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]] Chengdu (), 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( Chongqing has controversy to this). More than four thousand years ago, the prehistorical Bronze Age culture of Jinsha () established itself in this region. The fertile Chengdu Plain , on which Chengdu is located, is called ''Tianfu zhi guo'' () 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 1. Ba Jin, the great writer, was born in Chengdu and died in Shanghai in 2005. 2. Ma Huaqing (1991-present), an outstanding secondary student studying in the most prestigious school in Singapore, Hwa Chong Institution. He is also a Christian serving in Hope Church Singapore's youth group. Besides, he is famous in Singapore's HCI for his controversial comments. Check out his blog at http://spaces.msn.com/mahuaqing HISTORY ]] located near Chengdu is one of the World Cultural Heritage Sites together with Mount Qingcheng ]] and Anshun (peaceful And Fluent) Bridge ]] 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
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 House s 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. COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES
Note: Institutions without full-time bachelor programs are not listed. HIGH SCHOOLS
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. 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. SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS
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