Xichang (Nuosu language: /o̝˨˩dʐo̝˧/) is a city in and the seat of the Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture in the south of Sichuan, China.
History
The Qiongdu were the local people at the time of contact with China. The county of Qiongdu is attested in the area from the
Western Han. Under the
Song dynasty, a local lord was given the title of "King of the Qiongdu" (
Qiongdu Wang). The area formed part of the medieval Kingdom of Dali and was subdued by the
Mongolian Empire from 1253 to 1256, after which it was incorporated into
Yunnan of the
Yuan dynasty. It was organized as the Jiandu Ningyuan duhufu, qianhufu, or wanhufu but continued to be often known as Jiandu. In
Il Milione,
Marco Polo recorded that the people of Jiandu and its hinterland used no coins but rods of gold bullion reckoned in
saggi. A small change was made using half-catty pieces of molded salt, each reckoned as one-eightieth of a
saggio of pure gold. Under the
Qing dynasty, it was officially known as Ningyuan Commandery but also continued to be referenced under the old name Jianchang. In the 19th century, it was the center of
Sichuan's production of "
white wax".
In 1850, a magnitude-7.5 earthquake killed more than 20,600 people in Xichang. The city walls in Xichang County, three gate towers—the west, south and north—and some prisons collapsed.
Catholic Church was introduced to Ningyuan in the 18th century by the Paris Foreign Missions Society. The Apostolic Vicariate of Kienchang was established in 1910 and was elevated to a diocese in 1946.
In the 1980s, its population was thought to be around 140,000 people.
Geography
Xichang lies in a mountainous region of far southern Sichuan. The city is just northeast of the prefecture-level city of
Panzhihua. The
Anning River is the main river in the area. It is an affluent of the
Yalong River,
Jinsha River, and
Yangtze River rivers. It lies near
Qiong Lake.
Climate
Owing to its low latitude and high elevation, Xichang has a
monsoon-influenced humid subtropical climate (Köppen
Cwa) milder and far sunnier than the
Sichuan Basin, with mild, very sunny and dry winters, and very warm, rainy summers. The monthly 24-hour average temperature ranges from in January to in July, and the annual mean is . Over 60% of the annual precipitation occurs from June to August. With monthly percent possible sunshine ranging from 36% in September to 72% in January, the city receives 2,367 hours of bright sunshine annually.
Administrative divisions
Xichang comprises 7 subdistricts, 11 towns, 6 townships and 2 ethnic townships.
|
|
| Subdistricts |
| Beicheng | 北城街道 | | ꀙꍰꏦꈜ | | 513401001 |
| Xicheng Subdistrict | 西城街道 | | ꑟꍰꏦꈜ | | 513401002 |
| Dongcheng Subdistrict | 东城街道 | | ꄏꍰꏦꈜ | | 513401003 |
| Chang'an Subdistrict | 长安街道 | | ꍤꉢꏦꈜ | | 513401004 |
| Xincun Subdistrict | 新村街道 | | ꑟꋂꏦꈜ | | 513401005 |
| Hainan Subdistrict | 海南街道 | | ꉰꇂꏦꈜ | | 513401007 |
| Madao Subdistrict | 马道街道 | | ꂶꄐꏦꈜ | | 513401008 |
| Towns |
| Lizhou Town | 礼州镇 | | ꇉꂾꍔ | | 513401101 |
| Anning Town | 安宁镇 | | ꉢꆀꍔ | | 513401102 |
| Chuanxing | 川兴镇 | | ꍧꑟꍔ | | 513401103 |
| Huanglianguang | 黄联关镇 | | ꉸꆃꇨꍔ | | 513401104 |
| Youjun | 佑君镇 | | ꒀꏢꍔ | | 513401105 |
| Taihe Town | 太和镇 | | ꄠꉼꍔ | | 513401106 |
| Anha Town | 安哈镇 | | ꉢꉳꍔ | | 513401107 |
| Aqi Town | 阿七镇 | | ꀈꐕꍔ | | 513401108 |
| Zhangmuqing | 樟木箐镇 | | ꍈꃆꏿꍔ | | 513401109 |
| Langhuan | 琅环镇 | | ꇂꉸꍔ | | 513401110 |
| Baru Town | 巴汝镇 | | ꀠꌼꍔ | | 513401111 |
| Townships |
| Sihe Township | 四合乡 | | ꌧꉼꑣ | | 513401203 |
| Kaiyuan Township | 开元乡 | | ꇽꑸꑣ | | 513401211 |
| Daxing Township | 大兴乡 | | ꄉꑟꑣ | | 513401212 |
| Jingjiu Township | 经久乡 | | ꏢꏭꑣ | | 513401215 |
| Ma'anshan Township | 马鞍山乡 | | ꂶꉢꎭꑣ | | 513401228 |
| Ethnic townships |
| Yulong Hui Ethnic Township | 裕隆回族乡 | | ꒄꇊꉇꉈꑣ | | 513401219 |
| Gaocao Hui Ethnic Township | 高草回族乡 | | ꇨꊿꉇꉈꑣ | | 513401220 |
|
Transportation
Xichang Railway Station (西昌站) is a main station on the Chengdu–Kunming railway. Construction of a fast express train line has been completed. It connected
Panzhihua,
Chengdu and
Guangyuan. There are also some other stations in the city, including the Xichang North railway station and Xichang South railway station.
The city possesses its own airport, Xichang Qingshan Airport, which is attached to the spaceport by a railroad line and a motorway directly.
Xichang lies on the G5 Beijing–Kunming Expressway.
Spaceport
Xichang's spaceport is located about northwest of the city and went into operation in 1984. Communications satellites are the most common payload to be inserted into orbit from the Xichang spaceport.
Citations
General and cited references
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(Congressional report discussing Intelsat 708 launch failure and possible technology transfer.)
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(Documents on Intelsat 708 and export controls, including State Department letter charging two companies with export law violations.)
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(Article on the crash of a rocket carrying a commercial payload on February 15, 1996.)
