Fuling, Chongqing Municipality, China

🇨🇳 Fuling District (涪陵区) is a district in central Chongqing, China. The area is known for zha cai, a hot pickled mustard tuber, as well as serving as the location of former U.S. Peace Corps teacher Peter Hessler's best-selling memoir River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze.

History According to the district's government, the area comprising contemporary Fuling District has been inhabited since approximately 3000 BCE.

During the Spring and Autumn period, the area was inhabited by the Baipu people. From the middle and late part of Spring and Autumn period, through to the middle of the Warring States period, the area belonged to the State of Ba. The area was at some point the site of one of the Ba's capitals, and a Ba king is buried within the area. During the middle and latter part of the Warring States period, the area belonged to the State of Chu.

Following the State of Chu, the area was incorporated into the Qin dynasty as the Ba Commandery. The area reorganized in 227 BCE, under the rule of King Zhaoxiang of Qin, as Zhi County.

During the Eastern Han, Zhi County was merged into Pingdu County.

In the Three Kingdoms period, the area was ruled by the Shu Han, and organized as Hanping County (汉平县; 漢平縣; pinyin: Hànpíng Xiàn). Hanping County was subordinate to the Fuling Commandery, whose capital was located in present-day Yushan  in the nearby Pengshui Miao and Tujia Autonomous County, to the south-east of Fuling District.

In 347 CE, under the Eastern Jin, the area was again reorganized as Fu Commandery (涪郡; Fú Jùn), which was also known as Zhicheng Commandery (枳城郡; pinyin: Zhǐchéng Jùn).

The area's administrative divisions were reorganized dramatically during the Northern and Southern dynasties.

The Sui dynasty would reorganize the area into three counties: Fuling County (涪陵县; 涪陵縣; pinyin: Fúlíng Xiàn), which belonged to the Ba Commandery, Fengdu County (丰都县; 豐都縣; pinyin: Fēngdū Xiàn), which belonged to the Badong Commandery, and Dianjiang County (垫江县; 墊江縣; pinyin: Diànjiāng Xiàn), which belonged to the Dangqu Commandery.

In 618 CE, during the Tang dynasty, the area was reorganized as Fu Zhou, which governed Wulong County, Fuling County, and Longhua County.

Under the Northern Song, Longhua County was changed to Binhua County. During the Southern Song, Fu Zhou was reestablished to govern the area, and administered Fuling County and Wulong County.

Fu Zhou remained intact during the Yuan dynasty and the Ming dynasty, and governed Wulong County. Fu Zhou would continue intact during the Qing dynasty, but was not divided into counties. During this time, Fu Zhou was under the jurisdiction of Chongqing Fu.

In 1913, shortly after the establishment of the Republic of China, Fu Zhou was reorganized as Fuling County. Fuling County initially fell under the jurisdiction of Chuandong Circuit, then directly under the jurisdiction of Sichuan in 1928, and finally under the Eight Administrative Inspectorate of Sichuan.

Following the establishment of the People's Republic of China, the area saw administrative reforms in early 1950. Fuling County was reorganized as Fuling Area, under the jurisdiction of Chuandong Area. Fuling Area governed seven counties: Fuling, Nanchuan, Fengdu, Shizhu, Wulong, Changshou and Pengshui. In September 1952, Youyang Area  was merged into Fuling Area, adding the counties of Dianjiang, Qianjiang, Youyang, and Xiushan. Changshou County was absorbed into Chongqing, which then had a prefecture-level status instead of its present provincial-level status, in 1958.

Fuling Area was replaced by Fuling Prefecture  in 1968. Fuling County became 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, Qianjiang, Youyang, Xiushan, Pengshui, and Shizhu counties were transferred to the jurisdiction of the newly-organized Qianjiang Prefecture. Nanchuan County was re-designated as a county-level city in 1994. On November 5, 1995, the State Council passed legislation to abolish the county-level city of Fuling and replace it with two districts: Zhicheng District (枳城区) and Lidu District (李渡区). This change would come into effect in January 1996. In March 1996, Fuling Prefecture was re-designated as a prefecture-level city, which governed Zhicheng District, Lidu District, Nanchuan City, Dianjiang County, Fengdu County and Wulong County.

On September 15, 1996, legislature passed by the State Council placed the prefecture-level city of Fuling under the administration of Chongqing. On March 14, 1997, the National People's Congress changed Chongqing to become a direct-administered municipality. This was followed by legislation by the State Council on December 20, 1997 which abolished Fuling's prefecture-level status, revoking Zhicheng District and Lidu District, and placing Nanchuan City, Wulong County, Fengdu County, and Dianjiang County all under the direct jurisdiction of Chongqing. The now-defunct Zhicheng District and Lidu District became contemporary Fuling District.

Geography Fuling District is located on the south-eastern edge of the Sichuan Basin, covering an area of 2,941.46 square km (1,135.70 sq mi). The easternmost point is Baijibao (白鸡堡) in the town of Jiaoshi, the westernmost point is Dachayuan (大茶园) in the town of Zengfu, the southernmost point is Jinjiadian (金家店) in the town of Tongle, and the northernmost point is Hongqiangyuan (红墙院). Fuling District spans 74.5 km (46.3 mi) from west to east, and 70.8 km (44.0 mi) from north to south. Fuling City is located at the confluence of the Wu River and the Yangtze, in the heart of the Three Gorges Reservoir Region.

Located in the central part of Chongqing, Fuling District is bordered by Fengdu County to the east, Wulong District and Nanchuan District to the south, Banan District to the west, and Changshou District and Dianjiang County to the north.

Economy Fuling District had a total gross domestic product (GDP) of 140.274 billion renminbi (RMB) as of 2021, an 8.7% increase from 2020.

The district's primary sector accounted for 6.48% of total GDP in 2021, and grew at a rate of 6.4% from 2020; the secondary sector accounted for 55.80% of GDP, and grew 6.7% from 2020; the tertiary sector accounted for 37.72% of GDP, and grew 12.0% from 2020.

Transport 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 km west of town.

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), 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). The Nanchuan–Fuling Railway, completed in 2012, forms part of Chongqing's outer railway ring.

As of 2015, Fuling had five Yangtze River bridges.

Education 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.

Culture 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.

Cuisine Fuling is well known for its Wu River brand zha cai pickled mustard tuber. The Fuling Zhacai company is listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, and in 2021 celebrated selling 15 billion packets.

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".