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 228 km 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" (万川毕汇、万商云集). 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 (万县地区), then the prefectural Wanxian City (万县市). It was renamed to Wanzhou in late 1990s. It was part of Quren County of Ba Commandery (巴郡朐忍县) in the Qin dynasty. It became Yangqu County (羊渠县) in 216 (the Eastern Han dynasty). In 230 (the Shu-Han Kingdom), it was renamed to Nanpu (南浦县); in 553 (the Western Wei dynasty), to Yuquan (鱼泉县); in 557 (Northern Zhou dynasty), to Anxiang (安乡县); in 584, to Wanchuan (万川县); and in 598 (Sui dynasty), to Nanpu again. In 619 (Tang dynasty), Nanpu Commandery (南浦郡) was established. In 625, the name was changed to Pu Prefecture (浦州), and in 634, to Wan Prefecture. In 1373 (Yuan dynasty), 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 (万县专区). 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 (龙宝区), Tiancheng (天城区), Wuqiao (五桥区) 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 (移民开发区). Wanxian City's three districts were converted to administrative committees (管理委员会, abbreviated 管委会) 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 67.25 km and east–west width of 97.25 km, covering an area of 3214 km2. Elevations range from 106 m in the town of Tailong (太龙镇) to 1762 m at Shaping Peak (沙坪峰) of the Qiyao Mountains (齐曜山). Bordering county-level divisions: Similar to the city proper of Chongqing, Wanzhou has a monsoon-humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cwa) with short, mild winters, and very hot, humid summers, and is in fact on average 0.5 C-change warmer during the day. The monthly 24-hour average temperature ranges from 7.0 C in January to 28.3 C in August, while the annual mean is 17.95 C.

Subdivisions

The 4 primary subdivisions were 3 migration development areas (Longbao, Tiancheng, Wuqiao) and Jiangnan New District (江南新区). 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). In 2000, the district included 32 towns, 45 townships, 14 sub-districts, and 1277 neighborhood and village committees.

Colleges and universities

Transport

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

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