Geography
Also a municipality directly under
the Central Government, Chongqing is the largest industrial and commercial
center in southwest China, and a hub of land and water transportation in the
upper Yangtze valley. Situated 105'11"-110'11" east longitude and 28'10"-32'13"
north latitude, it has an area of 82,000 square kilometers, neighboring Hubei,
Hunan, Guizhou, Sichuan, Shaanxi provinces.
Climate
Chongqing has a sub-tropical monsoonal
climate, with warm winter, hot summer, early spring and short autumn. Annual
average temperature is around 19.2oC. The average highest temperature is 27-38oC
in summer and the extreme temperature can reach as high as 43.8oC. Hence it had
got the name of furnace city. The annual average rainfall is above 1000 mm.
Chongqing is also called foggy city, for 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.
Administrative Division and
Population
It is divided into 13 districts, 16
county-level cities, 6 counties and 5 autonomous counties, with a population of
30.90 million as of 2000.
Food
Chongqing Hot Pot, Dandan noodles, Wu
Chaoshou, Chongqing Ma La Tang ("ma" means numbness in the mouth, "la" is chili
hot and "tang" means piping hot), Mapo Tofu, Double Cooked Pork,
Brief Introduction
Chongqing is called Yu for short. It is
situated in the southeast of the Sichuan Basin and the confluence between the
Yangtze River and the Jialing River. It is the largest and most densely
populated municipality directly under the Central Government. Efforts are being
made to turn Chongqing into a modern metropolis with the largest foreign market
oriented industrial base in West China. On March 14, 1997, Chongqing was
officially proclaimed the fourth municipality directly under the jurisdiction of
the Central Government.
Chongqing abounds in biological resources,
ore and waterpower as well as the Three Gorges tourist resources. Being the
largest industrial and commercial center in southwest China, Chongqing boasts
comprehensive industries of advanced iron and steel, chemicals, electric power,
automobile manufacturing, machine-building, shipbuilding, construction
materials, textiles, and foodstuff. Chongqing is also the land and water
communication hub in southwest China. The port of Chongqing is the biggest in
the upper reaches of the Yangtze River.
Known as a "Mountain City", Chongqing was
constructed on the mountain slopes and along the riversides. It has a long
history and numerous scenic spots and historic sites. It is renowned in
particular for gardens with unique beauty. Famous tourist sites include the
stone carvings in Dazu County, the Three Gorges scenery, the South Hot Spring
Park, the North Hot Spring Park, and Red Crag Memorial Museum, etc.