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Yuzhong
distinct, the center of Chongqing, is surrounded by water on there sides and looks
like a peninsula, with the Yangtze and Jialing rivers meeting at Chaotianmen at
the northeast corner of the downtown area. Seen from above, the area just looks
like a whale or a giant ship ready to set sail, with Chaotianmen as the head of
the ship. Chongqing
at night presents a wonderful scene. Taking a bird' s eye view from a high place
on the southern bank, you may find the peninsula a sea of lights, while the rivers
a dragon palace: if you watch the city on the Kanshenglou Tower, you can see lights
all around you; or you may take a boat trip around the town, and find yourself
drowned in the sea of lights.For sight- seeing both at night and during the day,
the first place to see is the Chongqing People' s Auditorium and People' Square
in front of the auditorium. Built in the early 1950s, the auditorium consists
of three parts: the great hall, the North Wing and the South Wing on each side
of the hall (An East Wing was added to it in 1986), and the Pailou Archway by
the street. The round roof with its green glazed tiles makes the building looks
like the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, the porch in front of the hall with its
red columns and white marble rails reminds people of the Tian An Men gate in Beijing.
The building is 65 meters high, with a construction area of 18,500 square meters,
built in the traditional Chinese place style, imposing, beautiful and magnificent.
In the book History of Comparative Architecture published in Great Britain in
1987, the Auditorium was put in the second place in a list of 43 best Chinese
buildings constructed after liberation. In May 1997, People' s Square was completed
in front of the Auditorium covering an are of 25,000 square meters, of which 15,000
square meters is planted with trees and flowers. The ground of the square is paved
with smooth and shining marble tiles; there is magic music fountain; at the southern
end of the square stands a stage for performances in the open air. In the numerous
beautiful lights in the evening, you may see thousands of people dancing on the
square. The second
place of visit is the Center of the city. Jiefangbe, or the People' s Liberation
Monument, formerly known as the Monument of Victory in the War of Resistance,
a 27.5 meter high structure, was renamed and had its new name inscribed by Liu
Bocheng on October 1st, 1950. the shopping square, completed at the end of 1997,
is 400 meters from east to west, and 350 meters from north to south, covering
an area of 24,400 square meters. Around the square there are more than 3,000 stores
and shops of various kinds, with two dozen large malls and shopping centers, a
dozen star-grade hotels, and over 300 establishments and offices such as banks,
stock markets, postal and telecommunication services and places for entertainment.
More than 300,000 people visit this area every day on the average, and on holidays
the figure may exceed 900,000. This is the busiest part of downtown Chongqing
Chaotianmen Square
is the gate or façade of the peninsula metropolis. For hundreds of
years, this place has been the city' s first dock on the Yangtze and, therefore,
it has been named Chaotianmen, of the Gate to Heaven, meaning " receiving the lord
from Heaven " . Built in the summer of 1998 and covering an area of 800,000 square
meters, the ship-shaped square is one of the largest roof squares in China, and
it serves the purposes of sightseeing, transport and river bank protection. Its
name was inscribed by President Jiang Zemin. More than a million people visit
the square each year. In the first three quarters of 2000, for 26 times important
guests form China and abroad were received here, including 11 times receiving
Chinese Party and State leaders. As
the peninsula is surrounded by water on three sides, bridges play a very important
role in its communication with other parts of the city. Since the completion of
the Baishatuo Yangtze Bridge, the second large bridge ever built over the Yangtze,
two more bridges were built on the Yangtze in the main part of Chongqing: one
at Shibanpo, and the other at Lijiatuo, and two others were built last two years:
the Egongyan Bridge and the Wangjiatuo Bridge. On the Jialing River, three bridges,
the Niujiatuo Bridge, the Chaoyang Bridge and the Shimen Bridge, have been built,
and a new Niujiaotuo Bridge is in construction. For beautiful statues, " Spring,
Summer, Autumn and Winter " , stand gracefully at the bridge heads at the northern
and southern ends of the Shibanpo Yangtze Bridge. Besides bridges, there are suspended
cable cars high in the air, taking passengers across the rivers. | |