Wanzhou, Chongqing


Wanzhou District is Chongqing's second most populated urban core area on the upper reaches of the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River in China. It is currently governed as a district of Chongqing Municipality, bordering Sichuan to the northwest and Hubei to the southeast. It was formerly known as Wanxian or Wan County. Prior to Chongqing's formation as a direct-controlled municipality, Wanzhou was part of Sichuan province. The urban core of Wanzhou is away from Chongqing's city proper.
The characters for "Wanzhou" mean "myriad-prefecture"; which is derived from the phrase "the place where myriad rivers converge and myriad traders gather". Due to the construction of the Three Gorges Dam, 47% of Wanzhou's old urban area was submerged and had to be relocated.

History

The district was part of Wanxian Prefecture, then the prefectural Wanxian City. It was renamed to Wanzhou in late 1990s.
It was part of Quren County of Ba Commandery in the Qin dynasty. It became Yangqu County in 216. In 230, it was renamed to Nanpu ; in 553, to Yuquan ; in 557, to Anxiang ; in 584, to Wanchuan ; and in 598, to Nanpu again.
In 619, Nanpu Commandery was established. In 625, the name was changed to Pu Prefecture, and in 634, to Wan Prefecture. In 1373, Wan was demoted to a county.
In the 19th century, it was known in English as Wanhsien and Wan County. In 1935, it became Wanxian Prefecture. On 12 December 1992, the State Council abolished Wanxian Prefecture and its subordinate Wanxian City and created the prefecture-level Wanxian City, which administered the districts of Longbao, Tiancheng, Wuqiao and the counties of Kai, Zhong, Liangping, Yunyang, Fengjie, Wushan, Wuxi, and Chengkou.
The entire Wanxian City was merged into Chongqing on 20 December 1997. The merge necessitated the abolishment of Wanxian City and creation of Wanxian District and Wanxian Migration Development Area. Wanxian City's three districts were converted to administrative committees of Wanxian District. The migration development area included the counties formerly in Wanxian City, except Liangping and Chengkou, which were administered by Chongqing directly.
On 22 May 1998, the State Council approved that the two areas named Wanxian were both renamed to Wanzhou. The migration development area later dissolved and its counties were directly controlled by Chongqing. On 19 July 2000, the district's administrative committees were changed to migration development areas.

Sports

The 26,000-capacity Wanzhou Pailou Sports Stadium is located in Wanzhou. It is used mostly for association football and also sometimes for athletics. One stand is covered with a roof.

Geography and climate

Wanzhou spans 30°24′−31°14′ N latitude and 107°55′−108°53′ E longitude, and is situated at the eastern edge of the Sichuan Basin. It reaches a maximal north–south extent of and east–west width of, covering an area of. Elevations range from in the town of Tailong to at Shaping Peak of the Qiyao Mountains. Bordering county-level divisions:
  • Yunyang Countyeast
  • Shizhu Countysouth
  • Lichuan, Hubeisouth
  • Zhong Countywest
  • Liangping Countywest
  • Kaijiang County, Sichuannorth
  • Kai Countynorth
Similar to the city proper of Chongqing, Wanzhou has a monsoon-humid subtropical climate with short, mild winters, and very hot, humid summers, and is in fact on average warmer during the day. The monthly 24-hour average temperature ranges from in January to in August, while the annual mean is.

Subdivisions

The 4 primary subdivisions were 3 migration development areas and Jiangnan New District. Now Wanzhou is subdivided into 92 township divisions are 16 sub-districts, 33 towns, and 43 townships. In 2000, the district included 32 towns, 45 townships, 14 sub-districts, and 1277 neighborhood and village committees.
NameChinese Hanyu PinyinPopulation Area
Gaosuntang Subdistrict高笋塘街道103,9823
Taibai Subdistrict太白街道108,38713.1
Pailou Subdistrict牌楼街道104,3519.8
Shuanghekou Subdistrict双河口街道33,71523
Longdu Subdistrict龙都街道36,13424
Zhoujiaba Subdistrict周家坝街道88,49412
Shahe Subdistrict沙河街道24,91511.2
Zhonggulou Subdistrict钟鼓楼街道85,87338.7
Bai'anba Subdistrict百安坝街道91,94715.8
Wuqiao Subdistrict五桥街道20,67225.7
Chenjiaba Subdistrict陈家坝街道24,74534.75
Xiaozhou town小周镇9,13649
Dazhou town大周镇12,18464
Xinxiang town新乡镇6,683140.2
Sunjia town孙家镇9,73746.6
Gaofeng town高峰镇19,55046.2
Longsha town龙沙镇28,12725
Xiangshui town响水镇16,88959.5
Wuling town武陵镇24,63234.4
Rangdu town瀼渡镇11,61330.7
Ganning town甘宁镇30,873104.8
Tiancheng town天城镇41,76252.4
Xiongjia town熊家镇33,17682.5
Gaoliang town高梁镇49,35737.7
Lihe town李河镇23,26438.7
Fenshui town分水镇60,308220.96
Yujia town余家镇30,45478.2
Houshan town后山镇15,33878.86
Danzi town弹子镇18,31854.6
Changling town长岭镇34,96253.2
Xintian town新田镇34,145104.4
Baiyang town白羊镇38,07834.4
Longju town龙驹镇31,982241.5
Zouma town走马镇26,01776.5
Luotian town罗田镇27,66981.7
Tailong town太龙镇14,14863
Changtan town长滩镇17,904101.3
Tai'an town太安镇19,58347.2
Baitu town白土镇16,79054.6
Guocun town郭村镇21,32624.4
Zhushan Township柱山乡16,33153.9
Tiefeng Township铁峰乡7,93450
Xikou Township溪口乡5,69539.2
Changping Township长坪乡8,58044.3
Yanshan Township燕山乡9,84556.4
Lishu Township梨树乡6,11651.02
Puzi Township普子乡8,295 85.7
Huangbo Township黄柏乡10,94931
Jiuchi Township九池乡17,70521.5
Cizhu Township茨竹乡5,27237.8
Debao Tujia Ethnic Township地宝土家族乡5,50244.4
Henghe Tujia Ethnic Township恒合土家族乡13,60681.9

Colleges and universities

Wanzhou has three Yangtze River crossings. It has two railway stations: Wanzhou North offers high-speed service and Wanzhou offers infrequent conventional services.