CHONGQING (CQNEWS) -- Lianglukou, Sanjiaobei, Eling, Qiansimen... Behind those interesting names of Chongqing’s places are fascinating stories, historical changes, and folk customs of Chongqing.

The History and Culture Exhibition Hall for Chongqing Place Names opened to the public for free. Founded by the Chongqing Municipal Civil Affairs Bureau and Yuzhong People’s Government, it is an integrated hall incorporating education, science popularization, exhibition, and interactive activities and offering chances to know about Chongqing through the stories and origins behind the names of Chongqing’s places.

The exhibition hall mainly consists of three parts: Hall of Charming Chongqing which shows the administrative divisions of Chongqing and the changes of place names in Chongqing, Hall of Lively Mother City which allows the audience to experience the Wu culture and Ba civilization, and the Hall of Trendy Star that displays cultural and creative products and offers interactive activities.

According to the history and culture exhibition hall for Chongqing’s place names, place names are the carrier of human culture and history of a city. The establishment of this exhibition hall shows Chongqing’s respect to place name culture and symbolizes its efforts in protecting and carrying forward the history and culture. The exhibition hall gives a brief history of how some of Chongqing’s places got their names and highlights the unique charm of Chongqing.

It’s worth noting that the exhibition hall has combined Chongqing’s characteristic place names with their historical development through multimedia technology and scene reproduction, offering a better experience for the audience. For example, the names of most places in Chongqing are related to the landscape and terrain of Chongqing, such as “dong, ping, ba (different types of mountains)”, and “hao, tuo, and tan (different types of water areas)”. Visitors can pick a mystery box to learn about the origin of a place's name and discover more information about their favorites by operating the display device. They can also learn about the changes in Chongqing’s administrative divisions and the origin of the “17 city gates” from the exhibition.

Ba (Dam)

"Ba" is often used in the names of places featuring a flat terrain, such as Liziba, Shapingba, and Dashiba. It can be seen in the names of over 12000 places in Chongqing.

Tuo (River Bend)

"Tuo" refers to the river bend. There are lots of river bends in Chongqing, most of which have been developed into ports and named by their shape or the family name of people living nearby. For example, we can see Niujiaotuo, Baishatuo, Tangjiatuo, and Lijiatuo. Tuo can be seen in the names of over 600 places in Chongqing.

Ping (Level Ground)

"Ping" indicates a platform with a steep slope and level ground. We can see over 20000 places got a name including “ping”, such as Yangjiaping, Chenjiaping, Nanping, Daping, Tieshanping, and Xishanping.

Xi (Stream)

As a small water system in the mountainous area, streams are pretty common in Chongqing. Therefore, many places got names including “xi”, like Haitangxi, Huangshaxi, Qingshuixi, and Gailanxi. “Xi” can be seen in the names of over 22000 places in Chongqing.

Wan (Bay)

Over 86000 places in downtown Chongqing got names including “wan”, such as Xiejiawan, Xuetianwan, Datianwan, Xiaojiawan, and Longzhouwan. Those places are usually named in the form of “surname + wan”. (Translated by Yuki, Fathom Language Limited)