Chongqing

Map

Key data

Items shown in Chinese are kept from the original Chinese source; no English name is available yet.

Highlights

Introduction

• The spicy hotpot city with a dramatic mountain skyline and dazzling night views.

History

• Chongqing was known in ancient times as Yuzhou and Gongzhou, and its Bayu culture has a long history. In the pre-Qin period, the state of Ba was established here, marking the beginning of Ba culture. In the Song dynasty, Gongzhou was elevated to Chongqing Prefecture, and the name "Chongqing" has been used ever since. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, Chongqing relied on Yangtze River shipping to become a major collection and distribution center for goods in the southwest. In modern times, Chongqing developed into an important industrial and commercial city in the southwest thanks to the Yangtze River waterway, and its urban area kept expanding. In the late 20th century, Chongqing served successively as a regional administrative center of the southwest and a city with independent planning status, and in 1997 it was restored as a municipality directly under the central government, entering a new stage of development.

Culture

• Chongqing's culture is rooted in Bayu culture and blends diverse elements such as immigrant culture. The Chongqing dialect belongs to Southwestern Mandarin and is vivid and bold; folk arts such as Sichuan opera and the jinqianban (money-board clapper) have a distinctive charm. The city is famous nationwide for its hot pot culture—spicy, fragrant, and steaming hot pot is the mountain city's way of welcoming guests, and dishes like xiaomian (spicy noodles) and maoxuewang are equally tempting. The ancient town of Ciqikou preserves the legacy of wharf commerce, while Geleshan and Hongyadong carry the city's memories. The "8D magical capital's" three-dimensional transport and stilted buildings let tradition and modernity coexist harmoniously in the mountain city.

Science & Technology

• Chongqing is home to well-known universities such as Chongqing University and Southwest University, ranking among the top in Southwest China for science and education resources. Platforms such as Liangjiang New Area and Western Science City pool research strength, yielding fruitful results in fields including intelligent connected new energy vehicles, electronic information, and biomedicine. Automakers such as Changan and Seres are accelerating their intelligent transformation, while companies such as BOE are driving the development of display industry clusters. Chongqing also hosts a national-level supercomputing center and a number of key laboratories, and is building a science and technology innovation center with nationwide influence.

Economy

• Chongqing's 2025 GDP reached 3,375.793 billion yuan, making it a key economic engine in Southwest China. Automobiles, electronics, and equipment manufacturing are its traditional pillar industries, and the city is one of the world's important laptop production bases; in recent years, new growth drivers such as new energy vehicles and software and information have grown rapidly. Relying on the Yangtze River golden waterway and the New Western Land-Sea Corridor, Chongqing has become an inland hub of opening-up, with busy cargo flows along international logistics routes. Services such as finance, commerce, and cultural tourism are also thriving, and the mountain city's economy is full of vitality.