Fuling District

Silver-inlaid Copper Pot, Warring States period, unearthed at Xiaotianxi, Fuling

In the middle and late part of Spring and Autumn period, it was in the southern territory of the State of Ba. In the middle Warring States period, it was part of the State of Chu. It was called the County of Zhi (枳县) in 277 by the State of Qin. In 347 (during the Eastern Jin Dynasty), it became the Commandery of Fu (涪郡), also known as Commandery of Zicheng (梓城郡). It became County of Fuling (涪陵县) in the Sui Dynasty. It was Fu Prefecture (涪州) in 618 (during the Tang Dynasty). From the Yuan to the Qing Dynasty, Fu Department was part of Chongqing Prefecture (府). In the early years of the Republic of China, Fuling County was a part of Dongchuan Circuit (东川) until 1928 it became part of Sichuan province.

In January 1950, Fuling Zhuanqu of Chuandong include the seven counties of:

• Fuling
• Nanchuan
• Fengdu
• Shizhu
• Wulong
• Pengshui
• Changshou

In September 1952, Youyang Zhuanqu was abolished, and its counties of Qianjiang, Youyang, and Xiushan were incorporated into Fuling Zhuanqu. The following year, Dianjiang County was also assigned to Fuling. Fuling's Changshou became under Chongqing City in 1958. The zhuanqu was made a prefecture in 1968.

Fuling County was upgraded to a county-level city in 1983. The prefecture became a Three Gorges provincial planning region (三峡省筹备区域) the following year. In 1988, the counties of Qianjiang, Youyang, Shizhu, Xiushan, and Pengshui were separated into new prefecture of their own (Qianjiang Prefecture).

On November 5, 1995, Fuling Prefecture and the original county-level city were abolished. In the replace of the prefecture was the prefectural Fuling City, administer the three counties of Dianjiang, Wulong, and Fengdu, and Nanchuan City. It also includes the newly established districts of Zhicheng and Lidu (枳城 and 李渡).

The city has been administered by Chongqing since September 1996 on behalf of the province, and became part of Chongqing Municipality the following year. In June 1998, Fuling city and its two districts were abolished. The districts became Fuling District. The remaining subdivisions of the Fuling City remained, but were directly governed by Chongqing.

Fuling District has a monsoon-influenced humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cwa), with four distinct seasons and ample rainfall: winters are short, mild, and comparatively dry, while summers are long, hot, and humid. Monthly daily average temperatures range from 7.4 °C (45.3 °F) in January to 28.4 °C (83.1 °F) in August, while the annual mean is 18.04 °C (64.5 °F). The diurnal temperature variation is 6.52 °C (11.7 °F) and is especially small during winter. Around 87% of the annual precipitation falls from April to October.

According to Peter Hessler, as of 1998, most residents of Fuling are genetically incapable of being alcoholics. When imbibing large amounts of alcohol many people became so sick and they could not drink heavily all the time. Therefore, according to Hessler, consumption of alcohol was not habitual but instead was a ritual, and therefore drinking patterns were "abusive with light consequences."[3]

There are eight sub-districts, 18 towns, and 14 townships. They in turn contain 719 administrative villages and 80 neighborhood committees (see administrative levels in China).

Historically, Fuling was primarily served by Yangtze river boats, as the development of ground transportation was slow, due to the difficult terrain.

Railways arrived to the Fuling area only in the 21st century. First was the Chongqing–Huaihua Railway, completed in 2005. Its Fuling Railway Station is located a few kilometers west of town (29°42′10″N 107°19′45″E).

The high-speed Chongqing−Lichuan Railway, opened on December 28, 2013, serves Fuling as well, with its Fuling North Railway Station. This railway crosses the Yangtze near the city over the Hanjiatuo Bridge. The railway's Caijiagou Bridge (蔡家沟特大桥; 29°46′17″N 107°22′07″E), located in Fuling District, is said to be the world's tallest railway bridge, as measured by the height of the bridge's tallest pillar (139 m).[5] The Nanchuan–Fuling Railway, completed in 2012, forms part of Chongqing's outer railway ring.

As of 2015, Fuling had five Yangtze River bridges.

Yangtze Normal University

Yangtze Normal University (formerly Fuling Teachers College) is in Fuling. The university hosted Peace Corps volunteers from 1996 until 2020, when the last volunteers were evacuated from the Peace Corps China program in the wake of Covid-19.

The White Crane Ridge (Baiheliang), a rock outcrop on the Yangtze River, has been used as a hydrological station recording water levels since the Tang Dynasty. It includes many rock carvings. With the flooding of the Yangtze as part of the Three Gorges Dam project, the White Crane Ridge Underwater Museum was opened in 2009 to protect the carvings and allow viewing by visitors under the new water level of the river.[6]

• River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze
• Fuling Catholic Church
• White Crane Ridge
• Baiheliang Underwater Museum
• Project 816

• Hessler, Peter. River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze (ebook edition). HarperCollins e-books.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Fuling District.

• Official site (in Chinese)
  • Map
• Hot Pickled Mustard Tuber
• Reviews and excerpts of River Town by Peter Hessler
• Resort: Baiheliang 白鹤梁