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Chengdu (help·info) (Chinese: 成都; Pinyin: Chéngdū; Wade-Giles: Ch'eng-tu), located in southwest China, is the capital of Sichuan province and a sub-provincial city. It is the fifth[1] most populous city in China. Chengdu is also one of the most important economic centers and transportation and communication hubs in China.

More than four thousand years ago, the prehistorical Bronze Age culture of Jinsha (Chinese: 金沙; Pinyin: Jīnshā) established itself in this region. The fertile Chengdu Plain, on which Chengdu is located, is called Tianfuzhi guo (Simplified Chinese: 天府之国; Pinyin: Tiānfǔzhi Guó) in Chinese, which literally means "the country of heaven", or more often seen translated as "the Land of Abundance".

Population

Throughout most of Chinese history, Chengdu has been a city with a large number of people. By 2006 the population was 11.03 million (other sources cite 2.3 million), which made Chengdu the fifth largest city in China in terms of population, just following Shanghai, Beijing, Tianjin and Chongqing. The urban populace excluding recognized city dependants is 3.9 million.

Geography and Climate

Chengdu is situated at the western edge of the Sichuan Basin. It is therefore sheltered from northwest winds from Siberia in winter by the Qing Ling mountain range to the north. The climate is mild and humid. The short winter is milder than in the Lower Yangtse because of the sheltering effect of the Qing Ling. Snow is rare but there are a few periods of frost each winter. The summer is longer, but not as hot as in cities such as Wuhan and Nanjing in the Lower Yangtse downstream. Average daytime highs are 49F (10C) in January and 85F (30C) in July. Rainfall is reliable year round but peaks in the summer months.

Chengdu has one of the lowest sunshine totals in China (less sunshine annually than London), and most days are cloudy even if without rain. This is especially so in the winter months, when it is typically interminably grey and dreary. Spring (Mar-Apr) tends to be sunnier, warmer and drier than autumn (Oct-Nov).

Famous People From Chengdu

Sima Xiangru, the great writer in West Han Dynasty.

Zhuo Wenjun, wife of the famous writer Sima Xiangru.

Yang Xiong, the great writer and philosopher in West Han Dynasty.

Chang Qu, the famous historian in West Jin Dynasty; his work 'Hua Yang Guo Zhi' is the first Chinese historical geography work.

Xue Tao, the famous woman poet in Tang Dynasty.

Ba Jin, the great writer, was born in Chengdu and died in Shanghai in 2005.

Wang Guangxi, the famous musician, the first Chinese awarded doctoral degree in music.

Zhou Taixuan, the famous biologist.

Li Jieren, the famous writer, was born in Chengdu in 1891.

Kong Xiangming, the famous female player of Go.

Zheng Jie and Yan Zi have been making quite an impact on the Women's Tennis Tour. Although both are successful in singles (Zheng Jie with two titles and Yan Zi with one), they are better known for their doubles grand slam wins in the 2006 Australian Open and in the 2006 Wimbledon.

History

In the early 4th century BC, the 9th Kaiming king of the ancient Shu moved his capital to the city's current location from today's nearby Pixian. He was said to have been inspired by the ancient story of King Tai of Zhou, Grandfather of King Wu of Zhou, moving his capital. History recorded King Tai of Zhou's move as "it took a year to become a town; it took three years to become a capital". Following this, king of Shu named the new city as "Cheng Du", which means "become a capital" (In Chinese, the word "cheng" means "become", "du" means "capital"). There are, however, several versions of why the capital was moved to Chengdu, and more recent theories of the name's origin point to it as stemming from, or referring to, earlier non-Han inhabitants and/or their languages.

After the conquest of Shu by the State of Qin in 316 BC, a new city was founded by the Qin general Zhang Yi (who as a matter of fact had argued against the invasion). This can be seen as the beginning of the Chinese Chengdu. It was renamed Yìzhou (益州) during the Han Dynasty.

During the partition following the fall of the Eastern Han Dynasty, i.e. the era of the Three Kingdoms, Liu Bei founded the southwest kingdom of Shu-Han (蜀汉; 221-263) with Chengdu as its capital.

During the Tang Dynasty, both the "Poet God" Li Bó (李白) and the "Poet Sage" Dù Fu (杜甫) spent some part of their lives in Chengdu. Du Fu constructed the celebrated "Caotáng" (?? or grass-hut) in the second year of his four-years stay (759-762). But today's Caotang, a rather sumptuous house in the traditional style, was only constructed in 1078 in memory of Du Fu.

Chengdu was also the birthplace of the first widely used paper money in the world (Northern Song Dynasty, around A.D. 960).

Two rebel leaders, one around the end of Song Dynasty, the other near the end of Ming Dynasty, set up the capitals of their short-lived kingdoms here, called Dàshu (大蜀) and Dàxi (大西), respectively.

The Second World War brought an unexpected wave of prosperity to Chengdu as the Guomindang (Chinese Nationalist) government under Chiang Kai-shek fled to Sichuan Province to escape the invading Japanese forces. They brought with them businesspeople, workers and academics, who founded many of the industries and cultural institutions which continue to make Chengdu an important center.

In 1944 the American XX Bomber Command launched Operation Matterhorn, an ambitious plan to base B-29 Superfortresses at Chengdu and strategically bomb the Japanese Home Islands. Because it required a massive airlift of fuel and supplies over the Himalayas, it was not a great military success, but it did earn Chengdu the distinction of launching the first serious retaliation against the Japanese homeland.

Chengdu was the last city on the Chinese mainland to be held by the Kuomintang-controlled government. R.O.C. President Chiang Kai-shek and his son Chiang Ching-kuo directed the defence of the city at Chengdu Central Military Academy, until 1949 when the city fell into communist hands. The People's Liberation Army took the city on December 10 and the remnants of the Nationalist Chinese government fled to Taiwan.

Today the industrial base is very broad, including light and heavy manufacturing, aluminum smelting and chemicals. The textile industry remains important, with cotton and wool milling added to the traditional manufacturing of silk brocade and satin.

Today it is the headquarters of the Chengdu Military Region.

Previous names

In the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-23 AD), brocade produced in Chengdu enjoyed great popularity among the royal and elite class in China. Emperor installed Jin Guan (an official in charge of brocade production) to oversee brocade production in Chengdu. Since then, Chengdu has been called "Jin Guan Cheng" (Brocade Official's City), or in its short form, "Jin Cheng" (Brocade city).

In the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period (907-960), Mengchang, the king of the Later Shu Kingdom, ordered the planting of hibiscus on the fortress wall surrounding the city. After this, Chengdu started being referred as the City of Hibiscus. Nowadays, the hibiscus is still the city flower of Chengdu. But the last city wall was torn down in the 1960s along with the Royal Palace situated in the middle of the city.

The aforementioned "previous names" are not formal names, however, but are more accurately thought of as nicknames. The name "Chengdu" has never changed during thousands years since the city was founded, and the city has always been in the same location.

Culture and folklore

The Sichuan cuisine is famous for being very spicy, but in fact only slightly more than 30% of dishes officially labeled "local" rely on chili pepper. The reputation for hot food is, however, much older than the use of peppers, which became common only in the 17-18th century.

Chengdu's cuisine is considered to be one of China's most outstanding. The many local specialties include Grandma Chen's Bean Curd (Mapo doufu), Chengdu Hot pot, and Carrying Pole Noodles (Dan Dan Noodles).

An article by the Los Angeles Times (2006) called Chengdu "China's party city". Chengdu outnumbers Shanghai in the number of tea houses and bars despite having less than half the population. The inhabitants have a reputation both within Sichuan and in China at large for having a laid back attitude and for knowing how to enjoy life.

Economy

Chengdu is home to several key industries and markets in China that are both significant for domestic and international markets. First, Sichuan Province and the Chengdu region have long been the capital of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). This combined with recent intrigue into pharmaceuticals has launched Chengdu into one of the major pharmaceutical R&D centers in China, as well as the leading R&D region in Western China.

Electronic and IT Industry

Chengdu has long been established as a national base for electronic and IT industry. Several key national electronic R&D institutes are located in Chengdu. Chengdu's Hi-tech Industrial Development Zone has attracted a variety of multinationals, including Intel, IBM, NOKIA, Alcatel, Motorola, SAP, and Microsoft, as well as domestic powerhouses such as Lenovo. Intel's Chengdu factory is its second one after its Shanghai factory in China and the first such large-scale foreign investment in electronic industry in interior China.

Financial Industry

Chengdu is now building itself to be the financial hub for West China and has successfully attracted major international financial institutions, including Citigroup, HSBC, Standard Chartered Bank, United Overseas Bank (Singapore). Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (Singapore), ABN AMRO, Bank of East Asia, BNP Paribas, etc.

Historically, Chengdu has marked its name in the history of financial innovation. The world’s first ever paper currency 'Jiao Zi' was seen in Chengdu in the year 1023, during the Song Dynasty of Ancient China.

Now, Chengdu is not only the gateway of West China for foreign financial institutions, but also a booming town for Chinese domestic financial firms. The Chinese monetary authority, People's Bank of China (China’s central bank), set its southwest China headquarters in Chengdu City. In addition, almost all domestic banks and securities brokerage firms located their regional headquarters or branches in Chengdu. At the same time, the local financial firms of Chengdu are strengthening their presences nationally, notably, West China Securities, GuoJin Securities and Chengdu Commercial Bank. Moreover, on top of banks and brokerage firms, the flourish of local economy lured more and more financial service firms to the city to capitalize on the economic growth. KPMG opened this first west China office in Chengdu City this October, and before the inauguration of KPMG Chengdu office, its rival, Ernst & Young, had already integrated Chengdu into its global operation for several years.

Defense industry

Located within the city limits is the Chengdu Aircraft Company which produces the recently declassified J-10 Fighter. The company is one of the major manufacturers of Chinese Military aviation technology.

International flights

Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport is the sixth largest airport in mainland China, after Beijing Capital, Shanghai Pudong, Shanghai Hongqiao, Guangzhou Baiyun and Shenzhen Bao'an. In 2006, the passenger volume in Chengdu Shuangliu reached 16.28 million, one of the world's 100 busiest airports by passenger traffic.

Currently, there are direct international flights connecting, Chengdu to Singapore (Silk Air and Air China), Chengdu to Bangkok (Thai Airways International), Chengdu to Tokyo (Air China), Chengdu to Seoul (Asiana Airlines and Air China), Chengdu to Phnom Penh (Angkor Airways), Chengdu to Amsterdam (KLM: Royal Dutch Airlines). The Chengdu to Kuala Lumpur route with Malaysia Airlines was canceled on 29 Nov 2006.

There are also intraregional flights connecting Chengdu to Hong Kong (Dragonair, Hong Kong Express and Air China) and Macau (Air Macau).

Colleges and universities

Note: Institutions without full-time bachelor programs are not listed.

High Schools

Consulates in Chengdu

In 1986, the United States Consulate General at Chengdu was established. It is the first consulate established in west-central China since 1949. Currently seven countries have established consulates in Chengdu. The United Kingdom also established a visa application center in Chengdu. A Pakistani consulate will be opened soon.

Sister cities

In 1979, Chengdu signed a sister city agreement with Montpellier, France, the first pair of Sino-French sister cities. Later Chengdu signed sister city agreements with cities in ten countries, as well as signing a friendly region agreement with Dalarna province in Sweden. Chengdu has had many friendly exchanges with the sister cities. Montpellier, for example, has a Chengdu Street and a Chengdu Plaza.The soccer team Chengdu Blades is owned by Sheffield United FC.