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Days like this are rare in Chongqing and the Yangz
DazuChongqing was originally...
Chongqing was originally the capital of the State of Ba over three thousand years. The place was called Jiangzhou during the Western Han Dynasty. Later on, it was changed into Yuzhou during the Sui, Tang, Wudai and Northern Song Dynasties. Before long ,the place was renamed once more as Gongzhou for a short period of time. By the time when Zhao Dun was confered the title of Prince Gong. he stayed in this place. For the sake of celebration, he renamed the city of Gongzhou as Chongqing ( Double Celebration) immediately after he had ascended the throne. This name remains all the same over the previous eight hundred years, though the scope of this city had sometimes had a little change.
Chongqing is subtropical, hot in summer. Hence it had got the name ¡° a furnace city.¡± Meanwhile. Chongqing has also got the renown as a ¡° mountain city¡± because of its buildings on hillsides and mountains surrounding the city. The climate in Chongqing is often cloudy and misty. As a consequence. it is also called ¡° the fog city¡±. Moreover£¬ since the average annual precipitation is about l,000 millimetres, the scene of raining in night appears from time to time.
In the year of 1362, Ming Yuzhen, the leader of a peasant uprising army during the last period of the Yuan Dynasty, established the peasant regime of Daxia and assigned this city as its political centre. In the year of 1937,soon after Nanjing was occupied by the Japanese invaders, the Kuomintang government moved from Nanjing to Chongqing and designed the latter as its war time capital. On account of its great contribution to the victory of the Second World War, on the map of China displayed in the great hall of the United Nations there appear merely the names of the following four cities: Beijing, Shanghai,Nanjing and Chongqing.
Ever since then, Chongqing has enjoyed chance of development for four times in succession. Being as the war-time capital of China, Chongqing began to develop into a modern industrial city at the end of 1940s. In the 1950s, out of being the location 0f both the Southwest Bureau and the Southwest Military and Political Committee under the Communist Party of China, and as the municipality directly under the People's Government for a short period of time, Chongqing had practically become the political, economic and cultural centre of Southwest China. In the 1960s, due to the practice of the ¡° Third Front¡± strategy. a couple of enterprises, the military enterprises in particular, began to move to Chongqing and this made it possible for this inland city to have set up a complete system of industry. In the 198Os, soon after the practice of the opening policy, Chongqing was listed as one of the key cities enjoying the chance to flourish during the period of the First Five-Year Plan. As a result, with the outstanding achievement it had obtained, Chongqing had turned out to be the largest centre of industry and commerce in Southwest China.
With an all-round development over the previous years. Chongqing was listed by the State Council as one of the top cities boasting myriad tourist attractions. And now, Chongqing is chosen once again by the history.
Ever since the move of the State Council being approved on March 14, 1997 by the fifth session of the Eighth National People's Congress, Chongqing has become the fourth municipality directly under the Central Government, together with Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjing. As the largest city of China, Chongqing covers an area of 82,400 square kilometres with a population of 3002 million. Belonging originally to Sichuan Province, Wanxian municipality, Fuling Municipality and Qianjiang District are now under Chongqing's jurisdiction. A great part of the Three Gorges appear now in the territory of Chongqing. So, apart from many historical relics and tourist attractions, such as the Ghost City of Fengdu, Stone Treasure Block, The Zhang Fei Temple and White Emperor City, the 6,000 meter long dam area adds much lustre to Chongqing. Besides, there are many other invaluable relics, such as a fossil of caveman two million years old unearthed at Longping Village in Wushan County, a Palaeolithic site excavated recently at Yandengbo in Fengdu, a Warring- States-Period site located at Xiaotianxi in Zhecheng, a Han dynasty grave ground situated at Weinan in Fengdu County and a national-grade underwater forest of stone tablets situated in Baiheliang, provide valuable information for a study of the material life and social nature of this place during the ancient times.
Owing to having become a municipality directly under the Central Government, Chongqing becomes young more and more. Once the reservoir begins to hold water after the accomplishment of the Three-Gorge Dam located in Shanduoping, Yichang, some of the historical relics, such as the White-Powdered Wall, the Staircase of Meng Liang and the Ancient Plank Road located at the entrance to Qutang Gorge, will be inundated completely. However, the Goddess Peak as well as other scenic spots in the Three Gorges area will not be changed at all. Furthermore, the fascinating view of the Three Gorges will continuously make tourists fail to tear themselves away. At the same time, with the establishment of the grand reservoir, a number of new scenic spots will appear one after the other in this area. Besides, many of the existing tourist attractions, such as the Shenlongxi ( Divine Dragon Stream); the golden trangle area of tourism in Fengjie; Wuxi and Wushan; the hilltop pastureland in Hongchiba nearby the Daning River; the limestone cave and icicle cave at Shuangxi; the Furongjiang River and the Hibiscus Cave in Fuling; the Heavenly Pit and the Earthly Slit in Fengjie, will take on a new look to attract more tourists.
¡° One day I'Il skim the wave, blown by the wind, With sails hoisted high, across the vast ocean.¡±
Just as what Li Bai, a great poet of the Tang Dynasty (701-762), had expressed in his famous poem ¡° Travelling Is Hard¡±, Chongqing, a metropolis, old yet young, has met now with a golden opportunity to make a further development and, at the same time, is entrusted with an important historical mission. Diligent and intelligent by nature, growing up in the fertile land of Ba and Yu, and struggling always in the spirit of Yangtze--their mother river, the people of Chonhqing now to strive their utmost to fulfill the entrusted historical mission in this great turn of a new century.
