ladies and gentlemen:
on behalf of our travel agency, i would like to extend a welcome to you.wish you have a pleasant stay in chengdu.
there is a saying that “once you come to chengdu ,you do not want to leave ” which reveal the charming of this city.
the splendid chengdu city is renowned for its fertile land and agricultural wealth.it is the capital of sichuan province and the center of its economy culture ,politics and information. with many images, chengdu is a colorful and charming city. city of brocade,city of leisure and eden of the east are several of its widely spread names.
according to historical records “chengdu was built into a city with one year's effort. and then,it became the capital the next year." in chinese, chengdu literally means "the becoming capital”.
the total area of chengdu is about 12600 square kilometers, and the city proper occupies an area of 87 square kilometers.according to the recent population census,chengdu's entire population was close to 11000 million,of which 1/6 live in the urban area lying in the eastern part of chengdu plain,chengdu is strategically situated in western part of the sichuan province by the mingjiang river. it extends about 166 kilometers from east to west about 192 kilometers from north to south.
chengdu enjoys a generally subtropical and monsoon climate.therefore,warm and moist weather dominate most days of a year.the four seasons are clearly demarcated,the average annual temperature is around 16’c ,while the rainfall is about 997.6million meters.
topographically speaking, chengdu is high on the relief map in the northwest but low in the southeast.the highest elevation is 5364 meters and the lowest 387 meters.the average elevation of the city is 500 meters.36.4 percent of the land area of chengdu is occupied by plains while 63 percent is hilly lands and mountions.
for the purpose of administration,chengdu is divided into 7 urban districts, and 12 suburban counties.
the municipal people's congress as the legislative body which enacts all the local laws and supervises their execution is the supreme organ through which the citizens exercise their power.the municipal government of chengdu is the executive body of the highest organ of administration.the city flower is the hibiscus and the ginkgo tree is the city tree.
chengdu is honored as a city of lights ,a sea of flowers, and a home of delicacies.in downtown area,long and wide avenues are dotted with green trees,and pretty flowers are flanked by high-building. chengdu is a beautiful city full of vigor and vitality.besides drinking tea in the local teahouse,and tasting local snacks in some special restaurants,one can either taste the typical sichuan cuisine local wine and find out some local special products like shu embroidery,bamboo-woven porcelain ware and lacquer ware,you would be pleased to immerse into the local chengdu people's slow pace of live.
the excavated remains from yangzi mount proved that there were human beings inhabited in chengdu as early as the later stone age
around 4000-5000 years bc,in the news stone age,people began to live in a much lager scale area.their footprints can be found in chengdu including xinjin, chongzhou and many other counties.
around 400 years bc,the king of the kaiming dynasty moved its capital to chengdu.since then,chengdu has been the capital of sichuan area for more than XX years. what is more, chengdu as a name for this city has never been changed.
in 316 bc libing built the dujiangyan irrigation system.by the mid of the eastern han dynasty,the first public school in china was established by wen weng, a magistrate to the shu prefecture.
chengdu has been a city that many rebels fighting for during the war time. about 7 separated sovereigns were established when the central government was too weak to control this encircled mountainous area. in 24ad, chengjia state was established in chengdu bu gongsun shu.in 221 ad,the shuhan kingdom was built by liubei.in 907 ad,mangjian established the former shu state in chengdu.in 934ad, meng zhixiang established the later shu state in chengdu.in 994ad li shun established the da shun state in chengdu.in 1644ad,zhang xianzhong had the daxi peasant sovereignty established in chengdu.
as we known,that chengdu has been the formal name for this city since its born,there are also many given nicknames, which tells us the history of chengdu city in a special way. the first city in chengdu built in qin dynasty was nicknamed as “the tortoise city ", for people followed a big tortoise crawling to build the wall.
in the western han dynasty, with booming economy, chengdu was a highly famed for brocade. the silk and brocade was sold for the overseas. so,it was called“the city of brocade ”.
as meng chang,the king of the shu state, ordered that the hibiscus planted along the city wall,which made the forty kilometers of the wall as beautiful as brocade, chengdu was known as “the city of hibiscus.”
nowadays, chengdu as a metropolitan in the western region is famous for its booming economy.in fact,its glory could be traced back long ago. as early as western han dynasty, chengdu with the population of 350000 was listed as one of the most flourishing cities together with luoyang linzi handan yuan.it was in tang dynasty that yanghzou was the most prosperous city while chengdu was in the second place. at that time, the long famed brocade in chengdu was booming with the developed economy together with paper, silk, porcelain and the lacquer ware production.in 1023 ad in the song dynasty, a special administration was set in chengdu to regulate jiaozi the earliest currency issued in china.when marco polo, an italian businessman, arrived in chengdu in yuan dynasty,he was deeply impressed by the prosperity and richness, which had been described vividly in his book,travels.
with its flourishing economy, talented scholars were born in chengdu area. sima xiangru and yang xiong were the most prominent scholars in the han dynasty. in the following dynasty, many of the talents either were native of chengdu or had certain romance with chengdu city.that all poets under heaven came to chengdu was the slogan at the tang dynasty. li bai, dufu, and xuetao, sushi and luyou just named a few. and zhangdaqian, xu beihong, guo moruo and marshal chengyi were the proud of chengdu city .
chengdu is proud of its cultural background and scenic beauties. we can see a clear history with all the sites and evidence that exists. on the vast and fertile chengdu plain,there are many historic remains that reveals the past of this city.sangxingdui museum displays the ancient city, ancient kingdom, and ancient shu, which is considered as one of the ten most valuable discoveries in china. the jinsha ruin is anther important remain that has been discovered in recent years.the dujiangyan irrigation system built about XX years age contributes to the fertile land and agricultural wealth of chengdu. in chengdu city, we can visit the royal tomb of wangjian, the wuhou temple, the dufu’thatched cottage, the river viewing pavilion park, and qingyang temple.
around chengdu sity, there are many beautiful and impressive natural scenery sports, such as mt emei, mt qingcheng, mt xilingxueshan etc.those are the best choices to smell the fresh air.
the famous cultural city, chengdu,is not only known for her history of more than 2300 years, but also noted for its leisure life style. chengdu portrays itself as the eden of the east, for it is associated with leisure affluence and romance, just like the orifinal garden of eden of biblical reputation,leisure is definitely the true color of the city.
on a fine day, one can go to a plain tea house, find a bamboo chair,lie on it in the most comfortable position and order a cup of tea. you can half a dozen newspapers and flip through the pages as you like. you might doze off in all the comfort. you might slop tea while watching tea art or various performances, such as the breathing of fire or acrobatics.
the leisure and idleness of chengdu is also reflected in various local snacks.the snacks are delicious yet inexpensive,and a food break is a good way to kill time. after dusk in the summer, the native like to go out to sit on the dikes of the funan river to drink beer,eat snacks, and enjoy the slow pace of life.
