Wanzhou District ( zh, s=万州区 , t=萬州區 , p=Wànzhōu Qū) is Chongqing's second most populated urban core area on the upper reaches of the

Three Gorges The Three Gorges () are three adjacent and sequential gorges along the middle reaches of the Yangtze River path, in the hinterland of the People's Republic of China. With a subtropical monsoon climate, they are known for their scenery. The T ...

of the

Yangtze River The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ) is the longest river in Eurasia and the third-longest in the world. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains of the Tibetan Plateau and flows including Dam Qu River the longest source of the Yangtze, i ...

in China. It is currently governed as a

district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

Chongqing ChongqingPostal Romanization, Previously romanized as Chungking ();. is a direct-administered municipality in Southwestern China. Chongqing is one of the four direct-administered municipalities under the State Council of the People's Republi ...

Municipality, bordering

Sichuan Sichuan is a province in Southwestern China, occupying the Sichuan Basin and Tibetan Plateau—between the Jinsha River to the west, the Daba Mountains to the north, and the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau to the south. Its capital city is Cheng ...

to the northwest and

Hubei Hubei is a province of China, province in Central China. It has the List of Chinese provincial-level divisions by GDP, seventh-largest economy among Chinese provinces, the second-largest within Central China, and the third-largest among inland ...

to the southeast. It was formerly known as Wanxian or Wan County ( zh, s=万县 , t=萬縣 , p=Wànxiàn , links=no). Prior to Chongqing's formation as a direct-controlled municipality, Wanzhou was part of

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 The Three Gorges Dam (), officially known as Yangtze River Three Gorges Water Conservancy Project () is a hydroelectric gravity dam that spans the Yangtze River near Sandouping in Yiling District, Yichang, Hubei province, central China, downs ...

, 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 The Qin dynasty ( ) was the first Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China. It is named for its progenitor state of Qin, a fief of the confederal Zhou dynasty (256 BC). Beginning in 230 BC, the Qin under King Ying Zheng enga ...

. It became Yangqu County () in 216 (the

Eastern Han dynasty The Han dynasty was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC ...

). In 230 (the Shu-Han Kingdom), it was renamed to Nanpu (); in 553 (the

Western Wei Wei (), known in historiography as the Western Wei (), was an imperial dynasty of China that followed the disintegration of the Northern Wei. One of the Northern dynasties during the era of the Northern and Southern dynasties, it ruled the weste ...

dynasty), to Yuquan (); in 557 ( Northern Zhou dynasty), to Anxiang (); in 584, to Wanchuan (); and in 598 (

Sui dynasty The Sui dynasty ( ) was a short-lived Dynasties of China, Chinese imperial dynasty that ruled from 581 to 618. The re-unification of China proper under the Sui brought the Northern and Southern dynasties era to a close, ending a prolonged peri ...

), to Nanpu again. In 619 (

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...

), Nanpu Commandery () was established. In 625, the name was changed to Pu Prefecture (), and in 634, to Wan Prefecture ( zh, labels=no, s=万州 , p=Wànzhōu). In 1373 (

Yuan dynasty The Yuan dynasty ( ; zh, c=元朝, p=Yuáncháo), officially the Great Yuan (; Mongolian language, Mongolian: , , literally 'Great Yuan State'), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after Div ...

), Wan was demoted to a county ( zh, labels=no, s=万县 , p=Wànxiàn). 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 A prefecture (from the Latin word, "''praefectura"'') is an administrative jurisdiction traditionally governed by an appointed prefect. This can be a regional or local government subdivision in various countries, or a subdivision in certain inter ...

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 Wuxi ( zh, s=无锡, p=Wúxī, ) is a city in southern Jiangsu, China. As of the 2024 census, it had a population of 7,495,000. The city lies in the southern Yangtze delta and borders Lake Tai. Notable landmarks include Lihu Park, the Mt. Lings ...

, and

Chengkou Chengkou County () is a County (People's Republic of China), county in Chongqing municipality of China, municipality, China, and is the northernmost county-level division of Chongqing, bordering the provinces of Shaanxi and Sichuan to the north an ...

. The entire Wanxian City was merged into

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 (, abbreviated ) 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 The Sichuan Basin (), formerly transliterated as the Szechwan Basin, sometimes called the Red Basin, is a lowland region in southwestern China. It is surrounded by mountains on all sides and is drained by the upper Yangtze River and its tributar ...

. 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 County Yunyang County () is a county in the northeast of Chongqing Municipality, China, bordering Hubei Hubei is a province of China, province in Central China. It has the List of Chinese provincial-level divisions by GDP, seventh-largest economy a ...

east *

Shizhu County Shizhu Tujia Autonomous County (), or Shizhu County for short, is located in southeastern Chongqing, China. It is south of the Yangtze River, and borders the Chongqing divisions of Pengshui County to the south, Fengdu County to the southwest, Zhon ...

south * Lichuan,

south *

Zhong County Zhong County or Zhongxian () is a county of Chongqing Municipality, China. The name "Zhong" (忠) means "loyalty." It is named after the historical story of General Ba Manzi, who chose to be killed to keep his Kingdom together. Emperor 李世民 ...

west * Liangping Countywest * Kaijiang County,

north * Kai Countynorth Similar to the city proper of Chongqing, Wanzhou has a

monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in Atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annu ...

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

''Cwa'') 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 (Longbao, Tiancheng, Wuqiao) and Jiangnan New District (). Now Wanzhou is subdivided into 92 township divisions are 16 sub-districts, 33 towns, and 43 townships (see Administrative divisions of the People's Republic of China#Levels). In 2000, the district included 32 towns, 45 townships, 14 sub-districts, and 1277 neighborhood and village committees.

Colleges and universities

* Chongqing Three Gorges University () * Chongqing Three Gorges Medical College () * Chongqing Three Gorges Polytechnic College () * Chongqing Information Technology College () * Chongqing Preschool Education College () * Chongqing Vocational Institute of Safety & Technology () * Chongqing Science And Technology Career Academy ()

Transport

Wanzhou has three Yangtze River crossings. It has two railway stations: Wanzhou North offers high-speed service and Wanzhou offers infrequent conventional services. * China National Highway 318 * Wanzhou Wuqiao Airport

Gallery

File:View of Wanzhou.jpg, View of Wanzhou File:Wzwq panorama.jpg, Wanzhou panorama File:平湖万州 - panoramio.jpg, View of Wanzhou across the river File:Wanzhou Waterfall.jpg, Wanzhou waterfall File:Second Wanzhou Yangtze Bridge.JPG, Second Wanzhou Yangtze Bridge File:Wanzhou Yangtze River Railway Bridge1.JPG, Wanzhou Yangtze River Railway Bridge

References

External links

Official site
(in

Simplified Chinese Simplification, Simplify, or Simplified may refer to: Mathematics Simplification is the process of replacing a mathematical expression by an equivalent one that is simpler (usually shorter), according to a well-founded ordering. Examples include: ...

)
Wanxian Travel
{{authority control Districts of Chongqing