Chengdu (also written Ch'eng-tu) is the capital of the Sichuan province. As the 4th most populous city in China, Chengdu is the political, cultural and economic nerve centre of southwest China. Throughout most of Chinese history, Chengdu has been a city with a big population. According to the 2004 estimate, there are 10 596 900 (5 381 730 males, and 5 215 200 females) people living in Chengdu, putting it in fourth position behind only Shanghai, Beijing and Chongqing, and only slightly ahead of fifth-placed Guangzhou. Chengdu is known in China as the "Brocade City" as well as the "City of Hibiscus".
Chengdu at night.
Introduction to Chengdu
It got the title of Brocade City because, during the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-23 AD), brocade that was produced in Chengdu enjoyed great popularity among the royal and elite class. The emperor put Jin Guan, an official in charge of brocade production, to oversee brocade production in Chengdu. Since then, Chengdu was called "Jin Guan Cheng" or Brocade Official's City), or in its short form, "Jin Cheng" (Brocade city).
During the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period (907-960), the king of the Later Shu Kingdom, Mengchang, ordered that hibiscus be planted on the fortress wall around Chengdu. From then on, Chengdu was referred to as the City of Hibiscus. Today the hibiscus is still the city flower of Chengdu. However the last city wall was torn down in the 1960s along with the Royal Palace in the middle of the city.
The people of Chengdu speaks a Southern Mandarin Chinese dialect. This dialect has soft tones, which makes Chinese people outside Chengdu comment that Chengdu people speak like baby girls. On the other hand, the dialect in nearbyt Chongqing sounds rough, and are regarded as the speech of baby boys.
In Chengdu blue skies are as uncommon as blue moons. One is more likely to encounter a sky that is almost always cloudy. The people of Chengdu are also on average shorter. The locals say that they are small because their sky is so low. There is an old saying in Chengdu that "the dogs of Shu bark at the sun" to mean someone who, due to unfamiliarity, reacts strongly to something that is very common.
Sichuan Cuisine
The Sichuan cuisine is renowned for being very spicy, due to the use of a particular type of chilli pepper. In fact, this chilli pepper was only introduced in the 17-18th century. Among the famous local specialities of Chengdu Grandma Chen's Bean Curd (Mapo doufu), Chengdu Hot Pot, and Carrying Pole Noodles (Dan Dan Noodles).
History of Chengdu
The name Chengdu means "become a capital". This refers to the founding of the city, in early 4th century BC, when the 9th Kaiming ruler of ancient Shu moved his capital from nearby Pixian to its present location.
In 316BC, the Shu kingdom was conquered by the Qin and a new city was founded by the Qin general Zhang Yi (who in fact argued against the invasion). This was the beginning of the Qin (which by extension, the Chinese) Chengdu. During the Han Dynasty, it was renamed Yìzhou.
Following the fall of the Western Han Dynasty, around the era of the Three Kingdoms, Liu Bei founded the Southwest kingdom of Shu-Han (220-263) with Chengdu as its capital.
During the Tang Dynasty, master poet Li Bai and Du Fu spent some part of their lives in Chengdu. Du Fu lived in the celebrated Caotang (grass-hut) during the second year of his four-years stay (759-762). Today's Caotang, a rather sumptuous house in the traditional style, is a reconstruction.
During the Northern Song Dynasty, around 960AD, Chengdu was the first place to use paper money for general circulation.
Around the end of the Song Dynasty, and again near the end of the Ming Dynasty, rebel leaders set up the capitals of their short-lived kingdoms here, called Dashu and Daxi respectively.
During the Second World War, the government under Chiang Kai-shek fled to Sichuan Province to escape the invading Japanese forces. They brought with them businesspeople, workers and academics, resulting in the founding of many industries and cultural institutions which contributed to making Chendu an important centre.
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