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Chongqing is a major city in the southwest of China. It is one of the four municipalities under the direct governance of the central government of the People's Republic of China and the only one in western China. Covering an area of 82,402km², it is a directly administered metropolis the largest of its kind in China. It is possibly the world's largest municipality by population and one of the largest by area. The city is one of the cities notable for its history and culture in China,and serves as the economic center in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River area, a modern manufacturing center and a transportation hub for Southwest China.
Human activities are dated back to the late period of the O1d Stone Age（about 20,000 to 30,000 years ago）. The Zhou Dynasty was replaced by the Shang Dynasty in the eleventh century B.C. The Ba people established the State of Ba, making the present-day Chongqing their capital. It received its current name in 1189, after Prince Zhao Dun of the Southern Song Dynasty described his crowning as king as a “double happy celebration”. Hence, he uses the phrase“Chongqing”, which has exactly the same meaning to mark the occasion. In 1891, Chongqing became the first inland commerce port open to foreigners. Chongqing is also renowned for having been the wartime capital of China during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression. On 14th March 1997, the Eighth National People's Congress decided to merge the city with the neighbouring Fuling, Wanxian, and Qianjiang prefecture-level districts which it had governed on behalf of the Sichuan province since September 1996 to form a new municipality.The municipality became the spearhead of China's ef ort to develop its western regions and to coordinate the resettlement of residents from the reservoir areas of the Three Gorges Dam project.
Chongqing is located on the edge of the Yunnan-Guizhou plateau and the Sichuan Basin. It is intersected by the Jialing River and the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. It contains the Daba Mountains in the north, the Wu Mountains in the east, the Wuling Mountains in the southeast,and the Dalou Mountains in the south. The city is very hilly: the hills are in the city and the city is on hills. Chongqing has a four-season humid subtropical climate with monsoonal infl uences that typify much of East Asia. Chongqing is very hot in summer but winter is somewhat mild, damp and overcast.
Since its elevation to national-level municipality in 1997, the city has dramatically expanded its transportation infrastructure. With the construction of railways and expressways to the east and southeast, Chongqing is a major transportation hub in southwestern China.Chongqing is also an inland river-port and the biggest of its kind in western China. Historically, most of its transportation, especially to eastern China, is via the Yangtze River. In recent years, the amount of trading has increased because of the huge reservoir created behind the Three Gorges Dam. Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport, located in Yubei district, north of Chongqing, provides links to most parts of China and to other countries. The three main forms of public transport in Chongqing are CRT rapid transit, intercity railway, and the ubiquitous bus system.
Chongqing and its surrounding areas have many places for tourists. The most famous is the Three Gorges,a scenic area along the Yangtze River. The 656,168 feet（200km）long area is the frequently visited canyon in China. Another popular site is the Dazu Rock Carvings,which are a series of Chinese religious sculptures and carvings dating back as far as the 7th century A. D.Listed as a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site, the Dazu Rock Carvings are made up of 75 protected sites containing some 50,000 statues, with over 100,000 Chinese characters forming inscriptions and epigraphs.The People's Liberation Monument, located in the center of Chongqing city, attracts many visitors. It used to be the highest buildup in the area, but currently it is surrounded and dwarfed by numerous shopping centers. Even today, the monument serves as a symbol for the city. The Three Natural Bridges and Furong Cave in Wulong County are listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site as part of the South China Karst. Ciqikou is an ancient 1000-year-old town in the Shapingba District of Chongqing. It is otherwise known as Small Chongqing. The town, located at the lower reaches of the Jialing River, was at one time an important source of chinaware and used to be a busy commercial dock during the Ming and Qing dynasties. Besides, Chongqing is home to many Hot Springs. One can take time to relax in the varying temperatures and atmosphere these springs have to of er.
Chongqing has a wide variety of food, including Chongqing Xiaomian,Laoma Chaoshou and Maoxuewang, etc.Here to mention is Chongqing's hot pot.Hot pot is Chongqing's local culinary specialty. Tables in hotpot restaurants usually have a central pot where food ordered by the customers is boiled in a very spicy broth. As well as beef, pork,potatoes and other vegetables, items such as pig's kidney, brain, duck's tripe, and cow's stomach are often consumed. When ordering hot pot you have a choice between three kinds. First, it's a spicy one called red soup, then the one without any spice, which is basically a bone soup, and it is tasty. Finally there is a compromise hot pot, which is basically a pot partitioned in the middle with the spicy stuf on one side and the mild on the other.
