family history in Chengdu are the earliest existing presswork in the world. In the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1126BC), merchants in Chengdu jointly issued the earliest paper money in the world, called Jiaozi at that time. The local government set up the Office of Jiaozi, the earliest administrative and savings bank.

Now let's talk about the Firsts in Chinese by the Chengdu people.

Tang Shenwei,one of the most famous doctors in Chinese history

In 250 B.C, Libing used stone dolls to measure the water level of Dujianyan, the earliest water gauge in the world. In 141 B.C, Wenweng, satrap of Shu Prefecture, for the first time in China, established a school run by the local official named Wenwong Stone House in Chengdu. In Western Han Dynasty (202 BC-8AD), Sima Xiangru, Mei Cheng, Jia Yi, Yang Xiong and Wang Bao laid the foundations of Hanfu (ode in Han Dynasty ). Meng Chang, emperor of Latter Shu Kingdom (943-965AD), wrote the first spring festival scrolls in China, the content of which it that at the end of an abundant year, we welcome with great passion the remaining days of this year, and at the joyous festival, we shout and jump for the upcoming spring. Before 355 A.D, Chang Qu compiled Chronicles of Huayuang, the earliest existing chorography in China.  Midst Flowers, the first collection of poems in the history of Chinese literature was compiled by Zhao Chongzuo during the reign of the Latter Shu Kingdom. In 1082 A.D, the earliest pharmacopoeia of China was composed by a famous doctor, Tang Shenwei, in Chengdu.