Origin
Sichuan area, in ancient time, was called the land of BA and SHU Kingdoms; Shu Kingdom was established upon the Chengdu Plain by Shu Tribe; while Ba Kingdom was established upon Jiangzhou (current Yuzhong district in Chongqing) during the Spring and Autumn Warring States Period (BC 770-221) by Ba tribe. Both Ba and Shu Kingdoms were conquered in the end by Qin - the first united dynasty in Chinese history.As a matter of fact, Ba is a very ancient tribe, which could be traced back to the legendary Five Emperors Period (BC 3076-2029). And Ba actually means "Tiger" to Ba people; it's what they call tiger in their pronunciation; they worship tiger; they regard themselves as a tribe of tigers, tiger (ba) people; tiger or actually white tiger is their totem.
What worth mentioning is in ancient Chinese science of constellation white tiger, which resides in the west, is a star directly controls weapons and wars; and Ba warriors were also renowned for its bravery and battle wisdom.
To better understand/appreciate that part of civilization, pay a visit to Ba People Museum located in Ba Kingdom City, Jiulongpo district and Ba General Manzi's Tomb at Lotus poool, Qixinggang, Yuzhong district.
Three Kingdoms Period
Quite a lot of stories depicted in The Romance of Three Kingdoms (one of the Four Major Classics in Chinese literature) happened in Chongqing area during the Three Kingdom's Period in Chinese history. There are still some historical relics remained for you to visit, like White King City at Three Gorges and Zhangfei Temple at Yunyang couty.White King City is located at the east of Chongqing, north of Yangtze river, a sightseeing spot you can not miss at the Yangtze RiverThree Gorges Cruise. It's facing right at Qutang Gorge. Even though it's the shortest of the Three Gorges, it's the most dangerous, grandest and mightiest. At its west, there's an entrance called Kuimen Gate which is only less than 100 meters wide at its narrowest spot. Underneath White King City, there's a carving says "Kuimen the Most Magnificent in the World". Kuimen is also printed at the back of the 10 RMB currency.
Song Dynasty
Chongqing - Double Happiness
In 1189 Zhao Dun, the third son of South Song Dynasty emperor, was appointed as the Duke of Gongzhou (current Chongqing) before he was enthroned the same year, so he changed Gongzhou into Chongqing which means “double celebration or double happiness” in Chinese.Anti-Mongolia War - Fishing City Ancient War Fortress
Fishing city was built on fishing mountain at the south of Jialing River, in Chongqing's Hechuan city. It got its name from a legend which says there used to be a Giant God fishing at the giant flat rock on the mountain to help the local people that were suffering from famine.
After the Mongolian troops started to invade Sichuan, Song dynasty emperor sent his assistant minster of the Ministry of War to build cities and fortresses on this mountain to defend his kingdom in 1243. Then a complete defense system was built on the mountain later on and had actually defeated the invading Mongolian Khan. The defending generals had remained their resistance till 1279 when the South Song dynasty went perished, which is altogether 36 years' defending history. The Fishing City Ancient War Fortress relics is still remained intact on the mountain nowadays.
Ming Dynasty - Chongqing's 17 City Gates
When Ming conquered and retrieved Chongqing into its united empire, the city was dramatically damaged then an order was given to rebuild the city. The new Chongqing city was built with 17 city gates, even 4 more than the Ming capital - Nanjing. But among them 8 gates were fixed as closed gates. Since then the city structure had remained the same till contemporary China. Nowadays you can still find some gates or gates remains in the city if you would take an interest in Walking Chongqing via many hidden routes.
Early Qing Dynasty - Huguang Fills Sichuan Immigration
Due to the chaos of the wars, plagues and famines at Late Ming and Early Qing dynasties, the population in Sichuan dropped dramatically - there were perhaps hundreds of families left in Chongqing city at that time, then the Qing government issued policies to encourage people from the nearby Huguang province (covering the current Hunan, Hubei, Guangdong, Guangxi) to immigrate to Sichuan (Chongqing); in the end, the population in Sichuan increased from 500 thousand to 22 million.
To better understand/appreciate this part of Chongqing culture, a visit to Huguang Guild (East Water Gate, Yuzhong District) would help.
Qing Dynasty - Opening up (by force) Period
After the opening-up treaties from the wars, foreign merchants, residents and government entities were coming to Chongqing gradually. Chongqing port and Chongqing were then open to the world. Nowadays you may still find some remains from that period at the following locations.French Navy Dock and Military Camp - Danzishi, Nan'an District; from there you could also have a view of Chaotianmen Dock, the Nanbin Riveside Road - a commercial street with enchanting night views.
Russian Residence Mansion - Pipa Mountain, Yuzhong Dsitrict - now a Botanic Park.
German Legation - Nanshan Mountain, Nan'an District - now has a Botanic Park.
Republic of China/Anti-Japanese War Period
When the nationalist party's army started losing the battles with Japanese army, the Republic of China Government set up Chongqing as a backup wartime capital which finally became official after Nanjing was occupied by Japanese army. Embassies of UK, US, France, German, Belgium and Switzerland started to move to Chongqing, and even the exile government of Republic of Korea was even given a temporary station in today's 38 Lotus Pool Street, Yuzhong District (open for visitors).
During its wartime capital period, Chongqing received millions of immigrants coming from cities in mid and downstream Yangtze river, it was then the center of politics, economy and culture, also the commanding center for anti-fascist war in the far east.
There used to be hundreds of wartime capital relics yet many have been lost during Chongqing's modernization development recent years. Here are some,
Chongqing Blitz Massacre Relics - Ciqi Street, Yuzhong District, on June 5th every year, there will be morning ceremony with actual air raid siren to morn for that day.
Liberation Monument - one of the symbols of Chongqing, located in the center of Jiefangbei CBD, Yuzhong district. In the beginning, it was actually called "Spirit Fortress" (made of wood) built to encourage people's spirit and courage for the Anti-Japanese war; when the war was won, an Anti-Japanese War Victory Monument (made of cement) was built on the same location which is how it looks today; it is said that, buried underneath the monument, there were weapons captured from the Japanese, stored inside the monument there was a letter written by US president Roosevelt to the Chongqing people, carved on the inner sides of the monuments there were names of the soldiers killed during the war. And it changed into its current name of People's Liberation Monument in 1949 when Chongqing was liberated.
General Stilwell's Museum - if you are interested to understand/appreciate the history of American Volunteer Group (AVG)'s Flying Tiger, do pay a visit to this museum at 63 Jialing New Road, Yuzhong District.
Official mansions/residence mansions of Chiang Kai-shek, Song Meiling and other important figures
Relics of Government of Republic of China and the President's Mansion
Red Rock Village Relics
Zhazi Hole Prison
Baigong Mansion
Consulates Alley
People's Republic of China - Cultural Revolution Period
The Red Guards' Tomb - Shapingba Park, Shapingba District; during the cultural revolution period, Chongqing was a region that suffered the most severe damages from the so called "Wudou" (Violent Fight; armed conflicts between different rebellious groups) as Chongqing had many arsenals at that time and many workers from those factories had participated in the Wudou which even involved using heavy weapons like warships, cannons and tanks causing thousands of casualties. This tomb is now the only one remained nationwide.
Chongqing Today - The Municipality
Chongqing was officially set up as a municipality in 1997 and has made remarkable achievements in economic development ever since.
a) a city orientation
b) a taste of Chongqing program
c) or simply some leads or advice on relocating or travelling to Chongqing
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