Chongqing

If people ask you what the biggest city in China is and you answer "Chongqing", you might be correct. This huge city, both in terms of land size and total population, is near the end of the navigable part of the Yangtze River for large ships.

Chongqing was a part of Sichuan Province, but it was made a "municipality" in 1997. In China, a municipality is a big city with a big territory. Chongqing is one of four municipalities in the country. It is a city with a long history, and it was important as an inland port near the rich Sichuan region. Traders came overland or by river.

It is located at the place where the Jialing River meets the Yangtze River. Perhaps because the Chongqing area was out of the usual travel routes, the fragile rock carvings at Dazu and the fragile natural cave scenery at Wulong remained comparatively unspoiled. Around the Chongqing urban area, there are some scenic and historical highlights such as Dazu County with ancient rock carvings and art, the rocky scenery at Wulong, the Zigong Dinosaur Museum, the Yangtze River and the 3 Gorges Dam.