Sichuan

Coordinates: 30°08′N 102°56′E / 30.133°N 102.933°E / 30.133; 102.933
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Sichuan Province
四川省
Name transcription(s)
 • Chinese四川省 (Sìchuān Shěng)
 • AbbreviationSC / or (pinyin: Chuān or Shǔ
Sichuanese: Cuan1 or Su2
)
 • SichuaneseSi4cuan1 Sen3
Map showing the location of Sichuan Province
Map showing the location of Sichuan Province
Coordinates: 30°08′N 102°56′E / 30.133°N 102.933°E / 30.133; 102.933
Named forShort for 川峡四路 Chuānxiá sì-lù
literally "The Four Circuits
of the Plains and Gorges",
referring to the four circuits during the Song dynasty
Capital
(and largest city)
Chengdu
Divisions21 prefectures, 181 counties, 5011 townships
Government
 • SecretaryPeng Qinghua
 • GovernorYin Li
Area
 • Total485,000 km2 (187,000 sq mi)
 • Rank5th
Highest elevation
7,556 m (24,790 ft)
Population
 (2013)[2]
 • Total81,100,000
 • Rank4th
 • Density170/km2 (430/sq mi)
  • Rank22nd
Demographics
 • Ethnic compositionHan - 95%
Yi - 2.6%
Tibetan - 1.5%
Qiang - 0.4%
 • Languages and dialectsSouthwestern Mandarin (Sichuanese dialects), Khams Tibetan, Hakka Chinese
ISO 3166 codeCN-SC
GDP (2017)CNY 3.70 trillion
USD 547.71 billion (6th)
 • per capitaCNY 44,651
USD 6,613 (22nd)
HDI (2016)0.780[3] (high) (23rd)
Websitewww.sc.gov.cn
Sichuan
"Sichuan" in Chinese characters
Chinese name
Chinese四川
PostalSzechwan
Literal meaning"Four Rivers"[4]
Tibetan name
Tibetanསི་ཁྲོན་
Yi name
Yiꌧꍧ
syp chuo

Sichuan (Chinese: 四川; pinyin: Sì Chuān; audio speaker iconlisten) is a province in western China with its capital at Chengdu. It is also informally called 蜀 (pinyin: Shǔ). Its Governor is Wei Hong and its CPC Ctte Secretary is Wang Dongming. With a population of 87,250,000 (2006), Sichuan is the third most populated administrative division of China. Sichuan used to be the province with the most people in China before Chongqing was separated from it, making Henan the most populous. However, when including migrants, Guangdong has more people than Henan.

Name[change | change source]

The name 四川 (pinyin: Sì Chuān) is an abbreviation of 四川路 (pinyin: Sì Chuān Lù, translated as "Four circuits/subdivisions of rivers"), which is itself shortened from 川峡四路 (pinyin: Chuān Xiá Sì Lù, translated as "Four circuits of rivers and gorges").[1] Archived 2008-01-22 at the Wayback Machine

Subdivisions[change | change source]

There are 18 subdivisions within Sichuan, including both prefecture-level cities and autonomous prefectures:

People[change | change source]

Most people living in Sichuan are Han Chinese. There are also Tibetans, Yi people, Qiang and Naxi in the western side.

Culture[change | change source]

The Li Bai Memorial (located at his birthplace, Zhongba Town of northern Jiangyou County) is a museum in memory of the Chinese poet of the Tang Dynasty, Li Bai. It was prepared in 1962 on the occasion of 1,200th anniversary of his death, completed in 1981 and opened to the public in October 1982. The memorial is built in the style of the classic garden of the Tang Dynasty.

Music[change | change source]

Sichuan has a long history of folk and classical music. Sichuan opera is an ancient tradition that very is well-known. The Sichuan lantern drama is popular in Sichuan. The Sichuan Conservatory of Music in Chengdu is one of the oldest of musical education in China, having been established in 1939.

There is also religious music in Sichuan, played by Taoist priests in their temples.

Traditional Sichuan folk music is usually played with instruments such as the bamboo flute, pan and cymbals, gong and horn.

Food[change | change source]

Sichuan cuisine has an international reputation for being hot and numbing (Chinese: 麻辣), because of the common ingredient of the Sichuan peppercorn (Chinese: 花椒).

Some well-known Sichuan dishes include Kung Pao chicken (Chinese: 宮保雞丁; pinyin: Gōng Bǎo Jī Dīng) and Twice Cooked Pork (Chinese: 回鍋肉; pinyin: Huí Guō Ròu).

Language[change | change source]

Most dialects of the Chinese language spoken in Sichuan, including the Chengdu dialect, are similar to the dialects of neighbouring provinces Yunnan, Guizhou and Chongqing Municipality.

Sports[change | change source]

  • Chinese Basketball Association
  • Chinese Football Association Super League
    • Chengdu Blades
  • Chinese Volleyball League
    • Sichuan Volleyball Team
  • China Table Tennis Super League
    • Sichuan Quan-Xing Table-Tennis Team

Universities[change | change source]

  • Southwestern University of Finance and Economics (Chengdu)
  • Sichuan University (Chengdu)
  • Southwest Jiaotong University (Chengdu)
  • University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (Chengdu)
  • Southwest University of Science and Technology (Mianyang)

Tourism[change | change source]

UNESCO World Heritage Sites include:

Notable Sichuanese people[change | change source]

References[change | change source]

  1. "Doing Business in China - Survey". Ministry Of Commerce - People's Republic Of China. Retrieved 5 August 2013.
  2. "Communiqué of the National Bureau of Statistics of People's Republic of China on Major Figures of the 2010 Population Census [1] (No. 2)". National Bureau of Statistics of China. 29 April 2011. Archived from the original on 27 July 2013. Retrieved 4 August 2013.
  3. 《2015中国人类发展报告》 (PDF) (in Chinese). United Nations Development Program China. 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-11-29. Retrieved 2014-05-14.
  4. An abbreviation of "the four circuits of the Rivers and Gorges" The four circuits consist of Yizhou, Lizhou, Zizhou, & Kuizhou.