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Chengdu (Chinese: 成都; pinyin: Chéngdū; Wade–Giles: Ch'eng-tu), located in southwest China, is the capital of the Sichuan province and a sub-provincial city. It is the 5th(2005) most populous city in China and a political, cultural and economic centre of Southwest China. Chengdu is also one of the most important transportation and telecommunication hubs in China.

More than four thousand years ago, the prehistorical Bronze Age culture of Jinsha (Chinese: 金沙; pinyin: Jīnshā) established itself in this region. The fertile Chengdu Plain, on which Chengdu is located, is called Tianfu zhi guo (Chinese: 天府之国; pinyin: Tiānfŭ zhī guó) in Chinese, which means "the Heavenly country".

Population

Throughout most of Chinese history, Chengdu has been a city with a large number of people. By 2005 the population was 10,700,000 ,which made Chengdu the fifth largest city in China in terms of population, just following Shanghai , Beijing , Tianjin and Chongqing.

There were close to 200 long-term foreign residents (not including Chinese from Hong Kong or Taiwan) living in the city in late 2004, according to unofficial US Consulate estimates.

Famous People From Chengdu

Ba Jin, the great writer, was born in Chengdu and died in Shanghai in 2005. Deng Xiaoping, the former Chinese President

History

In the early 4th century BC, the 9th Kaiming king of the ancient Shu moved his capital to the city's current location from today's nearby Pixian. He was said to have been inspired by the ancient story of King Tai of Zhou, Grandfather of King Wu of Zhou, moving his capital. History recorded King Tai of Zhou'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, the word "cheng" means "become", "du" means "capital"). There are, however, several versions of why the capital was moved to Chengdu, and more recent theories of the name's origin point to it as stemming from, or referring to, earlier non-Han inhabitants and/or their languages.

After the conquest of Shu by the State of Qin in 316 BC, a new city was founded by the Qin general Zhang Yi (who as a matter of fact had argued against the invasion). This can be seen as the beginning of the Chinese Chengdu. It was renamed Yìzhōu (益州) during the Han Dynasty.

During the partition following the fall of the Western Han Dynasty, i.e., the era of the Three Kingdoms Liu Bei founded the Southwest kingdom of Shu-Han (Shǔ-Hàn 蜀汉) (220-263) with Chengdu as its capital.

During the Tang Dynasty, both the "Poet God" Lǐ Bó (李白) and the "Poet Sage" Dù Fǔ (杜甫) spent some part of their lives in Chengdu. Du Fu constructed the celebrated "Cǎotáng" (草堂 or grass-hut) in the second year of his four-years stay (759-762). But today's Caotang, a rather sumptuous house in the traditional style, was only constructed in 1078 in memory of Du Fu.

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

Two 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 Dàshǔ (大蜀) and Dàxī (大西), respectively.

The Second World War brought an unexpected wave of prosperity to Chengdu as the Guomindang (Chinese Nationalist) government under Chiang Kai-shek fled to Sichuan Province to escape the invading Japanese forces. They brought with them businesspeople, workers and academics, who founded many of the industries and cultural institutions which continue to make Chengdu an important center.

Chengdu was the last city in mainland China to be held by the Kuomintang. Chiang Kai-shek and his son Chiang Ching-kuo directed the defence of the city at Chengdu Central Military Academy, until December 10, 1949 when the People's Liberation Army took the city and the Nationalist Chinese government fled to Taiwan.

Today the industrial base is very broad, including light and heavy manufacturing, aluminum smelting and chemicals. The textile industry remains important, with cotton and wool milling added to the traditional manufacturing of silk brocade and satin.

Alias

• The Brocade City (Jǐnchéng, 锦城)

  In the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-23 AD), 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 (Róngchéng, 蓉城)

  In the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period (907-960), Mengchang, the king of the Later Shu Kingdom, ordered the planting of hibiscus on the fortress wall surrounding the city. After this, Chengdu started being referred as the City of Hibiscus. Nowadays, the hibiscus is still the city flower of Chengdu. But the last city wall was torn down in the 1960s along with the Royal Palace situated in the middle of the city.

Culture and folklore

The Sichuan cuisine is famous for being very spicy, but in fact only slightly more than 30 % of dishes officially labeled "local" rely on chili pepper. The reputation for hot food is, however, much older than the use of peppers, which became common only in the 17-18th century.

Chengdu's cuisine is considered to be one of China's most outstanding. The many local specialties include Grandma Chen's Bean Curd (Mapo doufu), Chengdu Hot pot, and Carrying Pole Noodles (Dan Dan Noodles).

An article by the Los Angeles Times (2006) called Chengdu "China's party city". Chengdu outnumbers Shanghai in the number of tea houses and bars despite having less than half the population. The inhabitants have a reputation both within Sichuan and in China at large for having a laid back attitude and for knowing how to enjoy life.

Economy

Chengdu is home to several key industries and markets in China that are both significant for domestic and international markets. First, Sichuan Province and the Chengdu region have long been the capital of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). This combined with recent intrigue into pharmaceuticals has launched Chengdu into one of the major pharmaceutical R&D centers in China, as well as the leading R&D region in Western China. Similarly, Chengdu’s Hi-tech Industrial Development Zone has attracted a variety of multinationals (Intel and Microsoft), as well as domestic powerhouses such as Lenovo.

Colleges and universities

• Sichuan University (Founded in 1896)
• Southwest Jiaotong University (Founded in 1896)
• University of Electronic Science and Technology of China
• Southwestern University of Finance and Economics
• Southwest University for Nationalities
• Sichuan Normal University
• Chengdu University of Technology
• Chengdu University of TCM
• Sichuan Conservatory of Music
• Chengdu University of Information Technology
• Chengdu Kinesiology University
• Xihua University
• Chengdu University
• Chengdu Medical College

Note: Institutions without full-time bachelor programs are not listed.

High Schools

• Chengdu Foreign languages School
• Chengdu Shishi Middle School
• Chengdu Experimental Foreign languages School
• Chengdu Shude Middle School
• Chengdu No. Seven Middle School

Consulates in Chengdu

In 1986，the United States Consulate General at Chengdu was established，the first consulate established in west central China since 1949. Currently six countries have established consulates in Chengdu. The United Kingdom also established a visa application center in Chengdu.

Consulate	Year	Consular District
United States Consulate General Chengdu	1986	Sichuan、Chongqing、Yunnan、Guizhou、Tibet
Germany Consulate General at Chengdu	2003	Sichuan、Chongqing、Yunnan、Guizhou
Republic of Korea Consulate General at Chengdu	2004	Sichuan、Chongqing、Yunnan、Guizhou
Thailand Consulate General at Chengdu	2004	Sichuan、Chongqing
France Consulate General at Chengdu	2005	Sichuan、Chongqing、Yunnan、Guizhou
Singapore Consulate	2006	Sichuan、Chongqing、Yunnan、Guizhou

Sister Cities

In 1979, Chengdu signed a sister city agreement with Montpellier, France，the first pair of Sino-French sister cities. Later Chengdu signed sister city agreements with cities in ten countries，as well as signing a friendly region agreement with Dalarna province in Sweden. Chengdu has had many friendly exchanges with the sister cities. Montpelier for example has a Chengdu Street and a Chengdu Plaza.

City	Country	Year of Signing
Montpellier	France	1979
Ljubljana	Slovenia	1981
Linz	Austria	1983
Kofu	Japan	1983
Phoenix, Arizona	United States of America	1986
Winnipeg	Canada	1988
Mechelen	Belgium	1993
Palermo	Italy	1999
Gimcheon	Republic of Korea	2000
Medan	Indonesia	2001

See also

• List of capitals of subnational entities

External links

• Official site, in English
• Information on restaurants, nightlife, and travel in Chengdu
• Chengdu International School
• Chengdu Meishi International School, in English
• English First Chengdu
• Studying at Sichuan University in Chengdu
• Chengdu City Information (in Chinese)
• Doing Business in Chengdu
• Sofitel Wanda Chengdu
• Satellite picture by Google Maps
• Living on Earth radio program, that describes Chengdu as a "backwater city in western China, became an urban metropolis overnight"
• Chengdu weather forecast with recent/daily updated pictures of the city

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• Chengdu