Xichang

Xichang is a city in and the seat of the Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, in the south of Sichuan, China.

History
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 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 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 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.

Geography
Xichang lies in 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.



Climate
Owing to its low latitude and high elevation, Xichang has a monsoon-influenced humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cwa) milder and far sunnier than 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 in January to 22.6 °C in July, and the annual mean is 17.15 °C. Over 60% of the 1025 mm annual precipitation occurs from June to August. With monthly percent possible sunshine ranging from 36% in September to 72% in January, the city receives 2,367 hours of bright sunshine annually.

Administrative divisions
Xichang comprises 7 subdistricts, 11 towns, 6 townships and 2 ethnic townships.

Transportation
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 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.

Spaceport
Xichang's spaceport is located about 64 km northwest of the city and went into operation in 1984. Communications satellites are the most common payload to be inserted into orbit from the Xichang spaceport.

General and cited references

 * (Congressional report discussing Intelsat 708 launch failure and possible technology transfer.)
 * (Documents on Intelsat 708 and export controls, including State Department letter charging two companies with export law violations.)
 * (Article on the crash of a rocket carrying a commercial payload on February 15, 1996.)
 * (Congressional report discussing Intelsat 708 launch failure and possible technology transfer.)
 * (Documents on Intelsat 708 and export controls, including State Department letter charging two companies with export law violations.)
 * (Article on the crash of a rocket carrying a commercial payload on February 15, 1996.)
 * (Article on the crash of a rocket carrying a commercial payload on February 15, 1996.)