CHONGQING (CQNEWS) -- “Bus to stops of Sigongli, Wugongli, Liugongli, Qigongli and Bagongli” In the ears of Chongqing people, Sigongli, Wugongli, Liugongli, Qigongli and Bagongli (meaning four, five, six, seven and eight kilometers in Chinese) refer to the place names, rather than the distance. Of course, they are also used as bus stop names. Recently, a citizen found a bus stop called "Qishiergongli" (meaning 72 kilometers) in Cizhu Town, Yubei District while taking bus of Chuanyu No. 20. He posted on the Internet, saying, "Sigongli and Wugongli are nothing, and the number in this bus stop name is the heavyweight. I'm curious how the name of this bus stop came from."

As for the origin of the place names Sigongli, Wugongli, Liugongli, Qigongli and Bagongli, the reporter learned on the WeChat Official Account of Chongqing Local Chronicles that near Chongqing Technology and Business University and Chongqing Jiaotong University, there is a set of places that have very strange names, Sigongli, Wugongli, Liugongli, Qigongli, Bagongli and Jiugongli (meaning four, five, six, seven, eight, nine kilometers respectively), in which the road signs of the old Sichuan-Guizhou Highway are "hidden". The Old Sichuan-Guizhou Highway was an important transportation artery during the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, with the Haitangxi Ferry Terminal as the starting point. At that time, the areas along the Sichuan-Guizhou Highway were mostly barren mountains and fields, so that the places were not named brought many inconveniences. In view of this, people used the numbers of highways milestone as the synonyms for residential areas at that time. Latter, no matter how the city developed, the name XX gongli has been retained, still in use today.

Why there is a bus stop called “Qishiergongli” (meaning 72 kilometers) in Cizhu Town, Yubei District? The reporter recently interviewed the Road Transport Affairs Center of Yubei District, and a staff member of the department concerned said: “the name of a bus stop of Chuanyu No. 20 called ‘Qishiergongli’ is true. According to the Standard for Naming and Adjusting the Names of Bus Stops in the Downtown areas of Chongqing (Trial), as suggested by the Government of Cizhu Town, we named the bus stop at the fork as ‘Qishiergongli’. You can learn about the origin of this place name from the Government of Cizhu Town.”

A staff member from the office of the Government of Cizhu Town told the reporter: "There is a fork near the 210 National Highway where the bus stop is located, and there was a road pile with the number 'Seventy-two' written on it there. According to local residents, they called it ‘Qishiergongli’ because the 210 National Highway from Chongqing (downtown areas) to the fork road here was 72 kilometers long, and gradually they got used to it. ‘With Chuanyu No. 20 passing by this fork, a bus stop was set up here, so the name ‘Qishiergongli’ is used."

The reporter learned that "Chuanyu No. 20" was put into operation on June 29, 2022. It is the first trans-provincial integrated bus route from Yubei, Chongqing to Guang'an, Sichuan. This bus route, with a total length of 46 kilometers, starts at Shuangfengqiao Junction Stop in Yubei District and ends at Chuanyu Gaozhuxinqu Bus Terminal Stop. This route passes by 19 stops including Yubei Taoyuan Avenue, Guanyue Avenue, 210 National Highway, and Chuanyu Avenue. Buses depart every 30 minutes during peak hours and every 60 minutes during flat peak hours, with operation time from 6:00 to 18:30. (Translated by Hu Chuanmin, Fathom Language Limited)