Xichang (Northern Yi: /o̝˨˩dʐo̝˧/) is a city in and the seat of the Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture in the south of Sichuan , China.
20-590: The Qiongdu were the local people at the time of contact with China. The county of Qiongdu is attested in the area from the Han dynasty . 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 Mongolians from 1272–4, after which it was incorporated into Yunnan of
40-572: A governor . The People's Government is answerable to both the State Council and the Provincial People's Congress. The provincial branch of the CCP has a Provincial Party Congress every five years, and elects a Standing Committee to exercise its authority when not in session. The Provincial Party Secretary is the de facto most important position in the province. The first provinces were created in
60-1419: A local CCP committee. A county's is called the secretary ( 中共县委书记 ), the de facto highest office of the county. Policies are carried out via the people's government of the county, and its head is called the county governor ( 县长 ). The governor is often also one of the deputy secretaries in the CCP Committee. Provinces of China Provinces Autonomous regions Sub-provincial autonomous prefectures Autonomous prefectures Leagues (Aimag) (abolishing) Prefectures Provincial-controlled cities Provincial-controlled counties Autonomous counties County-level cities Districts Ethnic districts Banners (Hoxu) Autonomous banners Shennongjia Forestry District Liuzhi Special District Wolong Special Administrative Region Workers and peasants districts Ethnic townships Towns Subdistricts Subdistrict bureaux Sum Ethnic sum County-controlled districts County-controlled district bureaux (obsolete) Management committees Town-level city Areas Villages · Gaqa · Ranches Village Committees Communities Capital cities New areas Autonomous administrative divisions National Central Cities History: before 1912 , 1912–49 , 1949–present Provinces ( Chinese : 省 ; pinyin : Shěng ) are
80-471: 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 , Jinsha , and Yangtze rivers . It lies near Qiong Lake . Owing to its low latitude and high elevation, Xichang has a monsoon -influenced humid subtropical climate ( Köppen Cwa ) milder and far sunnier than
100-479: A special class of counties in mainland China reserved for non- Han Chinese ethnic minorities . Autonomous counties are found all over China, and are given, by law, more legislative power than regular counties. There are 117 autonomous counties in mainland China. As the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is central to directing government policy in mainland China, every level of administrative division has
120-674: Is sometimes translated as " district " or " prefecture " when put in the context of Chinese history . Xian have existed since the Warring States period and were set up nationwide by the Qin dynasty . The number of counties in China proper gradually increased from dynasty to dynasty. As Qin Shi Huang reorganized the counties after his unification, there were about 1,000. Under the Eastern Han dynasty ,
140-572: The Qing , 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. Roman Catholicism
160-658: The Sichuan Basin , with mild, very sunny and dry winters, and very warm, rainy summers. The monthly 24-hour average temperature ranges from 9.9 °C (49.8 °F) in January to 22.6 °C (72.7 °F) in July, and the annual mean is 17.15 °C (62.9 °F). Over 60% of the 1,025 mm (40.4 in) annual precipitation occurs from June to August. With monthly percent possible sunshine ranging from 36% in September to 72% in January,
180-728: The Yuan dynasty , and have remained one of the most stable forms of Chinese government since then. They were created to help the Imperial court manage local county governments, which were too numerous and far-flung to be managed directly. The number of provinces grew steadily during subsequent dynasties, reaching 28 by the time of the Republic of China . During the Warlord Era , provinces became largely or completely autonomous and exercised significant national influence. Province-level units proliferated and under
200-487: The Yuan dynasty . It was organized as the Jiandu Ningyuan duhufu, qianhufu, or wanhufu but continued to be often known as Jiandu. In the book of his travels , 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
220-414: The third level of the administrative hierarchy in provinces and autonomous regions and the second level in municipalities and Hainan , a level that is known as " county level " and also contains autonomous counties , county-level cities , banners , autonomous banners and city districts . There are 1,355 counties in mainland China out of a total of 2,851 county-level divisions. The term xian
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#1732854945876240-422: The 1960s to the 1980s. In Imperial China, the county was a significant administrative unit because it marked the lowest level of the imperial bureaucratic structure; in other words, it was the lowest level that the government reached. Government below the county level was often undertaken through informal non-bureaucratic means, varying between dynasties. The head of a county was the magistrate , who oversaw both
260-548: 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 . Xichang's spaceport is located about 64 kilometres (40 mi) northwest of the city and went into operation in 1984. Communications satellites are
280-464: The city receives 2,367 hours of bright sunshine annually. Xichang comprises 7 subdistricts , 11 towns , 6 townships and 2 ethnic townships . 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
300-676: The day-to-day operations of the county as well as civil and criminal cases. During the Republican period, counties were the second level administrative divisions of its provinces. After the Chinese Civil War, counties became subordinate to prefectural level cities while the previous structure is retained. The counties became directly governed by the Executive Yuan after the provinces became streamlined in 1998, but they were fully abolished in 2018. Autonomous counties ( 自治县 ; zìzhìxiàn ) are
320-428: The executive, a Provincial People's Congress with legislative powers, and a parallel provincial branch of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) that elects a Party Secretary and a Provincial Standing Committee . Provinces are the most common form of province-level governments. The legislative bodies of the provinces are the Provincial People's Congresses. The executive branch is the Provincial People's Government, led by
340-1166: The most common payload to be inserted into orbit from the Xichang spaceport. County (China) Provinces Autonomous regions Sub-provincial autonomous prefectures Autonomous prefectures Leagues (Aimag) (abolishing) Prefectures Provincial-controlled cities Provincial-controlled counties Autonomous counties County-level cities Districts Ethnic districts Banners (Hoxu) Autonomous banners Shennongjia Forestry District Liuzhi Special District Wolong Special Administrative Region Workers and peasants districts Ethnic townships Towns Subdistricts Subdistrict bureaux Sum Ethnic sum County-controlled districts County-controlled district bureaux (obsolete) Management committees Town-level city Areas Villages · Gaqa · Ranches Village Committees Communities Capital cities New areas Autonomous administrative divisions National Central Cities History: before 1912 , 1912–49 , 1949–present Counties ( simplified Chinese : 县 ; traditional Chinese : 縣 ; pinyin : Xiàn ) are found in
360-505: The most numerous type of province-level divisions in the People's Republic of China (PRC). There are currently 22 provinces administered by the PRC and one province that is claimed, but not administered, which is Taiwan , currently administered by the Republic of China (ROC). The local governments of Chinese provinces consists of a Provincial People's Government headed by a governor that acts as
380-601: The number of counties increased to above 1,000. About 1400 existed when the Sui dynasty abolished the commandery level (郡 jùn), which was the level just above counties, and demoted some commanderies to counties. The current number of counties mostly resembled that of the later years of Qing dynasty . Changes of location and names of counties in Chinese history have been a major field of research in Chinese historical geography, especially from
400-586: 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. The episcopal residence is located next to the Cathedral of the Angels, Xichang . In the 1980s, its population was thought to be around 140,000 people. In 2012, it had an estimated population of 481,796. Xichang lies in
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