Introduction
Municipality in Southwestern China
For other uses, see Chongqing (disambiguation).
Municipality in ChinaChongqing
重庆ChungkingMunicipalityYuzhong DistrictChongqing Art MuseumLiziba StationJiefangbei CBDChongqing People's AuditoriumQutang GorgeHuguang Guild HallLocation of Chongqing Municipality within ChinaInteractive map of ChongqingCoordinates (Chongqing municipal government): 29°33′49″N 106°33′01″E / 29.5637°N 106.5504°E / 29.5637; 106.5504CountryChinaSettledc. 316 BCSeparated from Sichuan14 March 1997Municipal seatYuzhong DistrictDivisions - County-level - Township-level25 districts, 12 countiesGovernment • TypeMunicipality • BodyChongqing Municipal People's Congress • Party SecretaryYuan Jiajun • Congress ChairpersonWang Jiong • MayorVacant • Municipal CPPCC ChairpersonCheng Lihua • National People's Congress Representation58 deputiesArea • Municipality82,403 km2 (31,816 sq mi) • Rank26th • Built up area5,472.8 km2 (2,113.1 sq mi)Elevation244 m (801 ft)Highest elevation (Yintiao Ling [zh])2,797 m (9,177 ft)Population (2020 census (total), 2018 (otherwise)) • Municipality32,054,159 • Rank19th • Density388.99/km2 (1,007.5/sq mi) • Urban22,251,500 • Built up area9,580,770 • Built up area density1,750.6/km2 (4,534.1/sq mi)GDP(2025) • MunicipalityCN¥ 3,376 billion (17th)US$ 484.6 billion • Per capitaCN¥ 105,315 (10th) US$ 15,118Time zoneUTC+8 (CST)Postal codes4000 00 – 4099 00Area code23ISO 3166 codeCN-CQ – Growth 2.6%Vehicle registration渝A, 渝D (Yuzhong, Jiangbei, Jiulongpo, Dadukou)渝B (Nan'an, Shapingba, Beibei, Wansheng, Shuangqiao, Yubei, Banan, Changshou)渝C (Yongchuan, Hechuan, Jiangjin, Qijiang, Tongnan, Tongliang, Dazu, Rongchang, Bishan)渝F (Wanzhou, Liangping, Chengkou, Wushan, Wuxi, Zhongxian, Kaizhou, Fengjie, Yunyang)渝G (Fuling, Nanchuan, Dianjiang, Fengdu, Wulong)渝H (Qianjiang, Shizhu, Xiushan, Youyang, Pengshui)ClimateCfaHDI (2023)0.804 (9th) – highAbbreviationCQ / 渝; YúWebsitewww.cq.gov.cn (in Chinese)English versionSymbolsFlowerCamellia japonicaTreeFicus lacor
Chongqing"Chongqing" in Simplified (top) and Traditional (bottom) Chinese charactersSimplified Chinese重庆Traditional Chinese重慶Hanyu PinyinChóngqìngⓘ
PostalChungkingLiteral meaning"Doubled Celebration"TranscriptionsStandard MandarinHanyu PinyinChóngqìngⓘBopomofoㄔㄨㄥˊ   ㄑㄧㄥˋGwoyeu RomatzyhChorngchinqWade–GilesChʻung2-chʻing4Tongyong PinyinChóngcìngYale RomanizationChúngChìngIPA[ʈʂʰʊ̌ŋ.tɕʰîŋ]other MandarinXiao'erjingچَوڭچٍڭSichuanese PinyinCong2qin4[tsʰoŋ˨˩ tɕʰin˨˩˦]WuRomanizationZon上-chin去HakkaRomanizationTshùng-khinYue: CantoneseYale RomanizationChùhnghingJyutpingCung4hing3IPA[tsʰʊŋ˩.hɪŋ˧]Southern MinHokkien POJTiông-khèngTâi-lôTiông-khìng
Chongqing is a provincial-level direct-administered municipality in Southwestern China. It is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of China and the only one located inland.
The municipality covers a large geographical area roughly the size of Austria, which includes several disjunct urban areas in addition to Chongqing proper. Due to its classification, the municipality of Chongqing is the largest city proper in the world by population, though it is not the most populous urban area.
The municipality of Chongqing is the only Chinese city with a resident population of over 30 million, but that number includes its large rural population. In 2020, Chongqing surpassed Shanghai as China's largest municipality by urban population and, as of 2024[update], it had an urban population of 23.01 million. The municipality contains 26 districts, eight counties, and four autonomous counties.
The city served as the wartime capital of the Republic of China (ROC) during the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945). On 14 March 1997, the current municipality was separated from the surrounding province of Sichuan, with the goal of furthering development in the central and western parts of the country.
Chongqing is one of China's national central cities. It is a connection in the Yangtze River Economic Belt and a base for the country's Belt and Road Initiative. Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport is the second-busiest airport in China, and is one of the top 50 busiest airports in the world. The city's monorail system is the world's longest and busiest, with 70 stations—the most of any system. It is the headquarters of Changan Automobile, one of the "Big Four" car manufacturers in China. As of 2023[update], the city hosts 12 foreign representations, the fifth-most in China, behind Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Chengdu. It is one of the top 35 cities globally by scientific research output, and the municipality is home to several notable universities, including Chongqing University, Southwest University, and Chongqing University of Posts and Telecommunications.
History
[edit]
Main article: History of Chongqing
Antiquity[edit]
The county was formerly the capital of the Wuzai Kingdom. During the Warring States Period, it was the gateway to the western border of the State of Chu, and its county territory belonged to the territory of Wu Commandery. In the thirtieth year of King Zhaoxiang of Qin (277 BC), Zhang Ruo, the governor of Qin Shu, attacked Chu and captured Wu Commandery. He also ordered Bai Qi to circle the territory of the State of Han, launch a surprise attack on the capital of the State of Chu, Ying (now Jiangling), and burn Yiling (now Yichang). After cutting off the rescue of Wu Commandery by the State of Chu, he seized Wu Commandery and the area south of the Yangtze River, establishing Qianzhong Commandery. Wu Commandery was under the jurisdiction of the county (with its administrative center in present-day Dachang Town) and belonged to the State of Qin. Later, it was transferred to the jurisdiction of Nan County. The county was named Wushan from then on.
Chongqing's location is historically associated with the State of Ba. It was named Jiangzhou (江州) by a Qin general Zhang Yi.
Imperial era[edit]
Jiangzhou subsequently remained under Qin Shi Huang's rule during the Qin dynasty, the successor of the Qin State, as well as the rule of Han dynasty emperors.
Jiangzhou was subsequently renamed during the Northern and Southern dynasties to Chu Prefecture (楚州), then again in 581 AD (Sui dynasty) to Yu Prefecture (渝州), and later in 1102 during Northern Song to Gong Prefecture (恭州). The name Yu however survives to this day as an abbreviation for Chongqing, as well as for the city's historic center, where the old town once stood; its name is Yuzhong (渝中, Central Yu). 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 celebration" (simplified Chinese: 双重喜庆; traditional Chinese: 雙重喜慶; pinyin: shuāngchóng xǐqìng, or chóngqìng in short). To mark the occasion of his enthronement, Yu Prefecture was therefore converted to Chongqing Fu.
In 1362 (during the Yuan dynasty), Ming Yuzhen, a peasant rebel leader, established the Daxia Kingdom (大夏) at Chongqing for a short time. In 1621 (during the Ming dynasty), another short-lived kingdom of Daliang (大梁) was established by She Chongming (奢崇明) with Chongqing as its capital. In 1644, after the fall of the Ming dynasty to a rebel army, Chongqing, together with the rest of Sichuan, was captured by Zhang Xianzhong, who was said to have massacred a large number of people in Sichuan and depopulated the province, in part by causing many people to flee to safety elsewhere. The Manchus later conquered the province, and during the Qing dynasty, immigration to Chongqing and Sichuan took place with the support of the Qing emperor.
In 1890, the British Consulate General was opened in Chongqing. The following year, the city became the first inland commerce port open to foreigners, with the proviso that foreign ships should not be at liberty to trade there until Chinese-owned steamers had succeeded in ascending the Yangtze river. This restriction was abolished by the Treaty of Shimonoseki in 1895, which declared the city open on the same terms as other ports, although it was not until 1907 that a steamship made the journey without the help of manual haulers. From 1896 to 1904, the American, German, French, and Japanese consulates were opened in Chongqing.
Provisional wartime capital of the Republic of China[edit]
See also: Bombing of Chongqing
A street scene in Chongqing, c. 1944
View of Chongqing, circa 1900–1930, showing the city's characteristic hillside urban landscape along the Yangtze River.
During and after the Second Sino-Japanese War, from November 1937 to May 1946, it was Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek's provisional capital. After the General and remaining army had lived there for a time following their retreat in 1938 from the previous capital of Wuhan, it was formally declared the second capital city [zh] (陪都; péidū; p'ei2-tu1) on 6 September 1940. After Britain, the United States, and other Allies entered the war in Asia in December 1941, one of the Allies' deputy commanders of operations in Southeast Asia (Southeast Asia Command SEAC), Joseph Stilwell, was based in the city.
Church buildings in Chongqing, 1941. The foreground structure is a Methodist Episcopal Mission church.
The city was also visited by Lord Louis Mountbatten, the Supreme Commander of SEAC which was itself headquartered in Sri Lanka. Chiang Kai Shek as Supreme Commander in China worked closely with Stilwell. From 1938 to 1943, the city suffered from continuous massive bombing campaigns of the Imperial Japanese Navy and Army Air Forces; battles of which were fought entirely by the Chinese Air Force squadrons and anti-aircraft artillery units. Many lives were saved by the air-raid shelters which took advantage of the mountainous terrain. Chongqing was acclaimed to be the "City of Heroes" due to the indomitable spirits of its people as well as their contributions and sacrifices during the war. Many factories and universities were relocated from eastern China and ultimately to Chongqing during years of setbacks in the war, transforming this city from an inland port to a heavily industrialized city.
Chinese Civil War[edit]
After World War II ended, Chongqing became one of the last refuges of the Nationalist Kuomintang government on the Chinese mainland during the Chinese Civil War. Following the Yangtze River Crossing campaign, the KMT capital of Nanjing was conquered by the Communists on 23 April. The KMT decamped first to Guangzhou, then Chongqing. Chongqing served as the KMT capital until late November 1949, when the Nationalist KMT government withdrew from the city by air.
Municipality status[edit]
A sunset view of Jiefangbei CBD and Hongya Cave, taken in 2017
On 14 March 1997, the Eighth National People's Congress decided to merge the sub-provincial city with adjacent Fuling, Wanxian, and Qianjiang prefectures that it had governed on behalf of the province since September 1996, and grant it independence from Sichuan. The resulting single entity became Chongqing Municipality,: 74  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 to 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.
On 8 February 2010, Chongqing became one of the nine National Central Cities, along with Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Wuhan, Xi'an, and Zhengzhou. According to Zhou Liqun, a consultant for the National Development and Reform Commission of China, Chongqing's status as a National Central City would encourage the development of Western China. Chongqing, which is located in central-western China, would complement the other National Central Cities, all of which are located along China's eastern coastline. The same year on 18 June, the Liangjiang New Area was established in Chongqing, which was the third state-level new area at the time of its establishment.
   Former Prefecture-Level City of Chongqing   Former Prefecture-Level City of Fuling   Former Prefecture-Level City of Wanxian   Former Prefecture of Qianjiang
  Districts composing the Main urban area of Chongqing city     Districts   Counties  Autonomous Counties
Geography
[edit]
Map including Chongqing (labeled as 重慶 CH'UNG-CH'ING (CHUNGKING)) (AMS, 1954)
Physical geography and topography[edit]
Topography of Chongqing
Chongqing is located in the subtropics, situated in the transitional area between the Sichuan Basin and the plain on the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze. Its climate features frequent monsoon conditions, often raining at night in late spring and early summer. The city's "night rain in the Ba Mountains" features in poems throughout Chinese history, including "Written on a Rainy Night—A Letter to the North" by Li Shangyin. Its territory is 470 kilometers (290 mi) from east to west at its longest, and 450 kilometers (280 mi) from north to south at its widest. It borders Hubei and Hunan to the east, Sichuan and Shaanxi to the north, and Guizhou to the south.
The Qutang Gorge on the Yangtze
Wulong Karst
Chongqing covers a large area crisscrossed by rivers and mountains. The Daba Mountains stand in the north, the Wu Gorge in the east, the Wuling Mountains in the southeast, and the Dalou Mountains in the south. The area slopes downward from north to south towards the Yangtze valley, and features a large massif of mountains and hills, with steep sloping areas at different heights. Karst landscape is common in this area, and stone forests, numerous collections of peaks, limestone caves and valleys can be found in many places. The Longshuixia Gap (Chinese: 龙水峡地缝), with its Three Natural Bridges, has made the region a popular tourist attraction. The Yangtze River runs through the whole area from west to east, covering a course of 665 kilometers (413 mi), cutting through the Wu Mountains at three places and forming the well-known Three Gorges: the Qutang, Wuxia and Xiling gorges. Coming from northwest and running through "the Jialing Lesser Three Gorges" of Libi, Wentang and Guanyin, the Jialing River joins the Yangtze in Chongqing.
Leaving at dawn the White Emperor crowned with cloud,
I've sailed a thousand li through canyons in a day.
With the monkeys' adieus the riverbanks are loud,
My skiff has left ten thousand mountains far away.
— Li Bai's Poem of Chongqing's Baidi Cheng
The central urban area of Chongqing, called Chongqing proper, is built on mountains and partially surrounded by the Yangtze and Jialing rivers. With its special topography, Chongqing's topography includes mountains, rivers, forests, springs, waterfalls, gorges, and caves. The Tang dynasty poet Li Bai was inspired by the natural scenery and wrote this epigram.
The Zhongliang (中梁山) and Tongluo (铜锣山) mountains roughly form the eastern and western boundaries of Chongqing's urban area. Several high mountains are situated outside central Chongqing, including the 1,709.4-meter (5,608 ft)-high Wugong Ling Mountain in Jiangjin.[citation needed]
Climate[edit]
In the spring and fall, downtown Chongqing is often enshrouded in fog.
Chongqing has a monsoonal humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cwa), bordering on a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa) and for most of the year experiences very high relative humidity, with all months above 75%. Known as one of the "Three Furnaces" of the Yangtze River, along with Wuhan and Nanjing, its summers are long and among the hottest and most humid in China, with highs of 34 °C (93 °F) in July and August in the urban area. Winters are short and somewhat mild, but damp and overcast. The city's location in the Sichuan Basin causes it to have one of the lowest annual sunshine totals nationally, at only 983 hours, lower than much of Northern Europe; the monthly percent possible sunshine in the city proper ranges from a mere 5% in January to 43% in August. Extremes since 1951 have ranged from −1.8 °C (29 °F) on 11 January 1955 to 43.7 °C (111 °F) on 18 and 19 August 2022
Chongqing, with over 100 days of fog per year, is known as the "Fog City" (Chinese: 雾都); this is because in the spring and fall, a thick layer of fog enshrouds it for 68 days per year. During the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945), this special weather possibly played a role in protecting the city from being overrun by the Imperial Japanese Army.
Climate data for Chongqing (Shapingba District), elevation 259 m (850 ft), (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1951–present)
Month
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Year
Record high °C (°F)
19.0(66.2)
27.6(81.7)
34.3(93.7)
36.5(97.7)
38.9(102.0)
39.8(103.6)
42.0(107.6)
43.7(110.7)
42.0(107.6)
37.4(99.3)
29.6(85.3)
21.5(70.7)
43.7(110.7)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F)
10.4(50.7)
13.6(56.5)
18.6(65.5)
23.9(75.0)
27.4(81.3)
29.8(85.6)
33.7(92.7)
33.9(93.0)
28.5(83.3)
22.0(71.6)
17.3(63.1)
11.7(53.1)
22.6(72.6)
Daily mean °C (°F)
8.1(46.6)
10.4(50.7)
14.5(58.1)
19.2(66.6)
22.6(72.7)
25.4(77.7)
28.9(84.0)
28.9(84.0)
24.4(75.9)
18.9(66.0)
14.5(58.1)
9.5(49.1)
18.8(65.8)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F)
6.4(43.5)
8.3(46.9)
11.7(53.1)
16.0(60.8)
19.4(66.9)
22.4(72.3)
25.4(77.7)
25.3(77.5)
21.5(70.7)
16.8(62.2)
12.5(54.5)
8.0(46.4)
16.1(61.0)
Record low °C (°F)
−1.8(28.8)
−0.8(30.6)
1.2(34.2)
2.8(37.0)
10.8(51.4)
15.5(59.9)
19.2(66.6)
17.8(64.0)
14.3(57.7)
6.9(44.4)
0.7(33.3)
−1.7(28.9)
−1.8(28.8)
Average precipitation mm (inches)
20.7(0.81)
22.4(0.88)
55.6(2.19)
103.4(4.07)
142.5(5.61)
212.1(8.35)
174.2(6.86)
125.7(4.95)
124.7(4.91)
95.3(3.75)
50.4(1.98)
24.7(0.97)
1,151.7(45.33)
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm)
10.0
8.9
11.5
13.6
16.0
16.0
11.3
11.5
12.6
15.8
11.3
10.6
149.1
Average snowy days
0.2
0.1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0.1
0.4
Average relative humidity (%)
82
78
75
75
76
79
73
70
77
84
83
84
78
Mean monthly sunshine hours
16.6
32.9
72.8
105.8
109.7
98.7
169.3
175.2
102.6
46.6
35.0
18.0
983.2
Percentage possible sunshine
5
10
19
27
26
24
40
43
28
13
11
6
21
Average ultraviolet index
4
6
8
10
11
12
12
11
10
7
5
4
8
Source 1: China Meteorological Administration
Source 2: Weather Atlas (uv)
Climate data for Chongqing (Yubei District), elevation 465 m (1,526 ft), (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1981–present)
Month
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Year
Record high °C (°F)
18.4(65.1)
23.7(74.7)
32.3(90.1)
34.1(93.4)
36.1(97.0)
35.6(96.1)
38.7(101.7)
41.9(107.4)
40.9(105.6)
33.1(91.6)
27.7(81.9)
17.9(64.2)
41.9(107.4)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F)
8.9(48.0)
12.0(53.6)
16.9(62.4)
22.2(72.0)
25.6(78.1)
28.0(82.4)
32.0(89.6)
32.3(90.1)
27.0(80.6)
20.6(69.1)
16.0(60.8)
10.2(50.4)
21.0(69.8)
Daily mean °C (°F)
6.7(44.1)
9.0(48.2)
13.2(55.8)
18.0(64.4)
21.4(70.5)
24.1(75.4)
27.6(81.7)
27.6(81.7)
23.1(73.6)
17.7(63.9)
13.2(55.8)
8.0(46.4)
17.5(63.5)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F)
5.1(41.2)
7.1(44.8)
10.6(51.1)
15.0(59.0)
18.4(65.1)
21.3(70.3)
24.2(75.6)
24.1(75.4)
20.4(68.7)
15.7(60.3)
11.4(52.5)
6.5(43.7)
15.0(59.0)
Record low °C (°F)
−7.4(18.7)
0.2(32.4)
0.0(32.0)
4.9(40.8)
9.6(49.3)
14.0(57.2)
18.2(64.8)
17.4(63.3)
13.2(55.8)
6.2(43.2)
2.6(36.7)
−2.8(27.0)
−7.4(18.7)
Average precipitation mm (inches)
19.6(0.77)
22.6(0.89)
55.2(2.17)
101.2(3.98)
154.8(6.09)
205.6(8.09)
167.4(6.59)
130.9(5.15)
129.3(5.09)
104.8(4.13)
52.4(2.06)
24.4(0.96)
1,168.2(45.97)
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm)
9.9
9.4
12.0
14.1
16.5
16.2
12.3
10.9
13.0
16.7
11.9
11.2
154.1
Average snowy days
1.0
0.4
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0.2
1.6
Average relative humidity (%)
83
79
75
76
82
75
72
79
85
84
85
79
80
Mean monthly sunshine hours
35.9
45.5
85.8
116.9
126
112
195.8
208.4
127.7
70.4
59.4
34.9
1,218.7
Percentage possible sunshine
11
14
23
30
30
27
46
51
35
20
19
11
26
Source: China Meteorological Administrationall-time extreme temperatureall-time January high
Climate data for NE Chongqing (Wushan County), elevation 276 m (906 ft), (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1981–2010)
Month
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Year
Record high °C (°F)
21.8(71.2)
27.5(81.5)
34.3(93.7)
37.5(99.5)
40.8(105.4)
41.9(107.4)
42.1(107.8)
42.8(109.0)
42.2(108.0)
35.5(95.9)
26.4(79.5)
20.7(69.3)
42.8(109.0)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F)
10.9(51.6)
13.6(56.5)
18.6(65.5)
24.3(75.7)
27.9(82.2)
31.3(88.3)
34.1(93.4)
34.3(93.7)
29.7(85.5)
23.6(74.5)
18.3(64.9)
12.4(54.3)
23.2(73.8)
Daily mean °C (°F)
7.5(45.5)
9.7(49.5)
13.6(56.5)
18.8(65.8)
22.5(72.5)
26(79)
28.6(83.5)
28.5(83.3)
24.6(76.3)
19.1(66.4)
14.3(57.7)
9.2(48.6)
18.5(65.4)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F)
5.0(41.0)
7.0(44.6)
10.0(50.0)
14.8(58.6)
18.7(65.7)
22.2(72.0)
24.7(76.5)
24.5(76.1)
21.1(70.0)
16.1(61.0)
11.5(52.7)
6.9(44.4)
15.2(59.4)
Record low °C (°F)
−2.1(28.2)
−0.2(31.6)
1.6(34.9)
3.4(38.1)
11.4(52.5)
15.5(59.9)
18.6(65.5)
17.2(63.0)
13.1(55.6)
5.8(42.4)
3.1(37.6)
−3.4(25.9)
−3.4(25.9)
Average precipitation mm (inches)
10.9(0.43)
24.9(0.98)
42.6(1.68)
87.5(3.44)
142.2(5.60)
143.4(5.65)
166.7(6.56)
132.4(5.21)
108(4.3)
86.2(3.39)
46.9(1.85)
14.9(0.59)
1,006.6(39.68)
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm)
5.4
6.4
10.3
13.4
14.4
12.9
13.0
11.0
10.7
12.3
9.1
6.9
125.8
Average snowy days
1.5
0.5
0.2
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0.3
2.5
Average relative humidity (%)
65
63
63
66
70
71
71
67
68
72
71
69
68
Mean monthly sunshine hours
74.1
71.9
111.9
133.7
144.4
156.7
194.1
202.6
147.8
117.1
101.7
76.5
1,532.5
Percentage possible sunshine
23
23
30
34
34
37
45
50
40
34
32
24
34
Source: China Meteorological Administration
Cityscape
[edit]
Jiangbeizui CBD from above, taken in 2018
Chaotianmen Bridge connects Jiangbei District with Nan'an District of Chongqing, taken in 2018.
Jiefangbei (解放碑; 'People's Liberation Monument') is a World War II victory monument.
Raffles City Chongqing, sitting in the confluence of Yangtze and Jialing River
Raffles City Chongqing at Night
Politics
[edit]
Main article: Politics of Chongqing
See also: List of provincial leaders of the People's Republic of China
The Great Hall of the People serves as the venue for major political conferences in Chongqing.
Since 1997, Chongqing has been a direct-controlled municipality in the Chinese administrative structure, making it a provincial-level division with commensurate political importance. The municipality's leader is Secretary of the Municipal Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, which, since 2007, has also held a seat on the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party, the country's second highest governing council. Under the USSR-inspired nomenklatura system of appointments, individuals are appointed to the position by the central leadership of the CCP and bestowed with an official position based on seniority and adherence to party orthodoxy, usually given to an individual with prior regional experience elsewhere in China and nearly never a native of Chongqing. Notable individuals who have held the municipal Party Secretary position include He Guoqiang, Wang Yang, Bo Xilai, Zhang Dejiang, and Sun Zhengcai, the latter three were Politburo members during their term as party chief. The party chief heads the municipal party standing committee, the de facto top governing council of the municipality. The standing committee is typically composed of 13 individuals, which includes the party chiefs of important subdivisions and other leading figures in the local party and government organization, as well as one military representative.
The municipal People's Government serves as the day-to-day administrative authority, and is headed by the mayor, who is assisted by numerous vice mayors and mayoral assistants. Each vice mayor is given jurisdiction over specific municipal departments. The mayor is the second-highest-ranking official in the municipality. The mayor usually represents the city when foreign guests visit.
The municipality also has a Municipal People's Congress, theoretically elected by lower level People's Congresses. The People's Congress nominally appoints the mayor and approves the nominations of other government officials. The People's Congress, like those of other provincial jurisdictions, is generally seen as a symbolic body. It convenes in full once a year to approve party-sponsored resolutions and local regulations and duly confirm party-approved appointments. On occasion, the People's Congress can be a venue of discussion on municipal issues, although this is dependent on the actions of individual delegates. The municipal People's Congress is headed by a former municipal official, usually in their late fifties or sixties, with a lengthy prior political career in Chongqing. The municipal Political Consultative Conference (zhengxie) meets at around the same time as the People's Congress. Its role is to advise on political issues. The zhengxie is headed by a leader who is typically a former municipal or regional official with a lengthy career in the party and government bureaucracy.
Military[edit]
Chongqing was the wartime capital of China during the Second Sino-Japanese War (i.e., World War II), and from 1937 to 1945, the seat of administration for the Republic of China's government before its departure to Nanjing and then Taiwan. After the eventual defeat at the Battle of Wuhan, General Chiang Kai-shek and the army were forced to use it as their base of resistance from 1938 onwards. It also contains a military museum named after the Chinese Korean War hero Qiu Shaoyun.
Chongqing used to be the headquarters of the 13th Group Army of the People's Liberation Army, one of the two group armies that formerly comprised the Chengdu Military Region, which was reorganized into the Western Theater Command in 2016.
Administrative divisions[edit]
For a more comprehensive list, see List of administrative divisions of Chongqing and List of township-level divisions of Chongqing.
Chongqing is the largest of the four direct-controlled municipalities of the People's Republic of China. The municipality is divided into 37 subdivisions (3 were abolished in 1997. Wansheng and Shuangqiao districts were abolished in October 2011. Jiangbei and Yubei districts were abolished in November 2025 along with the establishment of the formal Liangjiang New Area), consisting of 25 districts, 8 counties, and 4 autonomous counties. 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 its administrative area, which spans over 80,000 square kilometers (30,900 sq mi), is rural. At the end of 2018, the total population was 31.02 million. As of 2022, Chongqing is the largest Chinese city by urban population, with a population of 22.80 million.
Administrative divisions of Chongqing
Wanzhou
Fuling
1
Yuzhong
2
Dadukou
3
Jiangbei
4
Shapingba
5
Jiulongpo
6
Nan'an
Beibei
Qijiang
Dazu
Yubei
Yubei
Banan
Banan
Qianjiang
Changshou
Jiangjin
Hechuan
Yongchuan
Nanchuan
Bishan
Tongliang
Tongnan
Rongchang
Kaizhou
Liangping
Wulong
ChengkouCounty
FengduCounty
DianjiangCounty
ZhongCounty
YunyangCounty
FengjieCounty
WushanCounty
WuxiCounty
ShizhuCounty
XiushanCounty
YouyangCounty
PengshuiCounty
1. Yuzhong
2. Dadukou
3. Jiangbei
4. Shapingba
5. Jiulongpo
6. Nan'an
Division code
Division
Area in km2
Total population 2010
Urban areapopulation 2010
Seat
Postal code
Subdivisions
Subdistricts
Towns
Townships
Ethnic townships
Residential communities
Villages
500000
Chongqing
82403
28,846,170
15295803
Yuzhong
400000
181
567
233
14
2324
5235
500101
Wanzhou
3457
1,563,050
859,662
Chenjiaba Subdistrict
404000
11
29
10
2
187
448
500102
Fuling
2946
1,066,714
595,224
Lizhi Subdistrict
408000
8
12
6
108
310
500103
Yuzhong
23
630,090
Qixinggang Subdistrict
400000
12
78
500104
Dadukou
102
301,042
280,512
Xinshancun Subdistrict
400000
5
2
48
32
500106
Shapingba
396
1,000,013
900,568
Qinjiagang Subdistrict
400000
18
8
140
86
500107
Jiulongpo
431
1,084,419
939,349
Yangjiaping Subdistrict
400000
7
11
107
105
500108
Nan'an
263
759,570
683,717
Tianwen Subdistrict
400000
7
7
85
61
500109
Beibei
754
680,360
501,822
Beiwenquan Subdistrict
400700
5
12
63
117
500110
Qijiang
2747
1,056,817
513,935
Gunan Subdistrict
400800
5
25
99
365
500111
Dazu
1433
721,359
315,183
Tangxiang Subdistrict
400900
3
24
103
197
500113
Banan
1834
918,692
669,269
Longzhouwan Subdistrict
401300
8
14
87
198
500114
Qianjiang
2397
445,012
173,997
Chengxi Subdistrict
409700
6
12
12
80
138
500115
Changshou
1423
770,009
408,261
Fengcheng Subdistrict
401200
4
14
31
223
500116
Jiangjin
3200
1,233,149
686,189
Jijiang Subdistrict
402200
4
24
85
180
500117
Hechuan
2356
1,293,028
721,753
Nanjin Street Subdistrict
401500
7
23
61
327
500118
Yongchuan
1576
1,024,708
582,769
Zhongshan Road Subdistrict
402100
7
16
52
208
500119
Nanchuan
2602
534,329
255,045
Dongcheng Subdistrict
408400
3
15
15
58
185
500120
Bishan
912
586,034
246,425
Bicheng Subdistrict
402700
6
9
43
142
500151
Tongliang
1342
600,086
248,962
Bachuan Subdistrict
402500
3
25
57
269
500152
Tongnan
1585
639,985
247,084
Guilin Subdistrict
402600
2
20
21
281
500153
Rongchang
1079
661,253
271,232
Changyuan Subdistrict
402400
6
15
75
92
500154
Kaizhou
3959
1,160,336
416,415
Hanfeng Subdistrict
405400
7
26
7
78
435
500155
Liangping
1890
687,525
235,753
Liangshan Subdistrict
405200
2
26
7
33
310
500156
Wulong
2872
351,038
115,823
Gangkou town
408500
12
10
4
24
184
500157
Liangjiang
1360
3,500,000 (Year 2025)
Jinshan Subdistrict
31
11
500229
Chengkou Co.
3286
192,967
49,039
Gecheng Subdistrict
405900
2
6
17
22
184
500230
Fengdu Co.
2896
649,182
224,003
Sanhe Subdistrict
408200
2
23
5
53
277
500231
Dianjiang Co.
1518
704,458
241,424
Guixi Subdistrict
408300
2
23
2
62
236
500233
Zhong Co.
2184
751,424
247,406
Zhongzhou town
404300
22
5
1
49
317
500235
Yunyang Co.
3634
912,912
293,636
Shuangjiang Subdistrict
404500
4
22
15
1
87
391
500236
Fengjie Co.
4087
834,259
269,302
Yong'an town
404600
19
8
4
54
332
500237
Wushan Co.
2958
495,072
148,597
Gaotang Subdistrict
404700
11
12
2
30
308
500238
Wuxi Co.
4030
414,073
105,111
Baichang Subdistrict
405800
2
15
16
38
292
500240
Shizhu Co.
3013
415,050
134,173
Nanbin town
409100
17
15
29
213
500241
Xiushan Co.
2450
501,590
150,566
Zhonghe Subdistrict
409900
14
18
59
208
500242
Youyang Co.
5173
578,058
137,635
Taohuayuan town
409800
15
23
8
270
500243
Pengshui Co.
3903
545,094
137,409
Hanjia Subdistrict
409600
11
28
55
241
Divisions in Chinese and varieties of romanizations
English
Chinese
Hanyu Pinyin
Sichuanese Pinyin
Chongqing Municipality
重庆市
Chóngqìng Shì
cong2 qin4 si4
Wanzhou District
万州区
Wànzhōu Qū
wan4 zou2 qu1
Fuling District
涪陵区
Fúlíng Qū
Yuzhong District
渝中区
Yúzhōng Qū
yu2 zong1 qu1
Dadukou District
大渡口区
Dàdùkǒu Qū
da4 du4 kou3 qu1
Jiangbei District
江北区
Jiāngběi Qū
jiang1 be2 qu1
Shapingba District
沙坪坝区
Shāpíngbà Qū
sa1 pin2 ba4 qu1
Jiulongpo District
九龙坡区
Jiǔlóngpō Qū
Nan'an District
南岸区
Nán'àn Qū
lan2 ngan4 qu1
Beibei District
北碚区
Běibèi Qū
Qijiang District
綦江区
Qíjiāng Qū
Dazu District
大足区
Dàzú Qū
Yubei District
渝北区
Yúběi Qū
yu2 be2 qu1
Banan District
巴南区
Bānán Qū
ba1 lan2 qu1
Qianjiang District
黔江区
Qiánjiāng Qū
Changshou District
长寿区
Chángshòu Qū
Jiangjin District
江津区
Jiāngjīn Qū
jiang1 jin1 qu1
Hechuan District
合川区
Héchuān Qū
ho2 cuan1 qu1
Yongchuan District
永川区
Yǒngchuān Qū
yun3 cuan1 qu1
Nanchuan District
南川区
Nánchuān Qū
lan2 cuan1 qu1
Bishan District
璧山区
Bìshān Qū
Tongliang District
铜梁区
Tóngliáng Qū
Tongnan District
潼南区
Tóngnán Qū
Rongchang District
荣昌区
Róngchāng Qū
Kaizhou District
开州区
Kāizhōu Qū
kai1 zou1 qu1
Liangping District
梁平区
Liángpíng Qū
Wulong District
武隆区
Wǔlóng Qū
wu3 nong2 qu1
Liangjiang New Area
两江新区
Liǎngjiāng Xīnqū
Chengkou County
城口县
Chéngkǒu Xiàn
cen2 kou3 xian3
Fengdu County
丰都县
Fēngdū Xiàn
Dianjiang County
垫江县
Diànjiāng Xiàn
Zhong County
忠县
Zhōngxiàn
zong1 xian3
Yunyang County
云阳县
Yúnyáng Xiàn
yun2 yang2 xian3
Fengjie County
奉节县
Fèngjié Xiàn
Wushan County
巫山县
Wūshān Xiàn
Wuxi County
巫溪县
Wūxī Xiàn
Shizhu Tujia Autonomous County
石柱土家族自治县
Shízhù Tǔjiāzú Zìzhìxiàn
Xiushan Tujia and Miao Autonomous County
秀山土家族苗族自治县
Xiùshān Tǔjiāzú Miáozú Zìzhìxiàn
Youyang Tujia and Miao Autonomous County
酉阳土家族苗族自治县
Yǒuyáng Tǔjiāzú Miáozú Zìzhìxiàn
Pengshui Miao and Tujia Autonomous County
彭水苗族土家族自治县
Péngshuǐ Miáozú Tǔjiāzú Zìzhìxiàn
^ Including other township related subdivisions.
Population by urban areas of districts
#
City
Urban area
District area
Census date
1
Chongqing
6,263,790
7,457,599
2010-11-01
2
Wanzhou
859,662
1,563,050
2010-11-01
3
Hechuan
721,753
1,293,028
2010-11-01
4
Jiangjin
686,189
1,233,149
2010-11-01
5
Fuling
595,224
1,066,714
2010-11-01
6
Yongchuan
582,769
1,024,708
2010-11-01
7
Qijiang
513,935
1,056,817
2010-11-01
(8)
Kaizhou
416,415
1,160,336
2010-11-01
9
Changshou
408,261
770,009
2010-11-01
10
Dazu
315,183
721,359
2010-11-01
(11)
Rongchang
271,232
661,253
2010-11-01
12
Nanchuan
255,045
534,329
2010-11-01
(13)
Tongliang
248,962
600,086
2010-11-01
(14)
Tongnan
247,084
639,985
2010-11-01
(15)
Bishan
246,425
586,034
2010-11-01
(16)
Liangping
235,753
687,525
2010-11-01
17
Qianjiang
173,997
445,012
2010-11-01
(18)
Wulong
115,823
351,038
2010-11-01
(19)
Liangjiang
^ Chongqing core districts are consist of nine districts: Yuzhong, Dadukou, Jiangbei, Shapingba, Jiulongpo, Nan'an, Beibei, Yubei, & Banan.
^ Wansheng District & Qijiang County currently known as Qijiang District after census.
^ Kaizhou County is currently known as Kaizhou District after census.
^ Shuangqiao District & Dazu County currently known as Dazu District after census.
^ Rongchang County is currently known as Rongchang District after census.
^ Tongliang County is currently known as Tongliang District after census.
^ Tongnan County is currently known as Tongnan District after census.
^ Bishan County is currently known as Bishan District after census.
^ Liangping County is currently known as Liangping District after census.
^ Wulong County is currently known as Wulong District after census.
^ Established on 5 May 2010 as a state-level new area. Became a formal district on 6 November 2025.
Districts
Pinyin name
Previousassociationa
Banan
Chongqing
Beibei
Bishan
Changshou
Dadukou
Dazu
Fuling
Fuling
Hechuan
Chongqing
Jiangjin
Jiulongpo
Kaizhou
Wanxian
Liangjiang
Chongqing
Liangping
Wanxian
Nan'an
Chongqing
Nanchuan
Fuling
Qianjiang
Qianjiang
Shapingba
Chongqing
Tongliang
Tongnan
Qijiang
Rongchang
Wanzhou
Wanxian
Wulong
Fuling
Yongchuan
Chongqing
Yuzhong
Counties
Pinyin name
Previousassociationa
Chengkou
Wanxian
Dianjiang
Fuling
Fengdu
Fengjie
Wanxian
Wushan
Wuxi
Yunyang
Zhong
Autonomous counties
Pinyin name
Previousassociationa
Pengshui
Qianjiang
Shizhu
Xiushan
Youyang
 
a Indicates with which district the division was associated below prior to the merging of Chongqing, Fuling, Wanxian (now Wanzhou) and Qianjiang in 1997.
Central Chongqing[edit]
Jiefangbei CBD, Yuzhong Peninsula of Chongqing at dusk
The main urban area of Chongqing city (重庆主城区) spans approximately 5,473 square kilometers (2,113 sq mi), and includes the following nine districts:
Yuzhong District (渝中区, literally "Central Chongqing District"), the central and most densely populated district, where government and international business offices and the city's best shopping are located in the district's Jiefangbei CBD area. Yuzhong is located on the peninsula surrounded by Eling Hill, Yangtze River and Jialing River.
Abolished Jiangbei District (江北区, literally "North of the River District"), located to the north of Jialing River.
Shapingba District (沙坪坝区), roughly located between Jialing River and Zhongliang Mountain.
Jiulongpo District (九龙坡区), roughly located between Yangtze River and Zhongliang Mountain.
Nan'an District (南岸区, literally "Southern Bank District"), located on the south side of Yangtze River.
Dadukou District (大渡口区)
Banan District (巴南区, literally "Southern of Ba District"). Previously called Ba County, and changed to the current name in 1994.
Abolished Yubei District (渝北区, or "Northern Chongqing District"). Previously called Jiangbei County, and changed into the current name in 1994.
Beibei District (北碚区), a satellite district northwest of Chongqing.
Liangjiang New Area (两江新区, literally "Two Rivers New Area"), a state-level new area established on 5 May 2010. It became a formal district on 6 November 2025, consisting of the former Jiangbei District, part of the former Yubei District, and part of Beibei District.
Demographics
[edit]
Population[edit]
Jiefangbei (People's Liberation Monument), the landmark and center of Chongqing
Historical populationYearPop.±%19491,003,000—    19796,301,000+528.2%198313,890,000+120.4%199615,297,000+10.1%1997*28,753,000+88.0%200028,488,200−0.9%200527,980,000−1.8%200828,390,000+1.5%201228,846,170+1.6%201329,700,000+3.0%201429,914,000+0.7%201530,170,000+0.9%*Population size in 1997 was affected by expansion of administrative divisions.
According to the 2020 national census, Chongqing has a population of 32,054,159, accounting for around 2.27% of the national total. This makes it the most populous city proper in the world. As of 2010[update], the metropolitan area encompassing the central urban area was estimated by the OECD to have, a population of 17 million.
In 2020, Chongqing surpassed Shanghai as China's largest municipality by urban population. As of 2021[update], 70.4% of Chongqing's population is estimated to be urban, and 29.6% rural. As of 2024[update], Chongqing had an urban population of 23.01 million.
The Census also lists the male percentage as 50.55% and the female percentage as 49.55%. In terms of age distribution, of the total population, 15.91% were age 0–14, 62.22% were 15–64, and 21.87% were 65 and over. Of the population's highest education level achieved, 15.41% were college, 15.96% were high school, 30.58% were middle school, and 29.89% were elementary school.
Religion[edit]
See also: Christianity in Sichuan, Islam in Sichuan, and Zoroastrianism in Sichuan
Religion in Chongqing
Chinese ancestral religion (26.6%)
Christianity (1.05%)
Other or no religion (72.3%)
The predominant religions in Chongqing are Chinese folk religions, Taoist traditions and Chinese Buddhism. According to surveys conducted in 2007 and 2009, 26.63% of the population practices Chinese ancestral religion, while 1.05% of the population identifies as Christian.
The reports did not give figures for other types of religion; 72.32% of the population may be either irreligious or involved in worship of nature deities, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, or folk religious sects.
In 2010, there were 9,056 Muslims in Chongqing.
The Jade Emperor at the Fengdu Ghost CityBuddhist temple in Jiulongpo
Economy
[edit]
Main article: Economy of Chongqing
Chongqing was a major recipient of China's investment in industrial capacity during the Third Front campaign.: 298 
There has been a massive government push to transform Chongqing into the region's economic, trade, and financial center and use the municipality as a platform to open up the country's western interior to further development. Chongqing is facing rapid urbanization. For instance, statistics suggest that new construction added approximately 137,000 square meters (1,470,000 sq ft) daily of usable floor space to satisfy demands for residential, commercial and factory space. Thus, Chongqing was separated from Sichuan province and made into a municipality in its own right on 14 March 1997 in order to accelerate its development and subsequently China's relatively poorer western areas (see China Western Development strategy). By the 2000s the city had become an important industrial area in western China.
As of 2022[update], Chongqing's nominal GDP was US$433 billion (CN¥ 2.91 trilion), about 2.41% of the country's GDP and ranked 16th among province-level administrative units; the municipality's primary, secondary and tertiary industries were worth CN¥201.21 billion (US$29.92 billion), CN¥1.169 trillion (US$173.86 billion) and CN¥1.542 trillion (US$229.3 billion) respectively. Its nominal GDP per capita was US$13,479 (CN¥90,663) and ranked 10th in the country.
Chongqing has been identified by the Economist Intelligence Unit in the November 2010 Access China White Paper as a member of the CHAMPS (Chongqing, Hefei, Anshan, Maanshan, Pingdingshan and Shenyang), an economic profile of the top 20 emerging cities in China.
Traditionally, due to its geographic inaccessibility, Chongqing and Sichuan have both been important military bases in weapons research and development. Even though Chongqing's industries are diversified, unlike eastern China, its export sector is small due to its relatively disadvantageous inland location. Instead, factories producing local-oriented consumer goods such as processed food, cars, chemicals, textiles, machinery, sports equipment and electronics are common.
Chongqing is China's third largest motor vehicle production center and the largest for motorcycles. In 2007, it had an annual output capacity of 1 million cars and 8.6 million motorcycles. Leading makers of cars and motorbikes includes China's fourth biggest automaker; Changan Automotive Corp and Lifan Hongda Enterprise, as well as Ford Motor Company, with the US car giant having 3 plants in Chongqing. The municipality is also one of China's nine largest iron and steel producers in China as well as one of its three major aluminum producers. Important manufacturers include Chongqing Iron and Steel Company (重庆钢铁股份有限公司) and Southwest Aluminum (西南鋁業), which is Asia's largest aluminum plant.
Agriculture remains significant. Rice and fruits, especially oranges, are the area's main produce.
Natural resources are also abundant with large deposits of coal, natural gas, and more than 40 kinds of minerals such as strontium and manganese. Coal reserves total approximately 4,800,000,000 metric tons (4.7×109 long tons; 5.3×109 short tons). Chuandong Natural Gas Field is China's largest inland gas field with deposits of around 270 billion m3 – more than 1/5 of China's total. Has China's largest reserve of strontium (China has the world's 2nd biggest strontium deposit). Manganese is mined in the Xiushan area. Although the mining sector has been denounced as heavily polluting and unsafe. Chongqing is also planned to be the site of a 10 million ton capacity refinery operated by CNPC (parent company of PetroChina) to process imported crude oil from the Sino-Myanmar pipelines. The pipeline itself, though not yet finished, will eventually run from Sittwe (in Myanmar's western coast) through Kunming in Yunnan before reaching Chongqing and it will provide China with fuels sourced from Myanmar, the Middle East and Africa. Recently, there has been a drive to move up the value chain by shifting towards high technology and knowledge intensive industries resulting in new development zones such as the Chongqing New North Zone (CNNZ). Chongqing's local government is hoping through the promotion of favorable economic policies for the electronics and information technology sectors, that it can create a 400 billion RMB high technology manufacturing hub which will surpass its car industry and account for 25% of its exports.
The city has also invested heavily in infrastructure to attract investment. The network of roads and railways connecting Chongqing to the rest of China has been expanded and upgraded reducing logistical costs. Furthermore, the nearby Three Gorges Dam, which is the world's largest, supplies Chongqing with power and allows oceangoing ships to reach Chongqing's Yangtze River port. These infrastructure improvements have led to the arrivals of numerous foreign direct investors (FDI) in industries ranging from car to finance and retailing; such as Ford, Mazda, HSBC, Standard Chartered Bank, Citibank, Deutsche Bank, ANZ Bank, Scotiabank, Wal-Mart, Metro AG and Carrefour, among other multinational corporations.
Economic and technological development zones[edit]
The city includes a number of economic and technological development zones:
Chongqing Chemical Industrial Park
Chongqing Economic & Technological Development Zone
Chongqing Hi-Tech Industry Development Zone
Chongqing New North Zone (CNNZ)
Chongqing Export Processing Zone
Jianqiao Industrial Park (located in Dadukou District)
Liangjiang New Area
Liangjiang Cloud Computing Center (the largest of its kind in China)
Chongqing itself is part of the West Triangle Economic Zone, along with Chengdu and Xi'an.
Education and research
[edit]
As of 2022[update], Chongqing hosts 70 institutions of higher education (excluding adult colleges), making it the fourth city with the most higher education institutions nationwide and the first city in Western China, which comprises Chongqing, six provinces (Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan, Shaanxi, Gansu, and Qinghai), and three autonomous regions (Tibet, Ningxia, and Xinjiang), with a combination of more than 290 million population.
Chongqing is one of the top 35 cities in the world by scientific research outputs as tracked by the Nature Index.
Colleges and universities[edit]
For a more comprehensive list, see List of universities and colleges in Chongqing.
Chongqing University
Chongqing University (重庆大学)
Southwest University (西南大学)
Chongqing University of Science and Technology (重庆科技学院)
Southwest University of Political Science and Law (西南政法大学)
Army Medical University (第三军医大学)
Chongqing University of Posts and Telecommunications (重庆邮电大学)
Chongqing University of Technology (重庆理工大学)
Chongqing Jiaotong University (重庆交通大学)
Chongqing Medical University (重庆医科大学)
Chongqing Normal University (重庆师范大学)
Chongqing Technology and Business University (重庆工商大学)
Chongqing Three Gorges University (重庆三峡学院)
Chongqing Telecommunication Institute (重庆通讯学院)
Sichuan Fine Arts Institute (四川美术学院)
Sichuan International Studies University (四川外国语大学)
University of Logistics (后勤工程学院)
Chongqing University of Arts and Science (重庆文理学院)
Yangtze Normal University (长江师范学院)
Chongqing University of Education (重庆第二师范学院)
Notable high schools[edit]
Chongqing Changshou Middle School (重庆市长寿中学校)
Fuling Experimental High School [zh] (涪陵实验中学)
Chongqing No.1 Middle School (重庆一中)
Chongqing Nankai Secondary School (重庆南开中学)
Chongqing No.8 Secondary School [zh] (重庆八中)
Bashu Secondary School (巴蜀中学)
Chongqing Railway High School (重庆铁路中学)
Chongqing Yucai Secondary School [zh] (育才中学)
Chongqing Foreign Language School [zh] (The High School Affiliated to Sichuan International Studies University 重庆一外)
Verakin High School of Chongqing [zh] (The 2nd Chongqing Foreign Language School, 重庆二外)
Chongqing Qiujing High School [zh] (求精中学)
High School Affiliated to Southwest University [zh] (西南大学附中)
Chongqing NO.18 Secondary School (重庆十八中)
International schools[edit]
Yew Chung International School of Chongqing (重庆耀中国际学校)
KL International School of Chongqing Bashu (重庆市诺林巴蜀外籍人员子女学校)
Transportation
[edit]
Since its elevation to national-level municipality in 1997, the city has dramatically expanded its infrastructure. With the construction of railways and expressways to the east and southeast, Chongqing is a major transportation hub in southwestern China.
As of October 2014[update], the municipality had 31 bridges across the Yangtze River including over a dozen in the city's urban core. Aside from the city's first two Yangtze River bridges, which were built, respectively, in 1960 and 1977, all of the other bridges were completed since 1995.
Public transit[edit]
Chongqing Rail Transit[edit]
A train of Chongqing Rail Transit Line 2 coming through a residential building at Liziba station
Main article: Chongqing Rail Transit
Public transport in Chongqing consists of metro, intercity railway, a ubiquitous bus system and the world's largest monorail network.
According to the Chongqing Municipal Government's ambitious plan in May 2007, Chongqing is investing 150 billion RMB over 13 years to finish a system that combines underground metro lines with heavy monorail.
As of 2017[update], four metro lines, the 14-kilometer (8.7 mi) long CRT Line 1, a conventional subway, and the 19-kilometer (12 mi) long heavy monorail CRT Line 2 (through Phase II), Line 3, a heavy monorail connects the airport and the southern part of downtown. Line 6, runs between Beibei, a district in the city's far north to downtown. Line 5 opened in late 2017.
It was planned that by 2020, CRT would consist of 6 lines and 1 loop line, adding 363.5 kilometers (225.9 mi) of road and railway to the 2012 transportation infrastructure, and 93 new metro stations would be added to the 111 stations in place in 2012. By 2050 Chongqing would have 18 lines.[full citation needed]
Aerial tramway[edit]
An aerial tramway across the Yangtze River in Chongqing CBD
Chongqing is the only Chinese city that has kept public aerial tramways. There were three aerial tramways in Chongqing: the Yangtze River Tramway, the Jialing River Tramway and the South Mountain Tramway, of which the Yangtze River Tramway is the only one still operating, now considered a Class 4A tourist attraction. The 1,160-meter (3,810 ft)-long tramway connects the southern and northern banks of the Yangtze River, carrying about 10,000 passengers a day.
Rail[edit]
Chongqing North railway station
Major stations in Chongqing:
Chongqing railway station in Yuzhong, accessible via Metro Lines 1 & 3 (Lianglukou Metro station), is the city's oldest railway station and located near the Jiefangbei CBD in the city center. The station handles mostly long-distance trains. There are plans for a major renovation and overhaul of this station, thus many services have been transferred to Chongqing North railway station.
Chongqing North railway station is a station handling many long-distance services and high-speed rail services to Chengdu, Beijing and other cities. It was completed in 2006 and is connected to Metro Line.
Chongqing West railway station is in Shapingba, a station handling many long-distance services and high-speed rail services to many cities, completed in 2018.
Shapingba railway station is in Shapingba, near Shapingba CBD, accessible via Shapingba metro station on Lines 1, 9 and the Loop line. It handles many local and regional train services. It was completed in 2018.
Chongqing East railway station opened in 2025.
Chongqing is a major freight destination for rail with continued development with improved handling facilities. Due to subsidies and incentives, the relocation and construction of many factories in Chongqing has seen a huge increase in rail traffic.
Chongqing is a major rail hub regionally.
Chengdu–Chongqing railway (to Chengdu, Sichuan Province)
Sichuan–Guizhou railway (to Guiyang, Guizhou Province)
Xiangyang–Chongqing railway (to Hubei Province)
Chongqing–Huaihua railway (to Hunan Province)
Suining–Chongqing railway (to Sichuan Province)
Chongqing–Lichuan railway (to Hubei Province)
Lanzhou–Chongqing railway (to Gansu Province)
River port[edit]
Hydrofoil on the Yangtze in the outer reaches of the municipality
Chongqing is one of the most important inland ports in China. There are numerous luxury cruise ships that terminate at Chongqing, cruising downstream along the Yangtze River to Yichang, Wuhan, Nanjing or even Shanghai. In the recent past, this provided virtually the only transportation option along the river. However, improved rail, expressways and air travel have seen this ferry traffic reduced or cancelled altogether. Most of the river ferry traffic consists of leisure cruises for tourists rather than local needs. Improved access by larger cargo vessels has been made due to the construction of the Three Gorges Dam. This allows bulk transport of goods along the Yangtze River. Coal, raw minerals and containerized goods provide the majority of traffic plying this section of the river. Several port handling facilities exist throughout the city, including many impromptu river bank sites.
Highways[edit]
Traditionally, the road network in Chongqing has been narrow, winding and limited to smaller vehicles because of the natural terrain, large rivers and the huge population demands on the area, especially in the Yuzhong District. In other places, such as Jiangbei, large areas of homes and buildings have recently been cleared to improve the road network and create better urban planning; thus, several ring roads have also been constructed. This has seen many tunnels and large bridges needing to be built across the city. The construction of many expressways have connected Chongqing to its neighbors. The natural mountainous terrain that Chongqing is built on makes many road projects difficult to construct, including for example some of the world's highest road bridges.
Unlike many other Chinese cities, it is rare for motorbikes, electric scooters or bicycles to be seen on Chongqing's Roads. This is due to the extremely hilly and mountainous nature of Chongqing's roads and streets. However, despite this, Chongqing is a manufacturing center for these types of vehicles.
Chongqing-Chengdu Expressway
Chongqing-Chengdu 2nd Expressway (under construction)
Chongqing-Wanzhou-Yichang Highway (Wanzhou-Yichang section under construction)
Chongqing-Guiyang Highway
Chongqing-Changsha Expressway (Xiushan-Changsha section under construction)
Chongqing-Dazhou-Xi'a Highway (Dazhou-Xi'an section under construction)
Chongqing-Suining Expressway
Chongqing-Nanchong Expressway
China National Highway 210
China National Highway 212
Bridges[edit]
View of Chaotianmen Bridge across the Yangtze River in Chongqing
With so many bridges crossing the Yangtze and Jialing rivers in the urban area, Chongqing is sometimes known as the 'Bridge Capital of China'. The first important bridge in urban Chongqing was the Niujiaotuo Jialing River Bridge, built in 1958. The first bridge over the Yangtze was the Shibanpo Yangtze River Bridge (or Chongqing Yangtze River Bridge) built in 1977.
Yangtze River
As of 2014[update], within the area of the 9 districts, there were 20 bridges on the Yangtze and 28 bridges on the Jialing. The bridges in Chongqing exhibit a variety of shapes and structures.
Airports[edit]
See also: Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport
Chongqing Airlines Airbus A320 in Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport
The major airport of Chongqing is Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport (IATA: CKG, ICAO: ZUCK). It is located in Yubei District. The airport offers a growing network of nonstop flights to China, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Europe, North America and Oceania. It is located 21 km (13 mi) north of Downtown Chongqing and serves as an important aviation hub for southwest China. Jiangbei airport is a hub for China Southern, Chongqing Airlines, China Express, Sichuan Airlines, Hainan Airlines and West Air. Chongqing also is a focus city of Air China and Xiamen Air, therefore it is very well connected with Star Alliance and Skyteam's international network. Shandong Airlines and Tianjin Airlines also uses Chongqing as a focus city. The airport currently has four parallel runways in operation. It serves domestic routes to most other Chinese cities, as well as international routes to Auckland, Brussels, London, Madrid, Moscow, Milan, Seattle, Sydney, Doha, Dubai, Seoul, Bangkok, Phuket, Osaka, Paris, Singapore, Chiang Mai, Phnom Penh, Siem Reap, Malé, Bali, Tokyo, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Rome and Budapest, etc. As of 2021[update], Jiangbei Airport was the 4th busiest airport in terms of passenger traffic in mainland China.
Currently, Jiangbei airport has three terminals. Chongqing Airport has metro access (CRT Line 3 and Line 10) to its central city.
There are four other airports in Chongqing Municipality: Qianjiang Wulingshan Airport, Wanzhou Wuqiao Airport, Chongqing Xiannüshan Airport, and Chongqing Wushan Airport. They are all class 4C airports and serve passenger flights to domestic destinations including Beijing, Shanghai and Kunming.
Culture
[edit]
Main article: Bashu culture
Language[edit]
Main article: Sichuanese Mandarin
Zhongshan Ancient Town, Jiangjin, Chongqing
The language native to Chongqing is Southwestern Mandarin. More precisely, the great majority of the municipality, save for Xiushan, speak Sichuanese, including the primary Chengdu-Chongqing dialect and Minjiang dialect spoken in Jiangjin and Qijiang. There are also a few speakers of Xiang and Hakka in the municipality, due to the great immigration wave to the Sichuan region (湖廣填川) during the Ming and Qing dynasties. In addition, in parts of southeastern Chongqing, the Miao and Tujia languages are also used by some Miao and Tujia people.
Tourism[edit]
Chongqing Grand Theater
Martyrs' Cemetery
Chongqing Art Museum
See also: Twelve Views of Bayu
As the provisional Capital of China for almost ten years (1937 to 1945), the city was also known as one of the three headquarters of the Allies during World War II, as well as being a strategic center of many other wars throughout China's history. Chongqing has many historic war-time buildings or sites, some of which have since been destroyed. These sites include the People's Liberation Monument, located in the center of Chongqing city. It used to be the highest building in the area, but is now surrounded and dwarfed by numerous shopping centers. Originally named the Monument for the Victory over Axis Armies, it is the only building in China for that purpose. Today, the monument serves as a symbol for the city. The General Joseph W. Stilwell Museum, dedicated to General "Vinegar Joe" Stilwell, a World War II general. the air force cemetery in the Nanshan area, in memory of those air force personnel killed during the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945), and the Red Rock Village Museum, a diplomatic site for the Communist Party in Chongqing led by Zhou Enlai during World War II, and Guiyuan, Cassia Garden, where Mao Zedong signed the "Double 10 (10 October) Peace Agreement" with the Kuomintang in 1945.
The Hongya Cave (Hongya-dong) traditional Bayu-style stilted houses at Jiefangbei CBD
The steep path up to the front gate of Fishing Town
Ciqikou ancient road in Shapingba District
The Baiheliang Underwater Museum, China's first underwater museum
The Memorial of Great Tunnel Massacre, a former air-raid shelter where a major massacre occurred during World War II
The Great Hall of the People in Chongqing is based on the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. This is one of the largest public assembly buildings in China which, though built in modern times, emulates traditional architectural styles. It is adjacent to the densely populated and hilly central district, with narrow streets and pedestrian only walkways,
The large domed Three Gorges Museum presents the history, culture, and environment of the Three Gorges area and Chongqing.
Chongqing Art Museum is known for striking architecture.
Chongqing Science and Technology Museum has an IMAX theater.
Luohan Si, a Ming dynasty temple,
Huangguan Escalator, the second longest escalator in Asia.
Former sites for embassies of major countries during the 1940s. As the capital at that time, Chongqing had many residential and other buildings for these officials.
Wuxi County, noted as a major tourism area of Chongqing,
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 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 Three Natural Bridges and Furong Cave in Wulong Karst National Geology Park, Wulong County are listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site as part of the South China Karst,
Ciqikou is a 1000-year-old town in the Shapingba District of Chongqing. It is also known as "Little Chongqing". The town, located next to the lower reaches of the Jialing River, was at one time an important source of china-ware and used to be a busy commercial dock during the Ming and Qing dynasties,
The city is recognized as a "Design City" by UNESCO's Creative Cities Network.
Fishing Town or Fishing City is one of the three great ancient battlefields of China. It is noted for its resistance to the Mongol armies during the Southern Song dynasty (1127–1279) and the location where the Mongol leader Möngke Khan died in 1259,
Xueyu Cave in Fengdu County is the only example of a pure white, jade-like karst cave in China,
Fengdu Ghost City in Fengdu County is the Gate of the Hell in traditional Chinese literature and culture.
Baidi Cheng, a peninsula in Yangtze River, known in a poem by Li Bai
The Chongqing Zoo, a zoo that exhibits many rare species including the giant panda, the extremely rare South China tiger, and the African elephant.
Chongqing Amusement Park.
Chongqing Grand Theater, a performing arts center.
Foreigners' Street was an amusement park, including the Porcelain Palace, the world's largest toilet. Also the location of the abortive Love Land development in 2009.
The Black Mountain Valley (Heishangu).
Hongya Cave (aka Hongya Dong), a pier stilt house fortress that served as one of the 17 city gates of Ancient Chongqing is a popular tourist attraction for its architecture.
Cuisine[edit]
Chongqing food is part of Sichuan cuisine. Chongqing is known for its spicy food. Its food is normally considered numbing because of the use of Sichuan pepper, also known as Sichuan peppercorn, containing hydroxy-alpha-sanshool. Chongqing's city center has many restaurants and food stalls where meals often cost less than RMB10. Local specialties here include dumplings and pickled vegetables, and, different from many other Chinese regional cuisines, Chongqing dishes are suitable for the solo diner as they are often served in small individually-sized portions. Among the local specialties are:
Typical Chongqing hot pot served with minced shrimp, tripe, pork aorta, goose intestine, and kidney slices
Chongqing xiao mian with peas and spicy bean paste
Chongqing hot pot – Chongqing's local culinary specialty which was originally from Northern China. Tables in hot pot restaurants usually have a central pot, where food ordered by the customers is boiled in a spicy broth, items such as beef, pork, tripe, kidney slices, pork aorta and goose intestine are often consumed.
Chongqing xiao mian – a common lamian noodle dish tossed with chili oil and mixtures of spices and ingredients
Jiangtuan fish – since Chongqing is located along the Jialing River, visitors have a good opportunity to sample varieties of aquatic products. Among them is a fish local to the region, Jiangtuan fish (Hypophthalmichthys nobilis), more commonly known as bighead carp. The fish is often served steamed or baked.
Laziji is famous for its crispy texture.
Suan la fen (sour and spicy sweet potato noodles) – thick, transparent noodles of rubbery texture in a spicy vinegar soup.
Laziji (spicy chicken) – a stir-fried dish consisting of marinated and deep-fried pieces of chicken, dried Sichuan chili peppers, Sichuan peppercorns, garlic, and ginger, which originated near Geleshan in Chongqing.
Quanshui ji (spring water chicken) – cooked with the natural spring water in the Southern Mountain of Chongqing.
Pork leg cooked with rock sugar – a common household dish of Chongqing, the tender, reddish dish has been described as having a strong and sweet aftertaste.
Qianzhang (skimmed soy bean cream) – the cream skimmed from soybean milk. In order to create this, several steps must be followed very carefully. First, soybeans are soaked in water, ground, strained, boiled, restrained several times and spread over gauze until delicate, snow-white cream is formed. The paste can also be hardened, cut into slivers and seasoned with sesame oil, garlic and chili oil. Another variation is to bake the cream and fry it with bacon, which is described as soft and sweet.
Fish with pickled mustard greens – a dish originating from Chongqing
Media[edit]
The Chongqing People's Broadcast Station is Chongqing's largest radio station. The only municipal-level TV network is Chongqing TV, claimed to be the fourth-largest television station in China. Chongqing TV broadcasts many local-oriented channels, and can be viewed on many TV sets throughout China.
Sports and recreation[edit]
Basketball[edit]
The Chongqing Soaring Dragons became the 20th team playing in the Chinese Basketball Association in 2013. They played at Datianwan Arena, in the same sporting complex as Datianwan Stadium. The team moved to Beijing in 2015 and is currently known as the Beijing Royal Fighters.
Soccer[edit]
Professional soccer teams in Chongqing include:
Chongqing Liangjiang Athletic, folded
Chongqing F.C., folded
Chongqing Liangjiang Athletic was a professional Chinese soccer club that played in the Chinese Super League. They were owned by the Chongqing-based Lifan Group, which manufactures motorcycles, cars and spare parts. Originally called Qianwei (Vanguard) Wuhan, the club formed in 1995 to take part in the recently developed, fully professional Chinese Soccer League. They would quickly rise to top tier of the system and experience their greatest achievement in winning the 2000 Chinese FA Cup, and coming in fourth within the league. However, since then they have struggled to replicate the same success, and have twice been relegated from the top tier.
Chongqing FC was a soccer club located in the city that competed in China League One, the country's second-tier soccer division, before being relegated to the China League Two, and dissolved due to a resultant lack of funds.
Sport venues[edit]
Sport venues in Chongqing include:
The Chongqing Olympic Sports Center is a multipurpose stadium. It is currently used mostly for soccer matches, as it has a grass surface, and can hold 58,680. It was built in 2002 and was one of main venues for the 2004 AFC Asian Cup.
Yanghe Stadium is a multiuse stadium that is currently used mostly for soccer matches. The stadium holds 32,000 people, and is the home of Chongqing Lifan in the Chinese Super League. The stadium was purchased by the Lifan Group in 2001 for RMB80 million and immediately replaced Datianwan Stadium as the home of Chongqing Lifan.
Datianwan Stadium is a multipurpose stadium that is currently used mostly for soccer matches. The stadium has a capacity 32,000 people, and up until 2001 was the home of Chongqing Lifan.
Cloud Valley[edit]
At the end of 2020, a collaboration between a Danish architecture firm and a Chinese tech company Terminus was announced, taking the form of an AI-controlled campus. The project is named Cloud Valley and aims to use sensors and WiFi-controlled devices to collect data on the city's residents and atmosphere, including weather and eating and sleeping habits. The AI will adapt devices to work in a way that fits the gathered information and improves residents' lives.
"Backstreet" photography culture[edit]
In recent years, photographer-led groups have popularized "Houjie" (后街, Backstreet) photography walks in the older, non-touristed neighborhoods of Chongqing, such as in Dadukou District. These walks aim to document the city's rapidly vanishing urban fabric and everyday life, creating a grassroots archival movement.
Notable people
[edit]
Main category: People from Chongqing
Ba Manzi: legendary hero of Ba kingdom in Zhou dynasty
Gan Ning: general serving under warlord Sun Quan in the last years of Han dynasty
Yan Yan: loyal general during Three Kingdoms period
Lanxi Daolong: famous Buddhism monk and philosopher in Song dynasty who went to Japan and established the Kenchō-ji
Qin Liangyu: popular heroine in Ming dynasty who fought against Manchus
Nie Rongzhen: marshal of the People's Liberation Army of China
Liu Bocheng: an early leader of Chinese communist party during Anti-Japanese War
Lu Zuofu: notable industrialist and businessman who was the founder of the Minsheng Shipping Company
Liu Yongqing: wife of the former president and Communist Party general secretary Hu Jintao
Xia Peisu: computer scientist
Huang Qian: chess player
Tian Liang: Olympic diving gold medalist
Li Yundi: pianist
Karry Wang: member of the pop band TFBoys and actor
Roy Wang: singer-songwriter and member of TFBoys, also an actor and television host
Li Hua: artist who studied in Europe
Xiao Zhan: actor, singer, and member of the boy group X Nine
Pan Wenhua: military general regarded as a born military prodigy
Zhou Zhennan: leader of C-pop group R1SE
Shi Tingmao: Olympic diving gold medalist
Chen Zihan: actress
Shuguang Zhang: biochemist
Xia Li: professional wrestler signed with TNA
Feng Timo: singer, pop star and Internet personality
Domee Shi: Chinese Canadian animator, director and screenwriter
Ryan Chen: Chinese Trump impersonator
International relations
[edit]
Consulates[edit]
Consulate
Date
Consular District
Canada Consulate-General, Chongqing
05.1998
Chongqing, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan
United Kingdom Consulate-General, Chongqing
03.2000
Chongqing, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan
Cambodia Consulate-General, Chongqing
12.2004
Chongqing, Hubei, Hunan, Shaanxi
Japan Consulate-General, Chongqing
01.2005
Chongqing, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan, Shaanxi
Philippines Consulate-General, Chongqing
12.2008
Chongqing, Guizhou, Yunnan
Hungary Consulate-General, Chongqing
02.2010
Chongqing, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan, Shaanxi, Gansu
Ethiopia Consulate-General, Chongqing
11.2011
Chongqing, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan
Italy Consulate-General, Chongqing
12.2013
Chongqing, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan
Uruguay Consulate-General, Chongqing
12.2019
Chongqing, Sichuan, Yunnan, Shaanxi, Gansu
Twin towns – sister cities[edit]
Chongqing has sister city relationships with many cities of the world including:
Toulouse, France (1982)
Seattle, United States (1983)
Ottawa, Canada (1983)
Philadelphia, United States (1983)
Kobe, Japan (1983)
Detroit, United States (1986)
Honolulu, United States (1986)
Vancouver, Canada (1986)
Indianapolis, United States (1986)
San Antonio, United States (1986)
Chicago, United States (1986)
San Francisco, United States (1986)
Toronto, Canada (1986)
St. Louis, United States (1986)
Hiroshima, Japan (1986)
Osaka, Japan (1986)
Leicester, United Kingdom (1993)
Voronezh, Russia (1993)
Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine (2002)
Mpumalanga, South Africa (2002)
Sliven, Bulgaria (2002)
Düsseldorf, Germany (2004)
Brisbane, Australia (2005)
Shiraz, Iran (2005)
Pune, India (2009)
New York City, United States (2011)
Ajman, United Arab Emirates (2025)
