Chengdu
Prefecture-level and sub-provincial city in Sichuan, China / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Chengdu[lower-alpha 1] is the capital city of the Chinese province of Sichuan. With a population of 20,937,757 at the 2020 Census,[6] it is the fourth most populous city in China, and it is the only city with a population of over 20 million apart from direct-administered municipalities. It is traditionally the hub of Western China, as well as being one of the nine national central cities of China.
Chengdu
成都 Chengtu, Ch'eng-tu | |
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City of Chengdu | |
Nicknames: | |
Coordinates (Tianfu Square): 30°39′36″N 104°03′48″E | |
Country | China |
Province | Sichuan |
Municipal seat | Wuhou District |
Divisions - County-level | 12 districts, 5 county-level cities, 3 counties |
Government | |
• Type | Sub-provincial city |
• Body | Chengdu Municipal People's Congress |
• CCP Secretary | Shi Xiaolin |
• Congress Chairman | Li Zhongbin |
• Mayor | Wang Fengchao |
• CPPCC Chairman | Zhang Shan |
Area | |
• Prefecture-level and sub-provincial city | 14,378.18 km2 (5,551.45 sq mi) |
• Urban | 3,679.9 km2 (1,420.8 sq mi) |
• Metro | 4,558.8 km2 (1,760.2 sq mi) |
• Downtown | 465.88 km2 (179.88 sq mi) |
Elevation | 500 m (1,600 ft) |
Highest elevation | 5,364 m (17,598 ft) |
Lowest elevation | 378 m (1,240 ft) |
Population (2020 census)[3] | |
• Prefecture-level and sub-provincial city | 20,937,757 |
• Density | 1,500/km2 (3,800/sq mi) |
• Urban | 15,419,445 |
• Urban density | 4,200/km2 (11,000/sq mi) |
• Metro | 16,045,577 |
• Metro density | 3,500/km2 (9,100/sq mi) |
• Major Ethnic group | Han |
GDP[4] | |
• Prefecture-level & sub-provincial city | CN¥ 2.082 trillion US$ 310 billion |
• Per capita | CN¥ 97,893 US$ 14,557 |
Time zone | UTC+08:00 (China Standard) |
Postal code | 610000–611944 |
Area code | (0)28 |
ISO 3166 code | CN-SC-01 |
License Plate Prefix | 川A and 川G |
Tree | Ginkgo biloba |
Flower | Hibiscus mutabilis |
HDI (2015) | 0.791[5] (21st) – high |
Website | Chengdu.gov.cn |
Chengdu | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Chinese | 成都 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hanyu Pinyin | Chéngdū | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Postal | Chengtu | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Literal meaning | "The Established Capital City" | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Former name | |||||||||||||||||||
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Xījīng | |||||||||||||||||||
Chinese | 西京 | ||||||||||||||||||
Literal meaning | Western Capital | ||||||||||||||||||
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Nicknames | |||||||||||||||||
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City of Brocade | |||||||||||||||||
Traditional Chinese | 錦城 | ||||||||||||||||
Simplified Chinese | 锦城 | ||||||||||||||||
Literal meaning | Brocade City | ||||||||||||||||
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City of Hibiscus | |||||||||||||||||
Chinese | 蓉城 | ||||||||||||||||
Literal meaning | Hibiscus City | ||||||||||||||||
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Chengdu is in central Sichuan. The surrounding Chengdu Plain is known as the "Country of Heaven"[lower-alpha 2] and the "Land of Abundance." Its prehistoric settlers included the Sanxingdui culture. The site of Dujiangyan, an ancient irrigation system, is designated as a World Heritage Site.[7] The Jin River flows through the city. Chengdu's culture largely reflects that of its province, Sichuan; in 2011, it was recognized by UNESCO as a city of gastronomy.[8] It is associated with the giant panda, a Chinese national symbol, which inhabits the area of Sichuan; the city is home to the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding.
Founded by the Kingdom of Shu, Chengdu is unique as a major Chinese settlement that has maintained its name mostly unchanged throughout the imperial, republican, and communist eras. It was the capital of Liu Bei's Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms Era, as well as several other local kingdoms during the Middle Ages.[9] During World War II, refugees from eastern China fleeing from the Japanese settled in Chengdu. After the war, Chengdu was briefly the capital of the Nationalist republican government until it withdrew to Taipei on the island of Taiwan. Under the PRC, Chengdu's importance as a link between Eastern China and Western China expanded, with railways built to Chongqing in 1952, and Kunming and Tibet afterward.[9] In the 1960s, Chengdu became an important defense industry hub.
Chengdu is now one of the most important economic, financial, commercial, cultural, transportation, research and communication centers in China. Its economy is diverse, characterized by the machinery, automobile, medicine, food, and information technology industries. Chengdu is a leading financial hub, ranking 35th globally the 2021 Global Financial Centres Index.[10] Chengdu also hosts many international companies; more than 300 Fortune 500 companies have established branches in Chengdu.[11] Chengdu is the third Chinese city with two international airports after Beijing and Shanghai.[12] Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport, and the newly built Tianfu International Airport, a hub of Air China and Sichuan Airlines, is one of the 30 busiest airports in the world, and the Chengdu railway station is one of the six biggest in China. Chengdu is considered a "Beta + (global second-tier)" city classification (together with Barcelona and Washington, D.C.) according to the GaWC.[13] As of 2023, the city also hosts 23 foreign consulates, the fourth most in China behind Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou.[14] Chengdu is the seat of the Western Theater Command region of the People's Liberation Army.[15] In 2023, Chengdu became the third Chinese city to host the 31st FISU Summer World University Games, after Beijing 2001 and Shenzhen 2011. It is considered one of the better cities in China to live.[16][17]
Chengdu is one of the world's top 25 cities by scientific research output,[18] and home to the greatest number of universities and research institutes in Western China, notably Sichuan University, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu University of Technology, Sichuan Normal University, and Xihua University.[19]
The name Chengdu is attested in sources dating back to the Warring States period. It has been called the only major city in China to have remained at an unchanged location with an unchanged name throughout the imperial, republican, and communist eras.[20] However, it also had other names; for example, it was briefly known as "Xijing" (Western Capital) in the 17th century.[21] Etymology of the name is unclear. The earliest and most widely known explanation, although not generally accepted by modern scholars,[22] is provided in the 10th-century geographical work Universal Geography of the Taiping Era, which states that the ninth king of Shu's Kaiming dynasty named his new capital Chengdu after a statement by King Tai of Zhou that a settlement needed "one year to become a town, two to become a city, and three to become a metropolis."[lower-alpha 3][23] (The character for cheng 成 may mean "turned into" while du 都 can mean either a metropolis or a capital).
The present spelling is based on pinyin romanization; its Postal Map romanization was "Chengtu." Its former status as the seat of the Chengdu Prefecture prompted Marco Polo's spellings "Sindafu," "Sin-din-fu," &c.[24][25] and the Protestant missionaries' romanization "Ching-too Foo."[26]
Although the official name of the city has remained (almost) constant, the surrounding area has sometimes taken other names, including "Yizhou." Chinese nicknames for the city include the "Turtle City", variously derived from the old city walls' shape on a map or a legend that Zhang Yi had planned their course by following a turtle's tracks; the "Brocade City" (see Sichuan brocade), a contraction of the earlier "City of the Brocade Official," after an imperial office established under the Western Han; the "Hibiscus City" (Rongcheng, 蓉城), from the hibiscus which King Mengchang of the Later Shu ordered planted upon the city wall during the 10th century.[1][27][28]
According to Étienne de la Vaissière, "Baghshūr" (lit. 'pond of salt water') may be the Sogdian name for the region of Chengdu. This toponym is attested near Merv, but not far from Chengdu are found the large salt water wells of the Yangtze basin.[29]
The city logo adopted in 2011 is inspired by the Golden Sun Bird, an ancient relic unearthed in 2001 from the Jinsha Site.[30]
Early history
Archaeological discoveries at the Sanxingdui and Jinsha Site have established that the area surrounding Chengdu was inhabited over four thousand years ago, in the 18th–10th century BC. At the time of China's Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties, it represented a separate ancient bronze-wielding culture that, following its partial sinification, became known to the Chinese as Shu.[31][32] Shu was conquered by Qin in 316 BC, and the settlement was re-founded by Qin general Zhang Yi. (A Chinese legend explains the town's nickname "Turtle City" by claiming Zhang planned the course of his city walls by following a turtle's tracks.) Although he had argued against the invasion, the settlement thrived, and the additional resources from Sichuan helped enable the First Emperor of Qin to unify the Warring States, which had succeeded the Zhou.
Pre-Qin to Qin and Han dynasties
In the early stage of the Xia dynasty or even earlier, the ancient Shu Kingdom located on the Chengdu Plain has formed a relatively developed bronze civilization, becoming an important source of Chinese civilization and one of the birthplaces of the Chinese nation. According to records, there were five dynasties in the ancient Shu Kingdom, and their capitals were Qushang (now Wenjiang District, Chengdu), Piyi (now Pidu District), Xindu, and Guangdu. At the end of the Spring and Autumn Period (around the 4th century BC), the fifth King Kaiming moved the capital to Chengdu. According to "Taiping Huanyu Ji," the name of the city is borrowed from the history of the establishment of the capital in the Western Zhou dynasty. The allusions of Zhou Wang Qianqi's "one year, he lived in a cluster, two years became a city, and three years Chengdu," because of the name Chengdu, it has been used to this day. Therefore, Chengdu has become a rare city in China and the world that has not changed its name since its establishment. Some people think that Chengdu is a transliteration of ancient Shu place names. There is a saying that "Guangdu, Xindu and Chengdu" are collectively referred to as the "Three Capitals of Ancient Shu." Nowadays, there are many cultural relics of ancient Shu Kingdom in Chengdu Plain, such as Sanxingdui Ruins, Jinsha Ruins, Yufu Ancient City Ruins, Wangcong Temple, etc. Jinsha Ruins located in the urban area of Chengdu is a peak of the development of ancient Shu culture.
The Golden Mask of the Shang and Zhou dynasties at the Jinsha Site.
The ancient state of Shu was the first target to be conquered by the Qin state in the process of unifying the world. King Huiwen of Qin had prepared for this for many years, and opened up the Shiniu Road (that is, the Jinniu Road) from Qin to Shu. In 316 BC, King Huiwen of Qin took advantage of the mutual attack between Ba and Shu, and sent Sima Cuo to lead his army into Shu along the Shiniu Road, and they captured the land in a few months. After that, the king of Qin established three abolitions of Shu Hou, and finally established Shu County, and the county seat of Chengdu County was established in Chengdu, the former capital of Shu. In 311 BC, Zhang Yi of the Qin dynasty built the Chengdu city wall according to the system of the capital Xianyang, and built a large city and a small city. In 256 BC, King Zhao of Qin appointed Li Bing as the governor of Shu County. During his tenure, he presided over the construction of the world-famous Dujiangyan Water Conservancy Project. The Chengdu Plain has been fertile and wild for thousands of miles since then. After decades of operation, Chengdu replaced Guanzhong Plain in the late Qin dynasty and was called the "Land of Abundance," and this reputation has continued to this day.
During the Han dynasty, the Chengdu economy, especially its brocade industry, prospered, becoming an important source of tribute to the court. The imperial court invested in Chengdu and specially set up Jinguan management and built "Jinguan City" in the southwest of Chengdu, "Jinguan City" and "Jincheng" becoming nicknames for Chengdu. In the second year of Emperor Ping of the Yuan dynasty, the population of Chengdu reached 76,000 households, or about 354,000 people, making it one of the most populous cities at that time. Towards the six major cities. In the third year of the reign of Emperor Jing of the Han dynasty (141 BC), the Wen Dang, the prefect of Shu County, established the world's earliest local government-run school, "Wenweng Shishi," in Chengdu. In the Han dynasty, Chengdu's literature and art also reached a high level. All the most famous literary masters in the Han dynasty were from Chengdu, including Sima Xiangru, Yang Xiong, and Wang Bao.
In the former Han dynasty, the whole country was divided into 14 prefectural governors' departments, among which the Yizhou governor was established in Luoxian (now Guanghan City, Sichuan), and the governor later moved to Chengdu. In the first year of Emperor Guangwu's reign (25 years) in the Eastern Han dynasty, Gongsun Shu established himself as the emperor in Chengdu, and the country's name was "married family." In the twelfth year of Jianwu in the Later Han dynasty (36 years), the Great Sima Wuhan of the Eastern Han dynasty finally captured Chengdu after five years of war, and his family perished. In the fifth year of Zhongping (188), Emperor Ling of Han, the court accepted Liu Yan's suggestion and changed the provincial governors to state shepherds with actual recruitment and command power. In the fifth year of Chuping (194), it moved to Chengdu. At that time, the Yizhou Provincial Governor's Department was the place where the Hu people in the Western Regions were operating.[33][34][35]
Imperial era
Under the Han, the brocade produced in Chengdu became fashionable and was exported throughout China. A "Brocade Official" (錦官; jǐnguān) was established to oversee its production and transaction. After the fall of the Eastern Han, Liu Bei ruled Shu, the southwestern of the Three Kingdoms, from Chengdu. His minister Zhuge Liang called the area the "Land of Abundance." Under the Tang, Chengdu was considered the second most prosperous city in China after Yangzhou.[lower-alpha 4] Both Li Bai and Du Fu lived in the city. Li Bai praised it as "lying above the empyrean." The city's present Caotang ("Grass Hall") was constructed in 1078 in honor of an earlier, more humble structure of that name erected by Du Fu in 760, the second year of his 4-year stay. The Taoist Qingyang Gong ("Green Goat Temple") was built in the 9th century.
Chengdu was the capital of Wang Jian's Former Shu from 907 to 925, when it was conquered by the Later Tang. The Later Shu was founded by Meng Zhixiang in 934, with its capital at Chengdu. Its King Mengchang beautified the city by ordering hibiscus to be planted upon the city walls.
The Song conquered the city in 965, introducing the first widely used paper money in the world. Su Shi praised it as "the southwestern metropolis." At the fall of the Song, a rebel leader set up a short-lived kingdom known as Great Shu (大蜀, Dàshǔ). Allegedly the Mongols called for the death of a million people in the city but the city's population had less than 30,000 residents (not Chengdu prefecture). The aged males who had not fled were killed while in typical fashion, the women, children and artisans were enslaved and deported. During the Yuan dynasty, most of Sichuan's residents were deported to Hunan during the insurgency of the western ethnic tribes of western Sichuan. Marco Polo visited Chengdu[24][36] and wrote about the Anshun Bridge or an earlier version of it.[lower-alpha 5]
At the fall of the Ming, the rebel Zhang Xianzhong established his Great Western Kingdom (大西) with its capital at Chengdu; it lasted only from 1643 to 1646.[21] Zhang was said to have massacred a large number of people in Chengdu and throughout Sichuan. In any case, Chengdu was said to have become a virtual ghost town frequented by tigers[37] and the depopulation of Sichuan necessitated the resettlement of millions of people from other provinces during the Qing dynasty. Following the Columbian Exchange, the Chengdu Plain became one of China's principal sources of tobacco. Pi County was considered to have the highest quality in Sichuan, which was the center of the country's cigar and cigarette production, the rest of the country long continuing to consume snuff instead.[26]
Modern era
In 1911, Chengdu's branch of the Railway Protection Movement helped trigger the Wuchang Uprising, which led to the Xinhai Revolution that overthrew the Qing dynasty.[38][39]
During World War II, the capital city of China was forced to move inland from Nanjing to Wuhan in 1937 and from Wuhan to Chengdu, then from Chengdu to Chongqing in 1938, as the Kuomintang (KMT) government under Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek ultimately retreated to Sichuan to escape from the invading Japanese forces. They brought with them into Sichuan business people, workers, and academics who founded many of the industries and cultural institutions which continue to make Chengdu an important cultural and commercial production center.[33]
Chengdu became a military center for the KMT to regroup in the War of Resistance. Chengdu was beyond the reach of the Imperial Japanese ground forces and escort fighter planes. However, the Japanese frequently flew in the then-highly advanced twin-engine long-ranged G3M "Nell" medium bombers to conduct massive aerial bombardments of both civilian and military targets in Chongqing and Chengdu.[40] The massed formation of the G3M bombers provided heavy firepower against Chinese fighter planes assigned to the defense of Chongqing and Chengdu, which continued to cause problems for the Japanese attacks.[41][42]
Slow and vulnerable obsolescent Chinese fighter aircraft burning low-grade fuel were still sufficiently dangerous in the hands of capable pilots against the Japanese schnellbomber-terror bombing raiders;[43] on 4 November 1939 for instance, Capt. Cen Zeliu (Wade-Giles: Shen Tse-Liu) led his 17th Fighter Squadron, 5th Fighter Group of seven cannon-equipped Dewoitine D.510 fighters in a level head-on attack against an incoming coming raid of 72 IJANF G3M bombers (Capt. Cen chose this tactic knowing that the operation of the Hispano-Suiza HS.404 20mm autocannon in his D.510 is likely to fail under the g-loads of a high-deflection diving attack), with Capt. Cen pummeling the lead G3M of the IJN's 13th Kōkūtai's CO Captain Kikushi Okuda with cannon fire, sending the G3M crashing down in flames over Chengdu, along with three other G3M bombers destroyed in the Chengdu raid that day.[44] With the death of Captain Okuda in the air battle over Chengdu, the IJN Kaigun-daisa (海軍大佐) became the highest-ranking IJN Air officer to be killed-in-action in the War of Resistance/World War II thus far.[45]
In mid-late 1940, unknown to the Americans and European allies, the Imperial Japanese appeared in the skies over Chongqing and Chengdu with the world's most advanced fighter plane at the time: the A6M "Zero" fighter that dominated the skies over China against the increasingly obsolete Russian-made Polikarpov I-15/I-153s and I-16s that were the principal fighter planes of the Chinese Nationalist Air Force.[46] This would later prove to be a rude awakening for the Allied forces in the Pacific War following the attack on Pearl Harbor.[47] One of the first American ace fighter pilots of the war and original volunteer fighter pilot for the Chinese Nationalist Air Force, Major Huang Xinrui (nicknamed "Buffalo" by his comrades) died as a result of battling the Zero fighters along with his squadronmates Cen Zeliu and Lin Heng (younger brother of renowned architect Lin Huiyin) defending Chengdu on 14 March 1941.[48][49][46][50]
Following the attack on Pearl Harbor at the end of 1941, the United States began setting up stations at airbases in China. In 1944, the American XX Bomber Command launched Operation Matterhorn, an ambitious plan to base B-29 Superfortresses in Chengdu and strategically bomb the Japanese Home Islands.[51] The operating base was located in Xinjin Airport in the southwestern part of the Chengdu metropolitan area.[52][53] Because the operation required a massive airlift of fuel and supplies over the Himalayas, it was not a significant military success, but it did earn Chengdu the distinction of launching the first serious retaliation against the Japanese homeland.[54]
During the Chinese Civil War, Chengdu was the last city on the Chinese mainland to be held by the Kuomintang. President Chiang Kai-shek and his son Chiang Ching-kuo directed the defense of the city from Chengdu Central Military Academy until 1949, when Communist forces took the city on 27 December. The People's Liberation Army took the city without any resistance after a deal was negotiated between the People's Liberation Army and the commander of the KMT Army guarding the city. On 10 December the remnants of the Nationalist Chinese government evacuated to Taiwan.[55][56]
The Chengdu Tianfu District Great City is a sustainable planned city that will be outside of Central Chengdu, and is expected to be completely built later in the decade.[when?] The city is also planned to be self-sustaining, with every residence being a two-minute walk from a park.[57]
The Great City
In 2019, Chengdu overtook Shenzhen, China's technology hub, as the best-performing Chinese economy.[58] The city has surged in population in the last two decades.[59] Investments into a Europe-Chengdu Express Railway have been made, providing even more opportunity for the city to grow.[58] As a way to preserve farmland and accommodate the growing population of Chengdu, China is building a hyper-dense satellite city centered around a central mass-transit hub called the Great City where any destination within the city is within a 15-minute walk.[60][61] This proto-type city is intended to provide affordable, high-quality lifestyle, which provides people-oriented spaces that does not require a car to navigate.[61]
Their current urban-planning focus in the city of Chengdu is to make the city 'a city within a park' rather than creating parks within a city.[59] The Great City falls in line with the Chengdu 'park city' initiative, prioritizing the environment, public space and quality of life. It will consist of 15% park and green space and be situated on a 1.3 km2 (0.50 sq mi) area.[61] Although 25% of the space will be dedicated to roads, one half of the roads will be pedestrian-oriented. This transit system provides direct transport to Chengdu itself.[60] It is expected that the city will consume 48% less energy than cities of similar size.[61]
The goal of the 'park city' project is to allow a city like Chengdu to compete with Beijing and Shanghai without stripping the city of its character.[59] The city of Chengdu is already known for its focus on quality of life, which includes affordable housing, good public schools, trees and bike lanes. However, this project is considered an urban renewal project, and to carry out this project, demolitions and forced evictions are occurring.[60] The Great City may be, in part, compensation for urban renewal project going on in Chengdu. The Great City fulfills the need for affordable housing as Chengdu carries out demolitions.
The vast plain on which Chengdu is located has an elevation ranging from 450 to 720 meters (1,480 to 2,360 feet).
Northwest Chengdu is bordered by the high and steep Longmen Mountains in the north-west and in the west by the Qionglai Mountains, the elevation of which exceeds 3,000 m (9,800 ft) and includes Miao Jiling (5,364 m, 17,598 ft) and Xiling Snow Mountain (5,164 m, 16,942 ft). The western mountainous area is also home to a large primitive forest with abundant biological resources and a giant panda habitat. East of Chengdu stands the low Longquan Mountains and the west bordering area of the hilly land of middle reaches of Min River, an area noted by several converging rivers. Since ancient times, Chengdu has been known as "the Abundant Land" owing to its fertile soil, favorable climate, and novel Dujiangyan Irrigation System.
Chengdu is located at the western edge of the Sichuan Basin and sits on the Chengdu Plain; the dominating terrain is plains. The prefecture ranges in latitude from 30° 05' to 31° 26' N, while its longitude ranges from 102° 54' to 104° 53' E, stretching for 192 kilometers (119 mi) from east to west and 166 km (103 mi) south to north, administering 12,390 km2 (4,780 sq mi) of land. Neighboring prefectures are Deyang (NE), Ziyang (SE), Meishan (S), Ya'an (SW), and the Ngawa Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture (N). The urban area, with an elevation of 500 m (1,600 ft), features a few rivers, three of them being the Jin, Fu, and Sha Rivers. Outside of the immediate urban area, the topography becomes more complex: to the east lies the Longquan Mountains (龙泉山脉) and the Penzhong Hills (盆中丘陵); to the west lie the Qionglai Mountains, which rise to 5,364 m (17,598 ft) in Dayi County. The lowest point in Chengdu Prefecture, at 378 m (1,240 ft), lies in the southeast in Jintang County.
Chengdu has a monsoon-influenced humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cwa) and is largely warm with high relative humidity all year. It has four distinct seasons, with moderate rainfall concentrated mainly in the warmer months, and relieved from both sweltering summers and freezing winters. The Qin Mountains (Qinling) to the far north help shield the city from cold Siberian winds in the winter; because of this, the short winter is milder than in the Lower Yangtze. The 24-hour daily mean temperature in January is 5.9 °C (42.6 °F), and snow is rare but there are a few periods of frost each winter. The summer is hot and humid, but not to the extent of the "Three Furnaces" cities of Chongqing, Wuhan, and Nanjing, all of which lie in the Yangtze basin.[62] The 24-hour daily mean temperature in July and August is around 25 °C (77 °F), with afternoon highs sometimes reaching 33 °C (91 °F); sustained heat as found in much of eastern China is rare. Rainfall occurs most frequently and is concentrated in July and August, with very little of it in the cooler months. Chengdu also has one of the lowest annual sunshine totals nationally, with less sunshine annually than much of Northern Europe, and most days are overcast even if without rain. This is especially so in the winter months, when it is nearly continuously grey, compounded by the poor air quality. With monthly percent possible sunshine ranging from 15 percent in December to 32 percent in August, the city receives 1006 hours of bright sunshine annually. Spring (March–April) tends to be sunnier and warmer in the day than autumn (October–November). The annual mean is 16.9 °C (62.4 °F), and extremes have ranged from −6.5 °C (20 °F) to 39.4 °C (102.9 °F).
Climate data for Chengdu (Xindu District), elevation 515 m (1,690 ft), (1991–2020 normals) | |||||||||||||
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Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Record high °C (°F) | 18.9 (66.0) |
24.0 (75.2) |
31.8 (89.2) |
32.5 (90.5) |
35.2 (95.4) |
37.5 (99.5) |
37.7 (99.9) |
39.4 (102.9) |
36.2 (97.2) |
30.1 (86.2) |
26.2 (79.2) |
18.4 (65.1) |
39.4 (102.9) |
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 9.5 (49.1) |
12.5 (54.5) |
17.4 (63.3) |
23.2 (73.8) |
27.1 (80.8) |
29.0 (84.2) |
30.5 (86.9) |
30.3 (86.5) |
26.1 (79.0) |
21.1 (70.0) |
16.4 (61.5) |
10.9 (51.6) |
21.2 (70.1) |
Daily mean °C (°F) | 5.9 (42.6) |
8.5 (47.3) |
12.7 (54.9) |
17.9 (64.2) |
21.9 (71.4) |
24.5 (76.1) |
26.1 (79.0) |
25.6 (78.1) |
22.0 (71.6) |
17.5 (63.5) |
12.7 (54.9) |
7.4 (45.3) |
16.9 (62.4) |
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 3.3 (37.9) |
5.7 (42.3) |
9.3 (48.7) |
13.9 (57.0) |
17.9 (64.2) |
21.1 (70.0) |
22.7 (72.9) |
22.3 (72.1) |
19.3 (66.7) |
15.1 (59.2) |
10.1 (50.2) |
4.9 (40.8) |
13.8 (56.8) |
Record low °C (°F) | −6.5 (20.3) |
−2.6 (27.3) |
−1.8 (28.8) |
4.0 (39.2) |
6.3 (43.3) |
14.2 (57.6) |
16.6 (61.9) |
16.0 (60.8) |
12.2 (54.0) |
3.1 (37.6) |
0.2 (32.4) |
−4.1 (24.6) |
−6.5 (20.3) |
Average precipitation mm (inches) | 7.8 (0.31) |
9.7 (0.38) |
20.4 (0.80) |
41.8 (1.65) |
66.8 (2.63) |
109.1 (4.30) |
195.1 (7.68) |
200.3 (7.89) |
110.5 (4.35) |
38.9 (1.53) |
14.1 (0.56) |
5.6 (0.22) |
820.1 (32.3) |
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm) | 6.9 | 7.1 | 10.3 | 12.0 | 13.1 | 14.6 | 16.1 | 14.6 | 14.5 | 13.7 | 6.7 | 5.4 | 135 |
Average snowy days | 1.3 | 0.4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 2.1 |
Average relative humidity (%) | 80 | 77 | 74 | 73 | 70 | 76 | 82 | 82 | 82 | 82 | 81 | 81 | 78 |
Mean monthly sunshine hours | 48.8 | 53.8 | 85.6 | 112.5 | 117.4 | 105.2 | 121.3 | 130.6 | 71.2 | 56.5 | 58.8 | 44.2 | 1,005.9 |
Percent possible sunshine | 15 | 17 | 23 | 29 | 28 | 25 | 28 | 32 | 19 | 16 | 19 | 14 | 22 |
Source: China Meteorological Administration[63][64][65] |