Chongqing, M Home Town

Xiangyu Li

Chongqing, My Hometown

In China, many people believe that the unique features of a local environment always give special characteristics to its inhabitants. For instance, people from the north part of China are normally taller than people from the south (Zhang & Wang, 2011); also, people from eastern China have an average longer lifespan than those from the west (Lu & Chen, 2010). In addition to these physical characters, the regional differences also play important roles on shaping inhabitants’ behaviors, personalities and even value views. My hometown is Chongqing, a super city with 30 million people in the southwest of China. According to the Forbes Magazine, it is one of the “the best cities for business” (Flannery, 2013) and also “the biggest cities you never heard of” (Kotkin, 2010). Nevertheless, under these glories and praises, as a young man who was born and grown up in this city, I am always more obsessive with Chongqing’s unique city spirit, a spirit of persistence and egalitarianism, a spirit has influenced generations of Chongqingers for centuries.

Chongqing is a beautiful mountain city with two rivers surrounded. According to the Chinese Feng-Shui theory, it is a safe, rich and comfortable place to live. In fact, the first group of our ancestors came to there and set up the “Ba” state around 15,000 years ago (Zhu, 2010). Since then, “Ba” cultures became one of the most important parts of the Chinese civilization. I was born in a business family. As one of the youngest members, I have traveled a lot since I was a child. Wherever and whenever I travel, I away enjoy meeting different people, visiting different places and learning different cultures. However, in my opinion, there is no any other places can even be comparable with my hometown, Chongqing.

Chongqing is a well-known mountain city. However, Chongqing’s mountains are not similar to Fuji in Japan, Alps in Europe or even Rocky in America; they are endless, irregular,...