Chengdu overview
Updated: 2012-04-06 17:31
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Chengdu, provincial capital of Sichuan province, is located in the Chengdu Plain of southwest China. It covers a land area of 12,100 sq. km. that includes 283.86 sq. km. in downtown areas.
Chengdu has jurisdiction over nine districts, four cities and six counties, with 11.5 million registered as permanent residents. The city stands about 500 meters above the sea level.
It has a subtropical moist monsoon climate, averaging 17.5 Celsius in its annual temperature. The city is covered by forest, which accounts for 36.15 percent of the local area.
The city holds a long history with a profound cultural heritage and natural environment. It has been called, “a land of abundance,” “southern Yangtze River region in Sichuan,” and “Suzhou and Hangzhou of Sichuan.”
In the mid 5th century B.C., the emperor of the Shu Dynasty moved the capital from Guangdu Fanxiang (today’s Shuangliu county) to Chengdu. He constructed city walls and moats.
Chengdu culture is broad in terms of diet, recreation, tea and Taoism. The Three Kingdoms culture has influenced the region profoundly.
The city has transformed into a hub for logistics, trade, finance, technology, transportation, communications in west China, as well as a leading base in manufacturing, services, and agriculture.
Chengdu has been evaluated as a city with great economic vitality, a superb business city, good tourist destination and national model city for environmental protection.
It has won the UN Habitat Award and International Thiess River Award. The World Bank declared, “Chinese mainland benchmark city in investment environment.”
The State Council approved it as “a pilot city for service outsourcing experiment,” and later transformed into a national pilot zone for harmonizing urban and rural development.
Forbes magazine published a report in 2010 indicating that Chengdu could become the fastest growing city in the world in the upcoming decade.