ChongqingChongqing (ˌtʃɒŋˈtʃɪŋ or ˈtʃɒŋtʃɪŋ ; ; Sichuanese pronunciation: tshoŋ˨˩tɕhin˨˩˦, Standard Mandarin pronunciation: AUDChongqing.oggchong2.qing4), alternately romanized as Chungking (ˈtʃʊŋˈkɪŋ), is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Geographically, Chongqing is strategically positioned as a gateway to China's west, a key connection in the Yangtze River Economic Belt, and a strategic base for China's Belt and Road Initiative.
County-level cityA county-level municipality (), county-level city or county city, formerly known as prefecture-controlled city (1949–1970: ; 1970–1983: ), is a county-level administrative division of the People's Republic of China. County-level cities have judicial but no legislative rights over their own local law and are usually governed by prefecture-level divisions, but a few are governed directly by province-level divisions. A county-level city is a "city" () and "county" () that have been merged into one unified jurisdiction.
ShenyangShenyang (UKSEn'jaeN, USSVn'jQN; ; Mandarin pronunciation: shen3.yang2), formerly known as Fengtian (, Mandarin pronunciation: feng4tian1) or by its Manchu name, Mukden, IPA:/mukh.tən/) is a major Chinese sub-provincial city and the provincial capital of Liaoning province, in north-central Liaoning. It is the province's most populous city, with a population of 9,070,093 at the 2020 census. It is also the largest city in Northeast China by urban population.
QingdaoQingdao (tʃɪŋˈdaʊ , also spelled Tsingtao; , Mandarin: AUDzh-Qingdao.oggqing1dao3) is a city in eastern Shandong Province. The city's name in Chinese characters literally means "Cyan Island". Located on China's Yellow Sea coast, it is a major nodal city of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) that connects Asia with Europe. It has the highest GDP of any city in the province. Administered at the sub-provincial level, Qingdao has jurisdiction over seven districts and three county-level cities (Jiaozhou, Pingdu, Laixi).
Ma'anshanMa'anshan (), also colloquially written as Maanshan, is a prefecture-level city in the eastern part of Anhui province in Eastern China. An industrial city stretching across the Yangtze River, Ma'anshan borders Hefei to the west, Wuhu to the southwest, and Nanjing to the east. It is a satellite city of the Nanjing metropolitan area and is also a city in the Yangtze River Delta Economic Zone. As of the 2020 census, Ma'anshan was home to 2,159,930 inhabitants, of whom 1,253,960 lived in the built-up (or metro) area made of Huashan and Yushan urban districts and Dangtu County, which is largely urbanized.
Manchu peopleThe Manchus (; ) are a Tungusic East Asian ethnic group native to Manchuria in Northeast Asia. They are an officially recognized ethnic minority in China and the people from whom Manchuria derives its name. The Later Jin (1616–1636) and Qing (1636–1912) dynasties of China were established and ruled by the Manchus, who are descended from the Jurchen people who earlier established the Jin dynasty (1115–1234) in northern China. Manchus form the largest branch of the Tungusic peoples and are distributed throughout China, forming the fourth largest ethnic group in the country.
ZhengzhouZhengzhou (dʒɛŋ'dʒoʊ,_dʒʌŋ-, ; ), also spelt Zheng Zhou and alternatively romanized as Chengchow, is the capital and largest city of Henan Province in the central part of the People's Republic of China. Located in north-central Henan, it is one of the National Central Cities in China, the centre of Central Plains area, and serves as the political, economic, technological, and educational center of the province. The Zhengzhou metropolitan area (including Zhengzhou and Kaifeng) is the core area of the Central Plains Economic Zone.
Northern ExpeditionThe Northern Expedition was a military campaign launched by the National Revolutionary Army (NRA) of the Kuomintang (KMT), also known as the "Chinese Nationalist Party", against the Beiyang government and other regional warlords in 1926. The purpose of the campaign was to reunify China, which had become fragmented in the aftermath of the Revolution of 1911. The expedition was led by Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, and was divided into two phases.
ChengduChengdu (UKtʃɛŋˈduː, UStʃʌŋ-; Chinese: 成都; pinyin: Chéngdū; Sichuanese pronunciation: tshən˨˩tu˥, Standard Chinese pronunciation: AUDZh-Chengdu.oggcheng2.du1), alternatively romanized as Chengtu, is a sub-provincial city which serves as the capital of the Chinese province of Sichuan. With a population of 20,937,757 inhabitants during the 2020 Chinese census, it is the fourth most populous city in China, and it is the only city apart from the four direct-administered municipalities with a population of over 20 million.
PingdingshanPingdingshan (), also known as Eagle City (), is a prefecture-level city in central Henan province, China. It had 4,904,701 inhabitants at the 2010 census whom 1,756,333 lived in the built-up (or metro) area including Ye county being conurbated. In Chinese, Pingdingshan means "mountain with a flat top". The city is named after a nearby plateau, the top of which is very flat. The reason for the nickname of the city "Eagle City" can be traced back to two thousand years ago during the "Spring and Autumn Annals".