Chongqing

/chawng"ching"/, n. Pinyin.

a city in SE Sichuan province, in S central China, on the Chang Jiang: provisional capital of China 1937-46. 2,400,000.

Also, Chungking.

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or Ch'ung-ch'ing conventional Chungking

City and municipality with provincial status (pop., 1999 est.: city, 3,193,889; 2000 est.: municipality, 30,900,000).

The municipality is bordered by Sichuan, Shaanxi, Hubei, Hunan, and Guizhou provinces and has an area of 8,900 sq mi (23,000 sq km). The leading river port and industrial centre of southwestern China, Chongqing ("Double-Blessed") lies at the confluence of the Yangtze (Chang) and Jialing rivers. In the 11th century BC it was a feudal state under the Western Zhou dynasty. Over the next several centuries its status alternated from being ruled by an empire in northern China to being an independent state. It finally came under Chinese rule in the Ming dynasty, continuing under the Qing dynasty. It was opened to foreign trade in 1890. It played a large role in the revolution of 1911. Once a city of narrow and irregular streets, Chongqing changed greatly as a result of a modernization program introduced during World War II, when it became the Nationalist capital. Since the war it has become an important industrial centre. It is home to Chongqing University (founded 1929).

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