Location of Zigong City jurisdiction (yellow) within Sichuan

Zigong (simplified Chinese: 自贡; traditional Chinese: 自貢; pinyin: Zìgòng; Wade-Giles: Tzu-kung), ancient name Ziliujing and Gongjing, is a prefecture-level city and the third largest city in Sichuan Province, in southwest China. Granted the recognition as one of the Historical and Cultural Cities of China by the State Council of the People's Republic. Zigong has long been renowned as "Salt City" for its brine extraction techniques and the attendant salt-related culture. It has had the Zigong Salt Museum since 1736. The Zigong area's population is approximately 3.2 million (which covers five major districts and rural areas). The Fuxi River, a tributary to the Yangtze River, snakes through the city's core. The area is very humid and the visibility can be reduced dramatically in the area due to ground fog. The humidity and fog of Zigong can be attributed to that it sits on what was once a vast inland sea. Changes in the environment caused the water levels to subside leaving salt, brine, and natural gas. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 713 × 600 pixelsFull resolution‎ (880 × 740 pixels, file size: 96 KB, MIME type: image/png) File historyClick on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 713 × 600 pixelsFull resolution‎ (880 × 740 pixels, file size: 96 KB, MIME type: image/png) File historyClick on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. ... Simplified Chinese character (Simplified Chinese: or ; traditional Chinese: or ; pinyin: or ) is one of two standard sets of Chinese characters of the contemporary Chinese written language. ... Traditional Chinese characters refers to one of two standard sets of printed Chinese characters. ... Pinyin, more formally called Hanyu Pinyin (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; Pinyin: ), is the most common variant of Standard Mandarin romanization system in use. ... 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; pinyin: Sìchuān; Wade-Giles: Ssu-ch`uan; non-standard transliteration: Szechwan) is a province in central-western China with its capital at Chengdu. ... For the sports equipment manufacturer, see Brine, Corp. ... For other uses, see Salt (disambiguation). ... Zigong Salt History Museum is a museum in the salt town of Zigong in Sichuan Province in western China. ... The Yangtze River or Chang Jiang (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; Pinyin: ), or Drichu in Tibetan (Tibetan: འབ; Wylie: bri chu) is the longest river in Asia and the third longest in the world, after the Nile in Africa, and the Amazon in South America. ...

During the summer months the temperatures can reach to 40°C (104° F) during the winter months the temperatures hover around 15.5° C (60° F). The humidity hovers between 80% and 90% year round.

Coordinates: ( 29°20′6.60″N, 104°46′25.39″E)

Zigong is situated south of the Sichuan basin hill country. To the East of Zigong is Luzhou and to the west of Zigong is Leshan. To Zigong's south is Yibin and to the north-east is the city of Neijiang. Luzhou (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Lu-chou), most well-known for its Alcoholic Beverages, is a prefecture-level city in Sichuan Province, Peoples Republic of China, with an urban population of 394,400 (2005). ... Leshan (Simplified Chinese: 乐山; Traditional Chinese: 樂山; Pinyin: Lèshān; Wade-Giles: Le-shan) is a prefecture-level city in Sichuan province of the Peoples Republic of China. ... Yibin (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: Yíbīn; Wade-Giles: I-pin) is a prefecture-level city in south central China, in southern Sichuan Province, located at the junction of the Min and Yangtze Rivers. ... Neijiang (Chinese: 内江; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Nei-chiang) is a prefecture-level city in the central Sichuan Province, in south central China, with a population of about 300,000. ...

In 1939, two older cities were combined to make Zigong - Ziliujing (some have romanized this name as "Tzeliutsing") and Gongjing to be named Zigong. The Zigong name is a combination of both older cities names. Today there are four municipal districts and two counties of the Zigong area: the Ziliujing District (meaning "Artesian well"), the Gongjing District (meaning "Tribute Well"), the Da'an District, and the Yantan (meaning "along the river") District. The two rural counties of Zigong are Fushun County, and Rong County (Rongxian).

Both previous cities - Gongjing and Ziliujing made up what had become one of the busiest saltworks (or saltyards as they are called locally) in China - the Furong Saltyard. The main products were a uniquely rich salt called "hua" salt - which dominated salt from the other Sichuan producers and the "ba" salt which became popular in other provinces in China.

The area of Zigong has a long history in ancient China - with the invention and development of "Percussion Drilling" being one of the city's accomplishments. There are essentially two cities - that of the old and the new. The city was reached by rail in the 1950s. Several four lane highways reach the city from other cities in the Sichuan province. The new city of Zigong has been modernizing since the late 1970s - but more rapidly since the early 1990s. The old "Salt" city is based on industry and farmland and a new "Tourism" city which caters primarily to Chinese tourists (as Zigong is better known within mainland China). Zigong is host to the Sichuan University of Science and Engineering as well as a new High Technology Zone.

Zigong Salt Museum

Image File history File linksMetadata Zigongsaltmuseumjpgia0. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Zigongsaltmuseumjpgia0. ...

Zigong Dinosaur Museum

Sinraptor at the Zigong Dinosaur Museum

The museum is a wonderful place for kids

In 1980s, vast dinosaur fossils were excavated in the Dashanpu Formation, 7 km north-east from downtown Zigong, including a dinosaur named after the township, Dashanpusaurus. Because of the unique and intact bone remains, Zigong has ever since been attracting paleontologists and dinosaur enthusiasts from around the world. In 1987, the Zigong Dinosaur Museum (自貢恐龍博物館) was established, becoming the first specialized dinosaur museum open in Asia. Mounted specimens include Omeisaurus, Gigantspinosaurus, Yangchuanosaurus hepingensis, Huayangosaurus and Xiaosaurus. Image File history File linksMetadata Yangchuanosauru. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Yangchuanosauru. ... Sinraptor The Sinraptor was a carnivore which was not only large, but also very quick for its size. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution‎ (1,600 × 1,200 pixels, file size: 1. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution‎ (1,600 × 1,200 pixels, file size: 1. ... The 1980s refers to the years from 1980 to 1989. ... Huayangosaurus illustration - one of the many dinosaurs discovered from the site. ... Binomial name Dashanpusaurus dongi Peng, Ye, Gao, Shu, & Jiang, 2005 Dashanpusaurus (meaning Dashanpu lizard after the township it was discovered in) is a genus of dinosaur that lived during the middle of the Jurassic period. ... A paleontologist carefully chips rock from a column of dinosaur vertebrae. ... Orders & Suborders Saurischia Sauropodomorpha Theropoda Ornithischia Thyreophora Ornithopoda Marginocephalia Dinosaurs were vertebrate animals that dominated the terrestrial ecosystem for over 160 million years, first appearing approximately 230 million years ago. ... Yangchuanosaurus at the Zigong Dinosaur Museum Dinosaurs at the Zigong Dinosaur Museum One of the excavation pits of the Zigong Dinosaur Museum Mamenchisaurus youngi, Zigong Dinosaur Museum Located near the Prefecture-level city of Zigong in the smaller township of Dashanpu, is the Zigong Dinosaur Museum. ... Species O. junghsiensis Yang Zhongjian (Chung Chien Young), 1939 (type species) O. changskouensis Yang Zhongjian (Chung Chien Young), 1958 O. fuxiensis and Dong, Zhou and Zhang, 1983 O. luoquanensis He, Li and Cai, 1988 O. maoianus Tang, Jin, Kang, and Zhang, 2001 O. tianfuensis He, Li, Cai and Gao, 1984... Binomial name Gigantspinosaurus sichuanensis Ouyang, 1992 Gigantspinosaurus (meaning giant-spined lizard) is the name given to a genus of dinosaur from the Jurassic. ... Sinraptor The Sinraptor was a carnivore which was not only large, but also very quick for its size. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Xiaosaurus (little lizard, pronounced chow-SAW-rus), also known as Yandusaurus, was a small herbivorous dinosaur of the Bathonian age (middle Jurassic, approximately 169 to 163 mya). ...

Lantern Festival

Zigong is the originator of the Chinese Lantern Festival - which has been copied in Beijing, Hong Kong, and Shanghai. As one of the Historical and Cultural Cities of China, Zigong is called "Lantern Town in the South Kingdom". In recent years, although the annual lantern show forces the local residents endure unpredictable and extended blackouts during China's Spring Festival, the lantern festival is a boon for tourism in the remote but tranquil city and generates large revenues for the local government. The pattern of Lantern Show, a paradigm of China's festival economy, has been copied throughout China, which dilutes the uniqueness of Zigong's original version. As a measure to promote the city, the lantern show has already been brought to many cities in mainland China throughout of the years. Year 2007 Taiwan Lantern Festival in Chiayi, Taiwan The Lantern Festival (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; Pinyin: ) or (Yuanxiao Festival), also known as the Shang Yuan Festival (上元节), is a Chinese festival celebrated on the fifteenth day of the first month in the lunar year in the Chinese calendar. ...

Since China is on a Lunar calendar - known in the west as the Chinese calendar, Spring Festival - which is also known as Chinese New Year will vary each year on a Gregorian calendar - but is roughly between January 16 and February 19 each year - depending on which of the Twelve earthly branches it is currently. The Chinese calendar is a lunisolar calendar, incorporating elements of a lunar calendar with those of a solar calendar. ... Chinese New Year (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: ), or Spring Festival or the Lunar New Year (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: ), is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays. ... For the calendar of religious holidays and periods, see liturgical year. ... The Earthly Branches (Chinese: ; pinyin: dìzhī; or Chinese: ; pinyin: shíèrzhī; literally twelve branches) provide one Chinese system for reckoning time. ...

The Latern Festival has been going on since the Tang dynasty and gets more elaborate each year and is certainly a sight to behold.

A latern festival in 2006 in Toronto, Ontario

Download high resolution version (890x619, 54 KB)Model of the lantern on top of the Volkshalle, Berlin Notice the Eagle with the Globe in its Claws instead of the Swastika File links The following pages link to this file: Nazi architecture Volkshalle ... Download high resolution version (890x619, 54 KB)Model of the lantern on top of the Volkshalle, Berlin Notice the Eagle with the Globe in its Claws instead of the Swastika File links The following pages link to this file: Nazi architecture Volkshalle ...

Salt and Natural Gas Industry

Salt was once one of the major sources of revenue for China. To give an idea of how much money was generated from salt in China - after the fall of the last emperor, the Republic of China under Sun Yat-sen secured loans based upon the revenues of the Chinese Salt Administration (the government agency in charge of taxation on salt). The chief inspector of that administration stated "The best salt in China is produced from the salt wells of Sichuan". The best salt wells in Sichuan are in Zigong.

The people of Zigong have been drilling in the area for Salt since before the Han Dynasty (76-88 A.D.) to extract salt from brine. Some historian estimates are that China has been active in producing salt since about 6,000 BC. The brine aquifers in the area have salinity of at least 50 grams per liter. The classical method of drilling and production was the following: a drilling rig is erected and a borehole is drilled using a drilling bit and rope. Brine is extracted by dropping a long tube down the borehole. A membrane valve then captures the brine for retrieval on the surface. Once the brine is retrieved it's then piped to flat pans for boiling. In the boiling process some water and crushed yellow soybean is added. The soybean absorbs the impurities in the salt. Once boiled, a yellow layer is formed - this is scrapped off leaving absolutely pure salt. The salt is a medium grain salt with different size flakes which have a very strong and unique salt taste. This salt has no additives so it does clump. Locals use grains of rice in the salt to keep the salt from clumping. For other uses, see Salt (disambiguation). ... Drilling Rig, Gas well in Northern Italy A drilling rig is a machine which creates holes (usually called boreholes) and/or shafts in the ground. ...

Early methods of brine salt production involved digging large pits in the earth (other parts of China used the evaporation method). Later methods involved very innovative drilling and retrieval methods. An unexpected byproduct of the drilling and resulting wells was natural gas. Since natural gas didn't have the uses it does today, it was channeled into pipes and primarily used onsite to boil the brine and extract the salt. The salt Zigong produced was very rich in taste and was served to the Emperor of China as a tribute. The people of Zigong believe its taste to be superior to the popular french sea salts such as Fleur de sel. Fleur de sel (Flower of salt in French) is a hand-harvested sea salt collected by workers who scrape only the top layer of salt before it sinks to the bottom of large salt pans. ...

Salt production via boreholes was once prevalent in the entire Sichuan area - but for several factors (war, rebellion, taxes, wells drying up) Zigong became the center of production. Salt wells in Zigong were deeper and had better brine salinity - making for better yields in the salt extraction process. The method in which boreholes were drilled is significant. In 1835, the world's (at that time) deepest well was drilled reaching 3,300 feet (compared with a much publicised well in Pennsylvania at 69.5 feet). Wealthy families of the Sichuan city of Jingyan invented deep percussion drilling techniques used in Zigong - 400 years before the Europeans. The miners of Zigong refined the techniques of deep borehole drilling. Later, Europeans copied and further refined the percussion drilling methods - so its effects can be seen in the modern Drilling rig used for oil and water. Drilling Rig, Gas well in Northern Italy A drilling rig is a machine which creates holes (usually called boreholes) and/or shafts in the ground. ...

Old Salt Wells in Zigong

Boiling Brine into Pure Salt

Salt became an engine of commerce and wealth for Zigong. There were cheaper methods for salt production, as to start a borehole well cost 3,000 pieces of silver, but transportation cost into the Sichuan valley negated the cheaper production methods (as they usually involved sea water). Zigong is located in the central Chinese Sichuan province, which was a large basin, surrounded by mountains on three sides and therefore somewhat isolated. Before refrigeration was available salt was a key chemical used in preserving vegetables, meat, and fish. Because of the factors mentioned above (war, wells drying up, and a rebellion) Zigong became a significant supplier of salt to the Sichuan province up until the 1930s. In 1892, miners discovered a vein of rocksalt that feeds Zigongs aquifers. In 1946, a well was drilled with a rotary drillbit. Ancient percussion drilling methods became obsolete and most of the drilling rigs were torn down due to decay. Today, only one traditional salt well still exists, the Xinhai Well, as a tribute to the workers and industry. The Xinhai Well (Bore depth: 1,001.4 meters/4,400 feet) still operates using the older manual methods of pumping and boiling. The salt is used for pickling or canning - and makes an important ingredient to Sichuan style pickles (which are a local favorite). In the modern day, Zigong is a primary source for Natural Gas, Coal, and Inorganic Chemical Production in addition to salt. Image File history File linksMetadata ZigongSaltwells. ... Image File history File linksMetadata ZigongSaltwells. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1600x1200, 911 KB)[edit] Summary Brine being boiled down to pure salt at the Xinhai Well in Zigong, China. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1600x1200, 911 KB)[edit] Summary Brine being boiled down to pure salt at the Xinhai Well in Zigong, China. ...   (Chinese: ; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: SzÅ­4-chuan1; Postal map spelling: Szechwan and Szechuan) is a province in the central-western China with its capital at Chengdu. ...

Zigong Teahouse

Now a historic teahouse built by the Sichuan based salt merchants originally served as a guild hall for salt merchants. Originally called the Wang Sanwei Linneage Hall - it's now called the Wangye Miao Teahouse. The Wangye Miao Teahouse was popular during the height of the salt trade and still stands along a bend in the Fuxi River - which runs through the center of Zigong. The structure has classic Chinese architecture still operates today. The teahouse is located next to the river, on Binjiang Lu street. The teahouse is in fact part of the Zigong Salt Museum and is used to generate funds for the museum. Zigong Salt History Museum is a museum in the salt town of Zigong in Sichuan Province in western China. ...

Zigong Teahouse

Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2816x2112, 1810 KB)[edit] Summary The Zigong Teahouse - in portrait form. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2816x2112, 1810 KB)[edit] Summary The Zigong Teahouse - in portrait form. ...

The Ancient Streets

Along the Fuxi river are several stone paved roads that are called the "ancient streets". This section of Zigong has traditional houses and shops, typical of life in the days that Zigong was a bustling Salt trade center. Several salt well heads are capped and marked along the streets that wind along the river. At the end of the street is a hand rowed ferry boat that takes a visitor to the opposite shore where stone steps led up into the city.

Local Food and Dishes

Zigong not only has its own local dialect(Zigong-wa) but also some local Chinese cuisine. Some are common to the Sichuan area (see Szechuan cuisine with local variation - but also some unique local recipes. Chinese cuisine (Chinese: 中國菜) originated from different regions of China and has become widespread in many other parts of the world — from East Asia to North America, Australasia and Western Europe. ...   (Chinese: ; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: SzÅ­4-chuan1; Postal map spelling: Szechwan and Szechuan) is a province in the central-western China with its capital at Chengdu. ... Szechuan cuisine, Szechwan cuisine, or Sichuan cuisine (Chinese: ) is a style of Chinese cuisine originating in Sichuan Province of southwestern China which has an international reputation for being hot and numbing (麻辣), because of the common ingredient Sichuan peppercorn (花椒). Although the region Sichuan is now romanized as Sichuan, the cuisine is...

• Various types of Dumpling or Wonton (served with hot oil and pepper paste) called chāo shǒu
• Sichuan Hot pot
• Twice Cooked Pork
• Pepper Beef
• Mapo doufu
• Diced Rabbit in Hot Pepper Oil
• Frog
• Fried Eel with Hot Peppers
• Turtle Soup
• Duck in a Hot Pepper Oil
• Tea Enfused Duck
• Rice and Chinese noodles
• Various Types of Tea

This article does not cite any references or sources. ... A Cantonese style shrimp wonton Wontons (Traditional Chinese: ; Simplified Chinese: details), also written as wantan, wanton, wuntun, are a type of dumpling common in Chinese cuisine. ... Raw meats ready to be cooked. ... Twice Cooked Pork. ... Mapo Tofu Mapo Tofu Mapo doufu (Mapo tofu) (Chinese: ; pinyin: ) is a popular Chinese dish from the Szechuan (Sichuan) province. ... For other uses, see Rice (disambiguation). ... Chinese cuisine includes many different types of noodles, called miàn (Traditional Chinese: ; Simplified Chinese: ; often transliterated as mien or mein ). Miàn (麵) refers to noodles made from wheat while fěn () or fun refers to noodles made from rice. ... For other uses, see Tea (disambiguation). ...

Books

• "The Merchants of Zigong - Industrial Entrepreneurship In Early Modern China by Madeleine Zelin" Columbia Press (ISBN 0-231-13596-3)
• "The Great Well of China" by Hans Ulrich Vogel, Scientific American, June 1993
• "Salt: A World History" by Kurlansky, Mark. Penguin, 2003 (ISBN 0-8027-1373-4)hc (ISBN 0-1420-0161-9)pbk
• "On Their Own Terms: Science in China, 1550-1900", Benjamin A. Elman (ISBN 0-674-01685-8)

External links

• Zigong Dinosaur Museum
• Zigong Lantern Festival
• Official Chinese Site for Zigong Dinosaur Museum
• Zigong Lantern and Exhibition Company

Famous People

Since the first century, thousands of pre-eminent people have been calling Zigong home. Among them the most famous individuals are Wu Yuzhang, Gao Ming, Liu Guangdi, Jiang Zhujun, Zou Nian, and Wei Minglun. Wu Yuzhang (Chinese: 吴玉章; Pinyin: Wú Yùzhāng; December 30, 1878 - December 12, 1966) was a Chinese politician and educationist, President of Renmin University of China from 1950 to 1966. ...

Coordinates: 29°24′N, 104°47′E Due to Chinas large population and area, the political divisions of China have consisted of several levels since ancient times. ...   (Chinese: ; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: SzÅ­4-chuan1; Postal map spelling: Szechwan and Szechuan) is a province in the central-western China with its capital at Chengdu. ... A sub-provincial city (副省级城市), or vice-provincial city, in the Peoples Republic of China, is a prefecture-level city that is ruled by a province, but is administered independently in regard to economy and law. ... Not to be confused with Chengde. ... 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. ... Bazhong (Chinese: 巴中; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: pa-chung) is a prefecture-level city in north-eastern Sichuan province. ... Dazhou (Chinese: 达州; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: ta-chou) is a prefecture-level city in north-eastern Sichuan province. ... Deyang (宜宾) is a prefecture-level city in Sichuan province, China. ... Guangan (Chinese: 广安; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: kwang-an) is a prefecture-level city in eastern Sichuan province. ... Guangyuan (Simplified Chinese: 广元; Traditional Chinese: 廣元; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Kuang-yüan) is a prefecture-level city in the Sichuan Province with a population of three million. ... Leshan (Simplified Chinese: 乐山; Traditional Chinese: 樂山; Pinyin: Lèshān; Wade-Giles: Le-shan) is a prefecture-level city in Sichuan province of the Peoples Republic of China. ... Luzhou (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Lu-chou), most well-known for its Alcoholic Beverages, is a prefecture-level city in Sichuan Province, Peoples Republic of China, with an urban population of 394,400 (2005). ... Meishan (formerly Meizhou) is a prefecture-level city with more than 100,000 inhabitants in Sichuan province of the Peoples Republic of China. ... Mianyang (Chinese: 绵阳; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Mian-yang) is a prefecture-level city and the second largest city in Sichuan Province, in south central China, with a population of 5. ... Nanchong (Chinese: 南充; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Nan-chung ) is a prefecture-level city in Sichuan Province, China and lies about 2 hours North-East by car from Sichuans capital city, Chengdu via the Chengnan expressway. ... Neijiang (Chinese: 内江; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Nei-chiang) is a prefecture-level city in the central Sichuan Province, in south central China, with a population of about 300,000. ... Panzhihua (Chinese: 攀枝花; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Pan-chih-hua) is a prefecture-level city and in the Sichuan Province, in south central China. ... Suining (遂宁) is a prefecture-level city within mountainuous Sichuan province in the South of China. ... Yaan (雅安) is a prefecture-level city with more than 100,000 inhabitants in the western part of Sichuan province of the Peoples Republic of China. ... Yibin (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: YíbÄ«n; Wade-Giles: I-pin) is a prefecture-level city in south central China, in southern Sichuan Province, located at the junction of the Min and Yangtze Rivers. ... Ziyang (Simplified Chinese: 资阳; Traditional Chinese: 資陽; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Tzu-yang) prefecture-level city in the Sichuan Province, in south central China, with more than 100,000 inhabitants. ... Prefecture, in the context of China, is used to refer to several unrelated political divisions in both ancient and modern China. ... The Aba Tibetan Qiang Autonomous Prefecture (Chinese: 阿坝藏族羌族自治州; pinyin: Ä€bà Zàngzú Qiāngzú Zìzhìzhōu, Tibetan - རྔ་བ་བོད་རིགས་ཆ་བ༹ང་རིགས་རང་སྐྱོང་ཁུལ་ / Rnga-ba Bod-rigs Chavang-rigs rang skyong khul) is an autonomous prefecture in Sichuan whose capital is Bar-khams county. ... Garze Tibetan Autonomous Region (Chinese: 甘孜藏族自治州; pinyin: GānzÄ« Zàngzú Zìzhìzhōu, Tibetan - དཀར་མཛེས་བོད་རིགས་རང་སྐྱོང་ཁུལ་ / Dkar-mdzes bod-rigs rang-skyong khul) is an autonomous prefecture in Sichuan whose capital is Kangding County. ... Liangshan Yi Autonomous Region (simplified Chinese: 凉山彝族自治州 ; pinyin: Liángshān Yízú Zìzhìzhōu; Yi: ꆃꎭ/Niep Sha; in IPA: [nÉ›21Ê‚a33]) ) is an autonomous prefecture in Sichuan whose capital is Xichang. ... Sichuan, a province of the Peoples Republic of China, is made up of the following administrative divisions: 21 prefecture-level divisions 18 prefecture-level cities 3 autonomous prefectures 181 county-level divisions 14 county-level cities 120 counties 4 autonomous counties 43 districts 4782 township-level divisions 1865 towns... Map of Earth showing lines of latitude (horizontally) and longitude (vertically), Eckert VI projection; large version (pdf, 1. ...