Chengdu---Travel In China

Chengdu (成都, Hanyu Pinyin: Chéngdu, Wade-Giles: Ch'eng-tu) is the capital of Sichuan province and a sub-provincial city, located in southwest China, and bordering Tibet. Its exact location is between 102º54' - 104º53' east longitude and 30º5' - 31º26' north latitude.

Chengdu has a population of 9.9 million and an area of 12,300 square kilometers. The GDP per capita was ¥20111 (ca. US$2430) in 2003, ranked no. 58 among 659 Chinese cities.

History
More than four thousand years ago, the prehistorical Bronze Age culture of Sànxingdui (4800-3100 BP) established itself in this region. Zizhu city (Zizhú Chéng) was one of the early settlement. Some believe that this culture is related to the BA culture of West Asia.

In the early 4th century BC, the king of the ancient Shu moved his capital to the city's current location. Classic history recorded King of Shu's move as "it took a year to become a town; it took 2 years to become a capital". Following this, king of Shu named the new city as "Cheng Du", which means "become a capital" (In Chinese, word "cheng" means "become", "du" means "capital").

After the conquer of Shu by Qin Dynasty in 316 BC, a new city was founded by the Qin general Zhang Yi, which marked the beginning of contemporary Chengdu. It was renamed Yì Zhou duirng Han Dynasty.

Liu Bei founded the kingdom of Shuhàn (220-263) in this city.

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

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

Two more 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 and Dàxi, respectively.

Alias
The Brocade City (Jin Chéng, 博科市)
In Western Han Dynasty (206 BC- AD 23), 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).

The City of Hibiscus (Róng Chéng, 市芙蓉)

In Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period (907-960), Mengchang, the king of the Later Shu Kingdom, ordered to plant hibiscus on the fortress wall surrounding the city. After this, Chengdu started being referred as the City of Hibiscus. Nowadays, hibiscus is still the city flower of Chengdu.

Chengdu is the capital of Sichuan Province, which is known as the "Heavenly State" (Tian Fu Zhi Guo). Being the natural habitat of cute giant pandas, Chengdu is located in the west of Sichuan Basin and in the center of Chengdu Plain. It covers a total area of 12.3 thousand square kilometres (4,749 square miles) with a population of over 11 million.


Benefiting from Dujiangyan Irrigation Project which was constructed in 256 B.C., Sichuan Province is reputed as "Tian Fu Zhi Guo", literally a place richly endowed with natural resources. Chengdu, as the capital, is extremely productive. The Min and Tuo Rivers, two branches of the Yangtze River, connected to forty other rivers, supply an irrigation area of more than 700 square kilometres (270.27 square miles) with 150-180 million kilowatts of water. Consisting of abundant mineral resources, the land is extremely fertile.
The history of Chengdu can be traced back 2,400 when the first emperor built his capital here and named the city. Through thousands of years its original name has been kept and its position as the capital and as the significant center of politics, commerce and military of the Sichuan area (once called Shu) has remained unchanged. Since the Han (206B.C.-220) and Tang (618-907) Dynasties when its handicraft industry flourished, Chengdu has been famous for its brocades and embroideries. Shu embroideries still enjoy a high reputation for their bright colors and delicate designs, ranking among the four main embroideries in China. Chengdu was the place where the bronze culture, an indispensable part of ancient Chinese culture, originated, the place where the Southern Silk Road started, and the place where the earliest paper currency, Jiaozi (not the dumpling!), was first printed. It is listed among the first 24 state-approved historical and cultural cities and owns 23 state and provincial cultural relic units.



Wolong Panda Reserve


Huanglong Valley
In addition to its profound historical and cultural background featuring historic places of interest such as the Thatched Cottage of Du Fu , Wuhou Memorial Temple and Wenshu Monastery , etc, natural beauty abounds in surrounding areas such as in the Jiuzhaigou Scenic Area and Huang Long Valley (Yellow Dragon Valley) . The natural habitat of giant pandas, Chengdu Panda Breeding and Research Center , supports the world's only giant panda breeding and research base.
Sampling the famous Sichuan cuisine is a must on a trip to Chengdu. Enjoying the food as well as the culture, shopping and having tea at a teahouse afford a deeper understanding of Chengdu.


Improved land and airlines extending nationwide provide greater convenience. Chengdu is also the main inland access city to Tibet.