Chongqing Travel Guide

Chongqing is a port city with the largest municipal area and population in China. It is situated in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River at the confluence of the Yangtze and Jialing Rivers in southwest China. With an area of 82,400 square kilometers （31, 800 square miles）, Chongqing shares borders with the provinces of Hubei, Hunan, Guizhou, Sichuan, and Shaanxi. Besides the Han who form the majority of its total population of 30.9 million, numerous ethnic groups reside in Chongqing, including Yi, Tibetan, Miao, Qiang, You and Tujia.
　　Since its founding 3,000 years ago, Chongqing has been called Jiangzhou, Yuzhou, and Gongzhou, before getting its present name nearly 800 years ago. Since the Qin Dynasty （221 BC-206 BC）, many dynasties have set up administrative institutions that have endowed the city with brilliant cultures. Perched beside the Yangtze, the "Golden River," Chongqing symbolizes Yangtze River civilizations and is the cradle of Bayu culture.
　　Today, Chongqing is a modern city, China's fourth municipality after Beijing, Shanghai, and Tianjin. Within its borders Chongqing encompasses a wealth of water reserves, mineral resources, dense forests, and abundant flora and fauna. The focal point of the unique Yangtze Three Gorges Dam, Chongqing is a tourist attraction as well as a commercial city.
　　Chongqing attracts visitors from home and abroad for its cultural heritage and other tourist attractions. The city is the starting point for the Yangtze River Cruise, which explores the stunning scenery of the Three Gorges. Other attractions include the Dazu Rock Carvings , valuable works of art carved during the Ninth Century, Gold Buddhist Mountain, a rich repository of diverse animals and plants; and Fishing Town, one of three ancient battlefields in China. Ancient Ci Qi Kou village lures tourists to linger in its streets to buy handicraft souvenirs.
　　Chongqing is famous for its hot Sichuan cuisine and world-famous hotpot dishes. Street vendors as well as restaurants feature exciting spicy delicacies for the adventurers.
　　Servicing western China, Chongqing provides convenient water, land, and air transportation. Hundreds of star-ranked hotels provide excellent facilities and services. Chongqing is ready to be the pilot in the Western China Development to usher in more investors and visitors.
　　Chongqing is located at the center of an ancient Bayu Area which is also the birthplace of Bayu Culture, a historical and cultural city in China with more than 3,000 years of history. About 20 to 30 thousand years ago, human beings had moved to the Chongqing area, thereby marking the start of Chongqing's long history.
　　Name Origin of Chongqing
　　Chongqing is located at the confluence of the Jialing and Yangtze Rivers and is nestled among the gently sloping surrounding mountains. Although the name of the city has changed several times including Jiangzhou, Ba Shire, Chuzhou, Yuzhou and Gongzhou, kingdoms, shires, prefectures and counties. Most names involved the name Ba because Chongqing was the center of the Ba Kingdom established by Ba ethnic groups and local aborigines who were conquered in the areas near the Yangtze, Wujiang and Jialing rivers. The Wendi Emperor of the Sui Dynasty （581-618） changed Chuzhou to Yuzhou and the mountainous city was called Yu for short for a long while. In the year of 1189, Song （960-1279） Guangzong was crowned as Gong King and the emperor of the whole country in succession. He gladly renamed Gongzhou to Chongqing meaning 'double gaiety'.
　　Ba Kingdom
　　Western Sichuan was called Ba Fang during the Xia Dynasty （21st - 16th century BC） and Ba Dian during the Shang Dynasty （16th - 11th century BC）. Ba Dian delivered a tribute to the Shang Court every year. Ba people did not accept oppression under the Shang and bravely joined the Zhou （11th century BC - 221BC） Army in a crusade against the last king of the Shang Dynasty. Shang was finally defeated and the Ba group was authorized to be Ba Kingdom, one of the seventy-one vassal states of the Western Zhou. Chongqing was approved to be its capital during the 11th Century BC.
　　The Ba Kingdom reached its heyday from the last years of the Spring and Autumn Period （770 BC - 476 BC） to late Warring States Period （476 BC - 221 BC）, during which it's bronze culture had reached its zenith. However, the fortification of Chongqing didn't start until 316 BC according to the annals of history. At that time, Ba and Shu rivaled each other and Ba asked for help from the Qin State. The Qin conquered the Shu Kingdom and spared Ba Kingdom, too. The general of the Qin troop, Zhang Yi, conducted major new construction projects. He was the first person in history to truly build the city including the impressive fortification of Chongqing. Until the year of 316 BC of the middle Warring State period, the Ba Kingdom had existed for 800 years.
　　Ba Culture
　　During the early Warring States Period, the Ba Kingdom moved from the upper reaches of Hanjiang River to Eastern Sichuan around the main stream of the Yangtze River. Bronze culture assimilated with local aboriginal Neolithic culture, forming the Ba Culture, and the origin of Bayu Culture. Chongqing is the epicenter of this culture.
　　Representatives of Bayu Culture
　　Bayu Dance is a kind of folk martial dance of ancient Bayu Area. Ba people were well known for their bravery and dash as well as being good at singing and dancing. It was said in ancient records that Ba troops always sang and danced while marching to their crusade against the Shang Dynasty. During the early Han Dynasty （206BC-220AD）, Bayu Dance was introduced to the imperial palace, becoming a royal court dance for appreciation, reception of envoys and guests and also official rites. This kind of dance gradually disappeared after the Tang Dynasty （618-907）, and yet it was still popular among common people.
　　Folk songs of Ba people were also famous not only in local areas but also in the neighboring Chu State in ancient times. Chongqing people still sing of their lovely mountains and rivers. Work songs of boatmen are a part of the colorful folk culture of Chongqing.
　　Bayu dance and songs are considered to be the most important elements of Bayu Culture. Additionally, Ba people brewed their own fine wine, had their own burial ceremonies （boat coffin, hanging coffin and other kinds of burials）. They had symbolized character, totems, bronze sculptures, fascinating legends and myths. These are all symbols of Bayu Culture.
　　Chongqing as a capital In its some 3,000 years history, Chongqing had been a capital city three times.
　　Capital of Ba Kingdom: in 1066BC of the Zhou Dynasty. Capital of Xia Kingdom: In 1363, the general Ming Yuzhen of peasant rebel army cleaned up the power of the Yuan Court in Sichuan and proclaimed himself emperor of the Xia Kingdom. Secondary capital of the Republic of China: In 1937 when the Sino-Japanese War erupted, the National Government moved to Chongqing later and made Chongqing as the assistant capital.