穿過重慶和三峽 Chugging through Chongqing and the Three Gorges

Chongqing, once called Chungking, is one of the Five National Central Cities in China. It is traditionally associated with the State of Ba and the Ba who arrived in the area in about 316 BC. As with Beijing, it underwent the same sort of wars and name changes from the late 200s BC through the Ming Dynasty. The area was eventually conquered by the Manchus during the Qing Dynasty with immigration to Chongqing and Sichuan in support of Qing emperor.  Foreigners were first allowed into the area in 1890 when the British Consulate General was opened. The Japanese, French, German, and US consulates were opened in Chongqing between 1896 and 1904. The big excitement came during the Second Sino-Japanese War when Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek made Chongqing his provisional capital. The mountainous environment was protection from bombs leading factories and universities to relocate here. Coming into this area made me realize why so many Chinese pieces of art show mountains shrouded in clouds. Chongqing has over 100 days of fog per year with 68 of those days occurring during the spring and autumn. Of course it’s not all fog. Chongqing is among one of the ten most air-polluted cities in the world; the list includes Beijing, Jinan, Lanzhou, Shijiazhuang, Taiyuan, and Urumqi.