Dazhou (Chinese: 达州; Hanyu Pinyin: dá zhōu; Wade-Giles: ta-chou) is a prefecture-level city in north-eastern Sichuan province. Pinyin (拼音, Pīnyīn) literally means join (together) sounds (a less literal translation being phoneticize, spell or transcription) in Chinese and usually refers to Hànyǔ Pīnyīn (汉语拼音, literal meaning: Han language pinyin), which is a system of romanization (phonetic notation and transliteration to roman script) for Standard Mandarin used in the... Wade-Giles, sometimes abbreviated Wade, is a Romanization (phonetic notation and transliteration) system for the Chinese language based on Mandarin. ... A prefecture-level city (地级市 Pinyin: dìjí shì, literally region-level city) or prefecture-level municipality is an administrative division of the Peoples Republic of China, ranking below a province and above a county in Chinas administrative structure. ... Sichuan (Chinese: 四川; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Ssu-ch`uan; Postal Pinyin: Szechwan and Szechuan) is a province in central-western China with its capital at Chengdu. ...

Geography

Dazhou borders Shaanxi in the north and Chongqing in the south. It is centraly located between the four major cities of Western China, Chongqing, Chengdu, Xi'an and Wuhan. The area is 16,600 km².

History

Dazhou's history goes back to the Eastern Han Dynasty when in 90 AD it was made a county by the name of Liweizhou (历为州). Then until the Liao Dynasty its name was Zaidi (在地. During the Liao and Tang its name was again changed, this time to Tongzhou(通州). Finally in the Song Dynasty it names was changed to the present Dazhou. Notable people from Chinese history from Dazhou include the Three Kingdoms writer Chen Shou, Song Dynasty astronomer Zhang Sixun (张思训), Ming and Qing Dynasty philosopher and educator Tang Zhen(唐甄). Dazhou is also important for its contributions to the Communist Revolution. Red army heroes such as Xu Xiangqian(徐向前)、Li Xiannian(李先念)、Xu Shiyou(许世友)、Wang Weizhou(王维舟)、and Zhang Aiping(张爱萍) were all from or lived in Dazhou. The Three Kingdoms period (Simplified Chinese: 三国; Traditional Chinese: 三國; Pinyin Sānguó) is a period in the history of China. ... Chen Shou (陳壽) (233-297), courtesy name Chengzuo (承祚) was the author of the Sanguo Zhi, a historical account of the Three Kingdoms period of China. ... The Song Dynasty (Chinese: 宋朝) was a ruling dynasty in China from 960-1279. ... Ming redirects here – for other uses of this term see Ming (disambiguation) The Ming Dynasty (Chinese: 明朝; Hanyu Pinyin: ) was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644. ... The Qing Dynasty (Manchu: daicing gurun; Chinese: 清朝; pinyin: qÄ«ng cháo; Wade-Giles: ching chao), sometimes known as the Manchu Dynasty, was founded by the Manchu clan Aisin Gioro, in what is today northeast China, expanded into China proper and the surrounding territories of Inner Asia, establishing... Xu Xiangqian (徐向前; Wade-Giles:Hsu Hsiang-chen) (November 8, 1901 - September 21, 1990) was a prominent Communist military leader in the Peoples Republic of China. ... Lǐ Xiānniàn (1902–June 21, 1992) was President of the Peoples Republic of China between 1983 and 1988 and then president of the Chinese Peoples Political Consultative Conference until his death. ... Zhang Aiping (Wades-Giles: Chang Ai-ping) (January 9, 1908 - July 5, 2003) was a Chinese communist military leader. ...

Administration

It is one of Sichuan's most populous cities with 6,380,000 residents.

District:

• Tongchuan District(通川区)

Counties:

• Da (达县)
• Dazhu (大竹县)
• Xuanhan (宣汉县)
• Kaijiang (开江县)
• Qu (渠县)

City:

• Wanyuan (万源市)

Economy

Dazhou is an important river and land transportation hub for the region. Numerous national highways, expressways, and raillines pass through Dazhou connecting it directly with major cities in China such as Chengdu, Xi'an, Wuhan, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Beijing, etc., making it one of Sichuan's important trade centers.

Dazhou has numerous natural resources including large natural gas fields and an abundance of mineral resources such as salt, coal, manganese, lithium, and limestone. Major agricultural products include pork, beef, and tea. Other industries are chemical production, coal power, metalurgy, textiles, building materials, and processed food.

Tourism

Dazhou is blessed with both cultural and natural attractions. There are several national and provincial cultural sites and many national and provincial protected forests and nature reserves. Xuanhan's Baili Gorges have scenery and rapids comparable to the "Little Three Gorges". Mountains are this area's greatest attraction.

External link

• Official Website(Chinese)