Chongqing

Chongqing is the largest and most populated municipality of China's four provincial-level municipalities. It is also the only one of these municipalities in the western region of China. Formerly (until 14 March 1997) a sub-provincial city within Sichuan Province, the municipality of Chongqing has a registered population of 31,442,300 (2005). The boundaries of Chongqing municipality reach much farther into the city's hinterland than the boundaries of the other three provincial level municipalities (Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin), and much of the municipality, which spans over 80 000 km², is rural. The population of the urban area of Chongqing proper was 5.09 million (2000).

The municipal abbreviation, Yu , was approved by the State Council on 18 April 1997. Chongqing was also a municipality of the old Republic of China. Its abbreviated name is derived from the old name of a part of the Jialing River that runs through Chongqing and feeds the Yangtze River.

Attractions in Chongqing

-The People's Liberation Monument
Located in the center of Chongqing city, it was the highest building in the area but currently is surrounded and dwarfed by numerous shopping centres. Actually this monument tower was originally named as "Monument for the victory over Axis armies" and it is the only building in whole China area for that purpose. Even today, the monument serves as the symbol for the city.

-Luohan Si -Ming-era Temple
The cemetery for world war II air forces in Nanshan area in memory of those air force heroes who sacrificed their lives to help China during the Japanese invasion;The former sites for embassies of major countries during 1940s since Chungking was Capital at that time and many residence buildings/sites for the celebrities at that time (Chiang Kai-shek, H.H. Kong, Lao She, Liang Shiqiu et al.);

-Red Rock Village Museum
It is a diplomatic site for the Communist Party in Chongqing led by Zhou Enlai during World War II. It's where Mao Zedong signed the "Double 10 (October 10th) peace agreement" with the Kuomingtang.

-Dazu Rock Carvings
The Dazu Rock Carvings, in Dazu county, are a series of Chinese religious sculptures and carvings, dating back as far as the 7th century A.D., depicting and influenced by Buddhist, Confucian and Taoist beliefs. 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.

-Ciqikou
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 chinawares and used to be a busy commercial dock during the Ming and Qing Dynasty.

-Fishing Town
Or Fishing City, also called the "Oriental Mecca" and "the Place That Broke God's Whip", is one of the three great ancient battlefields of China. It is famous for its resistance to the Mongol armies in the latter half of the Song Dynasty. One of the most notable events was the death of Mongol leader Mongke Khan by cannon shot, which forced the immediate withdrawal of Mongol troops from Europe and Asia and prevented the Mongolian Empire from expanding towards Africa and Western Europe.

-Hot Pot
Hot pot is Chongqing's local culinary specialty. Tables in hotpot restaurants usually have a central vat (or pot) where food ordered by the customers is boiled in a very spicy broth. As well as beef, pork, lotus and other vegetables, items such as pig's kidney, brain, duck's bowels, and cow's stomach are often consumed.

History
Chongqing is said to be the semi-mythical State of Ba that the Ba people supposedly established during the eleventh century BCE. By 316 BCE, however, it had been overrun by the State of Qin. The Qin emperor ordered a new city to be constructed, which was called Jiang and Chu Prefecture.

Chongqing was subsequently renamed in 581 CE (Sui Dynasty) and 1102, to Yu Prefecture and then Gong Prefecture. It received its current name in 1189, after Prince Zhao Dun of the Southern Song Dynasty described his crowning as king and then Emperor Guangzong as a "double/repeated happy celebration". Hence, Yu Prefecture became Chongqing subprefecture to mark the occasion.

In 1362, (Yuan Dynasty), Ming Yuzhen, a peasant rebelling leader, established the Daxia Kingdom  at Chongqing for a short time. In 1621 (Ming Dynasty), another short-lived kingdom of Daliang was established by She Chongming in Chongqing as its capital.

Between 1627-1645, with the fall of the Ming Dynasty, Chongqing, together with Sichuan, were captured by the Revolts who overthrew the Ming Dynasty across the nation. Later during the Qing Dynasty, immigration to Chongqing and Sichuan took place with the support of Qing emperor. In 1891, Chongqing became the first inland commerce port open to foreigners.

From 1929, Chongqing became a municipality of the Republic of China. During the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945), it was Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek's provisional capital and was heavily bombed by the Japanese Air Force. Luckily, due to its mountainous environment, many people were saved from the bombing. Many factories and universities were moved from eastern China to Chongqing during WWII, transforming this city from inland port to a heavily industrialized city.

In 1954, the municipality was demoted to a provincial city within the Sichuan Province of the People's Republic of China. On 14 March 1997, the Eighth National People's Congress decided to merge the city with the neighbouring Fuling, Wanxian, and Qianjiang prefecture-level districts that it had governed on behalf of the province since September 1996. The resulting single division was the Chongqing Municipality, containing 30,020,000 people in forty-three former counties (without intermediate political levels). The municipality became the spearhead of China's effort to develop its western regions and coordinate the resettlement of residents from the reservoir areas of the Three Gorges Dam project. Its first official ceremony took place on 18 June 1997.

In 2009, Chongqing hosted the Second "Chinese Bridge" Chinese Proficiency Competition For Foreign Secondary School Students, organised by Hanban, from the October 16 to October 31.