Sichuan Province

Sichuan is a province in southwestern China. Surrounded by mountains, it has a mild climate. Sichuan covers a vast area of 485,000 sq km, accounting for 5.1% of China's total area. It is one of the largest and most inaccessible provinces in the nation.

The capital of Sichuan province is Chengdu. Sichuan's population is the largest in China, which in 2004 was 87,250,000 with major nationalities being Han, 95%, Yi, 2,6% , Tibetan 1,5% and Qiang, 0,4%.

Sichuan is bordered by the Tibetan Plateau in the west and by the Three Gorges and the Yangtze River in the east. The eastern part of the Sichuan basin is ringed by lofty mountains and experiences a subtropical and humid climate. The western part is considered the highland area and experiences frequent fog with intense sunlight, but low temperatures. The annual rainfall in this province is 1000 millimeters and the average annual temperature is 16.5 C.

Economy

Sichuan is one of the major agricultural production bases of China. Grain, including rice and wheat, is the major product with output that ranked first in China in 1999. Commercial crops include citrus fruits, sugar canes, sweet potatoes, peaches and grapeseeds. Sichuan also had the largest output of pork among all the provinces and the second largest output of silkworm cocoons in China in 1999. Sichuan is rich in mineral resources. It has more than 132 kinds of proven underground mineral resources of which reserves of 11 kinds including vanadium, titanium, and lithium are the largest in China. The Panxi region alone possesses 13.3% of the reserves of iron, 93% of titanium, 69% of vanadium, 83% of cobalt of the whole country.

Sichuan is also well-known of its industries. In addition to heavy industries such as coal, energy, iron and steel industry, the province has established a light manufacturing sector comprising building materials, wood processing, food and silk processing.
The auto industry is important and a key sector of the machinery industry in Sichuan. Most of the auto manufacturing companies are located in Chengdu, Mianyang, Nanchong, and Luzhou. Other important industries in Sichuan include aerospace and defense (military) industries. A number of China's rockets (Long March rockets) and satellites has been launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, located in the city of Xichang. Sichuan's beautiful landscapes and rich historical relics have also made the province into a major center for tourism.

Sichuan's nominal GDP for 2006 was 863.8 billion yuan (US$111.6 billion), equivalent to 10,574 RMB (US$1370) per capita. In 2006, the per capita net income of rural residents reached 3,013 yuan (US$350), up 7.5% year-on-year. The per capita disposable income of the urbanites averaged 9,350 yuan (US$1,048), up 11.5% year-on-year.

Panda Sanctuaries

The Sichuan Giant Panda Sanctuaries is the home to more than 30% of the world's highly endangered Giant Pandas and is among the most important sites for the captive breeding of these pandas. It covers 9245 km² with seven nature reserves and nine scenic parks in the Qionglai and Jiajin Mountains. Along with the Giant Panda, the sanctuary is a refuge to other endangered species such as the red panda, the snow leopard, and the clouded leopard. Outside of the tropical rainforests, it is among the botanically richest sites of the world, and is home to between 5,000 and 6,000 species of flora. It has been noted that the region is similar to the paleo-tropic forests of the Tertiary Era.

Wolong National Nature Reserve is a protected area located in Wenchuan County. It houses more than 150 highly endangered giant pandas.

Wenchuan County

Sichuan is one of the most inaccesible provinces of China.Wenchuan county(汶川县 pinyin: Wènchuān Xian) has an area of 4084 square kilometers. It is a small town in Sichuan’s Aba Tibetan-Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, which straddles the confluence of the Min and Zagunao Rivers. Wenchuan county is one of only 4 counties that are the main location of China’s Qiang (羌) ethnic group – the others being Lixian, Maoxian and Beichuan. Wenchuan is also known as one of the most important giant panda reservations located in the south-western China.

Wenchuan County has six towns: Weizhou, Xuankou, Shuimo, Yingxiu, Miansi, Wolong and seven villages: Keku, Longxi, Yanmen, Sanjiang, Gengda.

Wenchuan in history

The region is located between the Tibetan region to the north and the Han region to the south. For centuries, Wenchuan has been a place where ethnic groups overlap. The remains of defensive walls from the Three Kingdoms period (220-265 AD) and from the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) are still visible on the hills above the town. According to legend, Yu the Great, one of China’s famous ancestors, was born in this area, and a temple in his honour is situated near the remains of the Three Kingdoms wall. The striking watchtowers and fortress-like style of some local Qiang villages built high on the mountaintops, such as the three towers of Buwa village which can be seen Other evidence of inter-ethnic encounters are the striking watchtowers and fortress-like style of some of the local Qiang villages, built high up on the mountain tops, e.g. the three towers of Buwa village which can be seen high above Wenchuan.

On May 12, 2008, the area was the epicentre of a great earthquake. In Chinese, the earthquake is named after the county, making its name resonate across the nation.

Wenchuan Earthquake location:

31.021°N, 103.367°E at a depth of 10 km
80 km (50 miles) WNW of Chengdu, Sichuan, China
140 km (90 miles) WSW of Mianyang, Sichuan, China
345 km (215 miles) WNW of Chongqing, Chongqing, China
1545 km (950 miles) SW of BEIJING, Beijing, China