Wanzhou: The Other Face of Chongqing
This article is specially produced by Sunac China.
As one of the central cities in Southwest China, Chongqing ranks 5th in GDP nationwide for four consecutive years, trailing only Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen.
Its robust economy has earned it numerous internet-famous labels, such as "8D Magic City," "Cyberpunk," and "Hotpot Capital."
However, these do not fully capture Chongqing's essence.
As China's largest municipality by area, beyond its well-known nine urban districts, it also governs 29 county-level administrative regions.
Among them, Wanzhou, with a population of 1.75 million, seems distinctly different from these labels.
Established as a county 1,800 years ago, it once stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Chengdu and Chongqing.
Nestled between mountains and rivers, it boasts captivating natural landscapes like canyons, waterfalls, and serene pools.
It is the largest resettlement city in the Three Gorges Reservoir area, preserving memories of its dramatic past.
Its signature dish, "Wanzhou Grilled Fish," features over 20 flavors and has gained nationwide fame for its "tender, crispy, and aromatic" taste.
What does Wanzhou, Chongqing, really look like? And where does its uniqueness come from?
From above, Chongqing, located in the eastern Sichuan Basin, is crisscrossed by long, narrow, and nearly parallel mountain ranges.
These ranges gradually shift direction in the northeast, blocked by the southward-advancing Daba Mountains.
Wanzhou lies where these parallel ranges begin to turn, surrounded by mountains like Tiefeng Mountain and Qiyao Mountain, with little flat land.
Abundant rainfall gives rise to numerous streams originating from the mountains.
Among them, eight have drainage areas exceeding 100 square kilometers, such as the Zhuxi River and Rangdu River.
These branching streams converge into the Yangtze River, China's longest river, which traverses Wanzhou before rushing eastward.
The ample water supply and mild climate attracted ancient settlers.
Archaeological findings show that Neolithic inhabitants along the riverbanks fished, logged, farmed, and even used dugout canoes to cross rivers and communicate with the outside world.
The Yangtze waterway, connecting Sichuan upstream and Jiangnan downstream, became the fastest route between these regions for millennia.
As the saying goes, "A thousand-mile journey to Jiangling is completed in a single day." Thanks to convenient water transport, ancient docks were built along the Yangtze River, fostering thriving commerce and the rise of cities.
Among them, Wanzhou, located between the Three Gorges and Chongqing, "controlling Bashu upstream and Kuivu downstream," was no exception. With its many excellent harbors favorable for docking, Wanzhou has been a port for boats since ancient times, navigable year-round.
In 216 AD, due to the abundant salt resources and convenient transportation along the Nanji Canal, a tributary of the Yangtze within its territory, the Eastern Han Dynasty established Yangqu County in present-day Changtan Town, Wanzhou, marking the beginning of Wanzhou's county establishment.
Later, part of Yangqu County was separated to form Nanpu County, which was renamed Yuquan County in 553 AD, and the administrative center was relocated to the north bank of the Yangtze River.
The establishment of the county seat and the expansion of the docks further propelled Wanzhou's regional development. During the Tang and Song dynasties, its well-salt industry remained prosperous, and the city gradually flourished.
In 634 AD, Nanpu Prefecture was renamed Wanzhou, symbolizing the auspicious meaning of "myriad rivers converging and countless merchants gathering," marking the first appearance of the name Wanzhou.
Literary figures traveling along the river, such as Li Bai, Du Fu, and Huang Tingjian, were awestruck by Wanzhou's scenic landscapes during their stops, leaving behind many celebrated stories.
Legend has it that the Tang poet Li Bai, while leaving Sichuan, once studied, composed poetry, drank, and played chess on Wanzhou's Western Mountain, leaving the famous tale: "The banished immortal laughed and rode the golden phoenix away, drunk after a game of chess on Western Rock."
The Song scholar Huang Tingjian, during his visit to Western Mountain, wrote "Record of Western Mountain" and inscribed it on stone, preserving it for millennia.
The Song writer Su Shi also compiled "The Biography of Monk Yuanze," recounting a story of two kindred spirits in Wanzhou meeting across three lifetimes, leaving Wanzhou with the legendary phrase "thrice blessed."
By the Ming and Qing dynasties, Wanzhou's water and land transportation had significantly developed.
Meanwhile, ancient people utilized Wanzhou's mountainous terrain to build numerous fortresses along key routes or river valleys, perched on cliff tops for defense.
Tiansheng Fortress, constructed as early as the Southern Song, once joined forces with Hechuan's Diaoyu Fortress and Fengjie's Baidi Fortress to resist the Mongol cavalry sweeping across Eurasia for 36 years.
Later, fortresses like Hucheng, Shizi, and Yizi centered around Tiansheng Fortress, forming Wanzhou's iconic defensive system.
The fortresses' presence, population growth, and accessible waterways and roads gradually established Wanzhou as the freight hub of eastern Sichuan.
Records show that during the Qing Dynasty, Wanzhou's urban area had over 40 markets, described as "lamps of countless households, bustling streets stretching miles."
However, during this period, Wanzhou only stood out within eastern Sichuan.
In 1902, an event unfolded, slowly unveiling Wanzhou's glorious vision of "myriad merchants gathering."
After the Opium War, imperialist powers forced the Qing government to sign unequal treaties, seizing profits by opening treaty ports.
Thus, three modern treaty ports in the upper Yangtze were successively established.
In 1876, Yichang was opened as a treaty port. In 1890, Chongqing followed suit. In 1902, the Supplementary Treaty of Commerce between China and Britain designated Wanzhou (then Wanzhou County) as another treaty port.
However, due to political turmoil, it wasn't until 23 years later that Wanzhou officially opened, becoming the second customs port in Sichuan (including present-day Chongqing) capable of direct export declaration.
From then on, Wanzhou experienced unprecedented commercial prosperity, with tung oil trade being the most prominent.
Ancient people primarily used tung oil for making wooden lacquerware. Later, Frenchman Cruz discovered its strong drying properties, making it suitable for coating airplanes, vehicles, and ships, thus widely used in modern industries.
The soil and climate of Sichuan, China, were particularly suitable for tung tree growth, making it the nation's top producer of tung oil. Wanzhou, then under Sichuan's jurisdiction, led the entire province in output.
According to statistics, before the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, most of the world's industrially essential tung oil was supplied by China. Wanzhou, renowned for its high-quality tung oil, served as Sichuan's key foreign trade hub for the commodity.
Due to its extensive market, tung oil from over 20 surrounding counties, and even parts of Hunan and Guizhou hundreds of miles away, was transported to Wanzhou for sale, earning it the title of "China's Largest Oil Market."
Consequently, merchants from foreign countries and other Chinese cities flocked to Wanzhou, building warehouses, oil tanks, and docks.
Meanwhile, numerous native banks established branches in Wanzhou, and modern financial banks emerged. At its peak, over 30 foreign firms from Japan, the U.S., Britain, and France operated there.
The commercial boom brought vibrancy to Wanzhou's port, described as "a forest of masts and a gathering of goods," while the urban area expanded along both banks of the Yangtze River.
After 1926, roads like Yimalu, Huancheng Road, and Ermalu were constructed near the port area.
With its well-connected land and water routes, Wanzhou soon became one of Sichuan's three major cities, standing alongside Chongqing and Chengdu, collectively known as "Cheng-Yu-Wan," shining brightly in the southwest.
However, after the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, Wanzhou's industry and commerce suffered severe damage over a decade.
Even earlier, in 1926, the British provocatively shelled Wanzhou along the Yangtze, killing or injuring over 5,000 civilians and soldiers, shocking the world.
In 1939, Soviet air squadron leader Kurishenko led 12 bombers from his homeland.
They came to Chengdu to support China's resistance, later making an emergency landing in Wanzhou during an air battle, where they sank into the river, resting there eternally.
The literary giant He Qifang, nurtured by this land, voiced his resistance through words, inspiring countless people with his poem "I Sing for Young Boys and Girls."
After the founding of New China, Wanzhou's past glory faded, but little did anyone know that decades later, this land would face an even greater test.
Let us now turn our gaze back to the Yangtze River.
This mighty river, fed by over 10,000 tributaries and nurturing nearly 500 million people, has endowed China with fertile land and convenient shipping routes.
At the same time, it also brought dangers and disasters, one of which was the swift currents.
The Northern Wei geographer Li Daoyuan once wrote: "For seven hundred li of the Three Gorges, the mountains on both banks are continuous, with hardly a break."
Located in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, the "Three Gorges" feature towering cliffs on both sides and have long been regarded as a "forbidden land" due to their treacherous rapids, earning the reputation of being the "eternal peril" of the Yangtze, where travelers have often perished in the river.
Since records began, major floods have occurred in the Yangtze River on average every less than 10 years, causing significant casualties and economic losses.
In 1954, the Yangtze experienced a rare basin-wide catastrophic flood, with Wuhan, located downstream, besieged by floodwaters for three months, leaving over 18 million people displaced.
Since ancient times, how to tame the Yangtze has been a critical issue.
In 1957, after swimming in the Yangtze near Wanzhou, Mao Zedong penned the grand vision: "Cut off the clouds and rain of Mount Wu, and a calm lake will emerge from the high gorges." The Three Gorges Project, which could turn this vision into reality, was finally put on the agenda.
Through methods like damming and reservoir storage, the project would achieve flood control, irrigation, and improved navigation, earning it the title of China's "millennium project."
However, the project faced decades of controversy without resolution, and Wanzhou, which would be affected, avoided large-scale construction for years, hindering urban development.
In 1992, the construction of the Three Gorges Dam was finally approved, and the resettlement of people from cities to be submerged by the rising reservoir water became the project's top priority.
The resettlement involved over a million people from more than 20 districts and counties in what are now Chongqing and Hubei, making it the largest engineering-induced migration in the world.
In Wanzhou alone, a total of 263,000 people were relocated, making it the largest resettlement city in the Three Gorges reservoir area, with submerged assets accounting for a quarter of Chongqing's total.
As a result, over 300 factories, more than 1,000 institutions, and over 100 docks in Wanzhou were relocated, leaving the once-bustling city eerily empty.
Subsequently, the 1,400-year-old Yuquan County town sank beneath the waters; the once-lively and bustling South Gate night market sank beneath the waters; the famed merchant hub of Second Road sank beneath the waters.
Faced with their vanishing homeland, hundreds of thousands either moved with their families to new areas or left their hometowns for distant provinces.
This monumental and poignant migration began in 1992 and lasted a full 18 years before concluding.
As the world's largest hydroelectric project began operating busily on the Yangtze, a new city gradually rose above the submerged half of ancient Wanzhou.
The construction of the Three Gorges Dam is an indelible memory, yet it also brought an unimaginable opportunity.
To expedite recovery and development, Wanzhou, as the largest resettlement city in the reservoir area, received national support for reconstruction and relocation.
During this period, provinces and cities such as Shandong, Shanghai, and Jiangsu dispatched cadres, donated supplies, and provided aid to collaborate with Wanzhou's people in building a new city.
This "pairing assistance" continues to this day and remains unended.
Through the joint efforts of countless people, three new migrant resettlement districts emerged on this land within just a few years.
Among them, Wuqiao Migrant New Town was once a small, sparsely populated settlement with dilapidated houses and dusty roads before 1993, but now it stands out with towering buildings and soaring bridges.
The numerous streets and bridges connecting the new districts to the central urban area have greatly expanded Wanzhou's city space, attracting an increasing number of people.
Over the past two decades, Wanzhou's population has surged from over 300,000 to more than 1.6 million—a fivefold increase—making it a major city with a million inhabitants.
Beyond this, as one of the transportation hubs in northeastern Chongqing, Wanzhou's multi-dimensional transport network has become increasingly well-developed.
In recent years, not only have the Dawan and Wanyi railways begun operations, but the Zhengwan High-Speed Railway, set to open by the end of 2021, will connect with the Yuwang High-Speed Railway. Once the Yuwang line is upgraded, travel time between Wanzhou and Chongqing will be drastically reduced to just one hour.
To date, Wanzhou has built five expressways, including the Yuwang and Wanyi routes. Wanzhou Wuqiao Airport operates 23 flight routes and is still expanding.
As a hub integrating water, land, and air transport, Wanzhou Port has become one of the logistics centers for eastern Chongqing, western Hubei, and southern Shaanxi, gradually reviving the glory of its past as the "Eastern Gateway of Chongqing."
Yet traces of Wanzhou's distinctive character from its eras as a port, a foreign trade hub, and a migrant resettlement area can still be found here.
The fortress towers standing tall on both sides of the river gaze calmly over the waters, bearing witness to those extraordinary times.
Xishan Mountain, where literary figures like Li Bai and Huang Tingjian once roamed, lies northwest of Xishan Park and has become a scenic spot for leisure and recreation today.
Meanwhile, places like the "Heart-to-Heart Square," the opera *The Golden Flower of Migration*, and the Wanzhou Three Gorges Migration Museum continue to recount the moving stories of the collective effort to build the Three Gorges.
Lifestyles such as "tea-house gatherings" and "chatting in long conversations," which flourished due to the mercantile culture, have endured unchanged to this day.
The "Wanzhou Grilled Fish," evolved from the dishes prepared by boat trackers, preserves the flavors of the past.
On this land, you can see railways, highways, airports, and ports shaping a new Wanzhou that is "accessible in all directions" in the modern era.
You can also witness the great river and serene lakes, traditional architecture, and waterfront charm molding a new Wanzhou that is "leisurely and comfortable."
With its favorable ecological environment, cultural heritage, and transportation advantages, Wanzhou in the new era has become part of the ecological conservation and development zone in northeastern Chongqing. It is not only experiencing a boom in distinctive tourism but also serves as a transit hub for Three Gorges Reservoir tourism.
At the same time, industries such as energy and building materials, machinery, and electronics have established themselves here, injecting new vitality into Wanzhou.
Sunac, which arrived in Chongqing in 2003, has now entered Wanzhou to participate in urban development. It has launched innovative projects like "Langyue Riverside" and "Yongjiang Shangjing," combining the local natural environment and lifestyle to create high-quality living spaces and contribute to the city's progress.
Langyue Binjiang is located in Jiangnan New District of Wanzhou, adjacent to the Yangtze River and facing the old city of Wanzhou across the water. It not only boasts approximately 7 kilometers of scenic southern riverfront views but is also just 2 kilometers in a straight line from Wanzhou's CBD commercial area.
Yongjiang Shangjing is also situated in the heart of the city, with convenient transportation and surrounding medical, educational, and commercial amenities, offering a unique living experience in Wanzhou.
When you come to Wanzhou and gaze at the towering mountains or the rushing river, you will see the city's eras of docks, foreign trade, and immigration unfold before your eyes.
They have shaped Wanzhou's one-of-a-kind character, forming its heritage and charm, which continue to radiate their unique brilliance through the passage of time.