CHONGQING
Chongqing, also called Chungking, meaning "Double Celebration", is one of the autonomous municipalities located in southwestern China and surrounded on all sides by Sichuan Province. Chongqing is situated on a rocky peninsula at the confluence of the Yangtze and Jialing rivers. It is a major inland port of China and the leading commercial, transportation, and industrial center of the country's southwestern region. On March 14, 1997, the Chinese government decided to make the city of Chongqing, originally included as a part of Sichuan province, a municipality directly under the central government.
Chongqing may be found on the upper reaches of the Yangtze River covering the area 105o 17'-110o 11' E longitude and 28o 10'-32o 13' N latitude. Chongqing is situated in the southeastern part of Sichuan Province and Sanxia (the Three Gorges) area on the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. For a long time Chongqing has been the transportation hub for the villages and cities along the Yangtze River, as well as the southwest regions of China. It covers an area of 23,000 square kilometers including 158 sq km urban districts. Chongqing's terrain slopes from south and north to the Yangtze River featuring hills, flat land and mountains. Surrounded by water on 3 sides, Chongqing is situated at the confluence of Yangtze River and Jialing River. With beautiful hills and mountains the "Mountain City" has long been reputed for its wonderful scenery. Chongqing has a sub-tropical humid monsoon climate zone with four distinct seasons. Summer is hot and winter is warm, with a long frost-free period. The annual average temperature is around 18.4Co with 6-8Co as average temperature in winter and 27-29Co in summer. The four seasons in Chongqing are characterized as a warm winter, a hot summer, a nearly spring and a short autumn. With plentiful rainfall, the annual precipitation is 1,000-1,400 mm. and it rains in the night when spring is changing into summer. Chongqing is also rich in natural resources. It has 4,474 sq km of uncultivated land resources, and abounds in non-metallic minerals, of which reserves of 22 such as coal, natural gas, strontium; iron sulfate and gypsum have been verified. Chongqing has more than 2,000 types of plants and 380 animal species. Chongqing has always been one of the old industrial bases in China, where three mainstay industries have taken shape including machine-building, chemical industry and metallurgical industry.
The total population is 30,996,900 in total with a 24,456,600 agricultural population and a 6,140,300 non-agricultural population. Chongqing natives speak a dialect of Southern Mandarin Chinese, which is said to be "quite intelligible" to speakers of Northern (Standard) Mandarin. Because of their rough tones, people speaking the Chongqing dialect are said to talk like baby boys, while the softer sounding dialect in nearby Chengdu is compared to the speech of young girls. The major religion in Chongqing is Buddhism. The main ethnic groups are Han, Tibetan, Miao and others.
Traces of man's presence in this area have been found from as far back as the end of the Old Stone Age 20,000 to 30,000 years ago. From the beginning of the Shang Dynasty (16th century B.C.) to the close of the Warring States Period (221 B.C.), it was the capital of the state of Ba. From the Qin Dynasty through the Eastern Han Dynasty (221 B.C.-220 A.D.), it was a prefecture also known as Ba. During the Sui and Tang dynasties, (581-907 A.D.), it was known as the sub-prefecture of Yuzhou, hence its standard byname "Yu". Subsequently, during the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127 A.D.), it was renamed Gongzhou. In 1189, during the Southern Song Dynasty, Zhao Dun, later the Guangzong Emperor was given the title Prince of Gong. Regarding this as an exceedingly joyous event, he upgraded its status to that of a prefecture and renamed it as "Chongqing"' or "redoubled celebration", the name it carries to this day. The Ming and Qing dynasties (1368-1911) saw goods spin in and out of the city as merchants from the four corners gathered. In 1891 Chongqing became an open port and a customs house was established there. Shipping and trade and the financial and processing industries grew steadily more prosperous as the city came to link southwestern China and the upper reaches of the Yangtze River with the rest of the world. In 1929 Chongqing was formally declared a city. Following the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japan in 1937, the Kuomintang (KMT) moved the government from Nanjing to Chongqing. In 1939 the city was elevated to a municipality under the Executive Yuan. Beginning in 1940 till 1946, it served as the wartime "provisional capital" for the KMT government, becoming China's political, economic, financial, commercial, transportation, cultural and diplomatic center. The city was liberated by 1949.

Tourist Attractions in Chongqing

Fengdu 
Apart from being the longest river in China and Asia, the Yangtze River is renowned for its having possessed a good number of historical sites and enchanting scenic spots.
Located on the north bank of the Yangtze Rivcr, Fengdu is an ancient city with long history. It is also known as the so-called "Abode of Ghosts." According to superstious legend, "the dead come to Fengdu and the devils go to hell." Since the Tang Dynasty, forty-eight temples have been built in this place, such as the "Hall of the Jade Emperor," the "Palace of Hell," "Boundary Between the Living and the Dead," the "Bridge of Helplessness."and the "Balcony of Nostalgia." All of the temples there look quite magnificent while statues are extremely lifelike.

Beibei
Beibei is Chongqing's back garden. Located 4,000 metres northwest to Beibei Municipality, the Jinyun Mountain enjoys a reputation as the "Lesser Emei Mountain of East Sichuan". It has nine towering peaks lined up from east to west. Chaori Peak, the first one of the nine peaks, is noted for its welcome to the first ray of sunrise. Xianglu (Incense Bumer) Peak is noted for its having several historical relics and ancient architectural structures. Standing on the Taixu Terrace at the Lion Peak, one will have a bird's-eye view of the whole city and the Jialing River. Juyun (Cloud Gathering) Peak is covered with a dense forest, so there often exist a thin layer of vapour, mist or clouds. Lotus Peak is decked with mountain flowers. The rest are Pagoda Peak, jade's End Peak. and Evening Glow Peak, of which the highest one is the Jade's End Peak.
Located in the south bank of Wentang Gorge along the Jialing River at the foot of Jinyun Mountain, the North Hot Spring enjoys a reputation as the "Pearl on the Jialing River."With Jialing River's passing through the district of Hechuan, there emerge the following three gorges from north to south: Liebie Gorge, Wentang Gorge and Guanyin Gorge. They are usually called the "Three Lesser Gorges on the Jialing River."
Situated about 10,000 metres west to the urban of Beibei Municipality, there stands the well-known Damotan Waterfall. In the rainy season it roars down just like many white-coloured chains, and the spray rises several dozens meters high. There is a very deep pool at the bottom decked with green grass. On the riverside at the up reach of Motan River lies an orange orchid covering an area of l,000 mu of land. In spring and summer, there spread numerous dots of white flowers, while in autumn and winter the trees in this place will be heavy with the fruit of red tangerines and yellow oranges, spreading fragrance far and wide.

Shibaozhai
Built along the mountain slope, Zhongxian boasts many historical siles. The county is so called because there appeared two loyal officials: the one is Bamanzi, a general of Ba dukedom during the Warring States Perlod. and the other is Yan Yan, a brave general of Western Shu during the Three-Kingdoms Period (220-280). Apart from the tombs of these two loyal officials, there are still many other impressive buildings, such as the Taibao Temple dedicated to Qin Liangyu, a woman general noted for her heroic resistance against the the Qing army, and the Hall of Four Worthies built in memory of the four Tang-dynasty worthies: Bai Juyi, Liu An, Li Jifu and Lu Zhe.
Situated on the north bank of the Yangtze River near Zhongxian County, Shibaozhai is a huge crag over ten metres high. Since its rectangular shape looks like a huge seal, it is called ¡°Jade Seal Hill.¡± Atop the hill is a temple called ¡°Lanrou Hall.¡± A twelve-storey pagoda-shaped wooden pavilion contains a staircase leading up the way from ground to the hilltop, which is otherwise difficult to reach.

Furongdong 
Situated at the confluence of Wujiang and Furong rivers nearby Jiangkou Town in Wulong County, Furongdong (Hibiscus Cave) is a large limestone cave, 2400 meters long and 50 meters wide, and its main hall has covered an area of l.l square meter. Constructed on the basis of the investigation by the Society of Research on Caves under the China Association of Geological Sciences, the cave is rich in natural rocks. Apart from a lot of useful knowledge about the cave, a visit to this wonder will offer you a great spiritual enjoyment.

Wanzhou 
With the Duyue Mountain in the east, the Cuiping Mountain in the south, the Taibai Rock in the west and the Tiancheng in the southwest, Wanzhou is animportant riverside town traditionally called the "Gate to the East Sichuan." The name means "a county with 10,000 products," and refers to the natural wealth of the area. Li Bai (701-762), a great Tang-dynasty poet, once lived in a temple located on a hill in the westem side, hence the name of this rock.

Rafting
There are two kinds of raffting along the Furong River: the drifting for enjoyment and the raftting for adventure. The former operates on the Zhuzi Stream while the later lies on the Pangu River. Moreover, the drifting for the adventure is also divided into the following three categories: Sanmenxia, Miaosai and Liansantan, of which the last one is most interesting: Starting from this location, you could raft down all the way for as long as 18,000 meters and pass through 26 shoals successively. Hence, it is prasied as the golden zone for raffting on the Furong River.