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Chongqing
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Tall skyscrapers and modern buildings in Chongqing, China are illuminated with bright lights at night, with light trails from traffic visible on the street below. Chongqing city and municipality, China. Skyline of Chongqing, China, with high-rise buildings at the junction of the Jialing and Yangtze Rivers, and several boats on the brown water. Ornate red and blue traditional Chinese gate with gold sign, framing the domed People's Hotel in the background, Chongqing, China. The Chaotianmen Bridge under construction in Chongqing, China. Mixture of old and new buildings in central Chongqing, China. Elevated highway under construction between tall buildings in Chongqing, China, with scaffolding and wooden framework visible and city skyline in the background. The Great Hall of the People at night, Chongqing, China. Chungking Jialing River
At a Glance
Skyline of the Chongtianmen area, at the confluence of the Yangtze (left) and Jialing (right) rivers, Chongqing, China.
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Tower Bridge over the Thames River in London, England. Opened in 1894. Remains an Important Traffic Route with 40,000 Crossings Every Day.
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Wade-Giles romanization:
Ch’ung-ch’ing
Conventional:
Chungking
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Skyscrapers at night in central Chongqing, China.
Skyscrapers at night in central Chongqing, China.

Chongqing

China
Also known as: Ch’ung-ch’ing, Chungking
Written by
Mingye Wang
Professor of Geomorphology, Ch'eng-tu Institute of Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Author of The Mountains in China and others.
Mingye WangAll
Fact-checked by
Britannica Editors
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
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Last updated
‱History
Chongqing city and municipality, China.
Chongqing city and municipality, China.

Chongqing, city (shi) and provincial-level municipality (zhixiashi), southwest-central China. The leading river port, transportation hub, and commercial and industrial centre of the upper Yangtze River (Chang Jiang) basin, the city is located some 1,400 miles (2,250 km) from the sea, at the confluence of the Yangtze and Jialing rivers. During the Sino-Japanese War (1937–45) it was the capital of Nationalist China. The city was named Chongqing (“Double-Blessed”) in 1189 under the Nan (Southern) Song dynasty (1127–1279 ce). At that time the city occupied a commanding position between the prefectures of Shunqing (centred on modern Nanchong) to the north and Shaoqing (centred on modern Pengshui) to the east.

Chongqing city was under the administration of Sichuan province from 1954, but in 1997 it was separated from the province and designated a provincial-level municipality under the direct administration of the central government, the fourth one (after Beijing, Shanghai, and Tianjin) to be established. At that time the entire eastern portion of Sichuan was incorporated into the municipality, which greatly expanded Chongqing’s overall land area and population. Both the city and municipality have experienced quick development since then. In addition to Sichuan to the west, the municipality is bordered by the provinces of Shaanxi to the north, Hubei to the east, Hunan to the southeast, and Guizhou to the south. Area Chongqing municipality, 31,700 square miles (82,000 square km). Pop. (2005 est.) city, 4,776,000; (2010 prelim.) Chongqing municipality, 28,846,170.

Landscape

City site

Skyline of the Chongtianmen area, at the confluence of the Yangtze (left) and Jialing (right) rivers, Chongqing, China.
Skyline of the Chongtianmen area, at the confluence of the Yangtze (left) and Jialing (right) rivers, Chongqing, China.

Chongqing municipality consists of three lobes of unequal size extending southwest, northeast and southeast. The districts of central Chongqing city occupy the southwestern lobe and are ringed by suburban districts. From there the northeastern arm spreads along the Yangtze valley. The southeastern lobe, stretching southeastward from the Yangtze valley, consists of a series of hills and valleys between Hunan and Guizhou; the Wu River (another tributary of the Yangtze) runs roughly along the southwestern side of the lobe until it veers south into Guizhou.

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The western and southwestern portions of the municipality lie in the Sichuan Basin and consist of relatively level to hilly terrain. The Daba Mountains run along the northern border with Shaanxi, and in the northeast the Wu Mountains demarcate the Yangtze’s entry into Hubei, in the river’s Three Gorges region. The Fangdou Mountains occupy the eastern portion of the municipality, and in the south the Dalou Mountains extend northward from Guizhou.

The central part of Chongqing city is built on and around a hilly promontory of red sandstone and shale that constitutes the southern limit of the relatively low Huaying Mountains, which reach southward from Sichuan. The promontory is bounded on the north by the Jialing River and on the east and south by the Yangtze, effectively forming a peninsula projecting between the two rivers. Other hills, some also offshoots of the Huaying, rise in the city’s outskirts and suburban districts.

Tower Bridge over the Thames River in London, England. Opened in 1894. Remains an Important Traffic Route with 40,000 Crossings Every Day.
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Climate

Chongqing is noted for its mild and intensely humid climate. It is shielded from the cold northern winds by the Qin (Tsinling) Mountains in Shaanxi and has little or no frost or ice in winter; the mean temperatures in January and February, the only cool months, are about 47 °F (8 °C) and 50 °F (10 °C), respectively. Summer, which lasts from May through September, is hot and humid; the August mean temperature is 84 °F (29 °C), and on many days the high temperature exceeds 100 °F (38 °C). The remaining months are warm, with annual mean temperatures ranging between 64 and 67 °F (18 and 19 °C).

The bulk of the municipality’s precipitation (all as rain) falls from April through October; the average annual total ranges from 43 to 55 inches (about 1,100 to 1,400 mm). Because of the high humidity, fog and mist are particularly heavy. From October to April the city is perpetually blanketed by fog, which hampers inland navigation, aviation, and local traffic. Chongqing’s climate has earned the city the nickname “fog capital” (wudu). The aptness of this name has only increased under present-day conditions: contaminated by soot, carbon dioxide, and acid rain, the atmosphere of Chongqing is among the most polluted in China.

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City layout

Central districts

Ornate traditional Chinese gate frames the People's Hotel with its domed roof and grand steps in Chongqing, China, under a clear blue sky.
Gateway leading to the Great Hall of the People (centre background), central Chongqing, China.

The Old City of Chongqing (formerly surrounded by a city wall and gates, of which only two gates now remain) occupies the eastern third of the rocky promontory and covers an area of about 28 square miles (73 square km). The southern and eastern slopes, facing the waterfront, form the “lower city,” while the remainder is the “upper city.” An east-west avenue runs through the middle of each of these areas, and a third runs atop the spine of the promontory’s ridge. Prior to the city’s modernization, its cross streets were narrow and often winding; following the topography of the hill, some of them went up and down in flights of hundreds of steps. However, few of these picturesque lanes now remain.

The Chaotianmen Bridge under construction in Chongqing, China.
The Chaotianmen Bridge under construction in Chongqing, China.

Newer sections of the city on the western part of the promontory spread far along the banks of the two rivers, covering an area considerably larger than that of the Old City. During the Sino-Japanese War (1937–45) the offices of the Nationalist government were located there, and they are now the sites of government office buildings and of museums and exhibition halls, notably the Great Hall of the People (completed 1954). The city has grown so much that the incorporation of numerous industrial towns and suburban communities has extended the city limits to Jiangbei in the north and to Baishiyi in the west. Equally important are the former suburban areas on the south shore of the Yangtze. In former times, ferries were the only means by which the rivers could be crossed; later they could also be crossed by way of the Jialing Bridge (1966) to the northwest and the Chongqing Yangtze Bridge (1980) to the south. Since then, some dozen more bridges have been constructed across the Yangtze and Jialing, notably the Chaotianmen Bridge over the Yangtze, which had the world’s longest steel-arch span at its completion in 2008. In addition, cableways across the Jialing and Yangtze link the Old City with adjacent districts. The spacious gardens and beautiful residences of the surrounding districts contribute much to relieving the crowded conditions of the central part of the city.