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What would you consider China's 'fifth' city? Consider not only population, GDP, but also cultural influence, transportation links, regional prominence.
I would say the first four are Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Guangzhou.
I think one could make an argument for Shenzhen (economic importance), Chengdu, Chongqing (largest city municipality on earth in area/population), Tianjin (a SEZ) and the old capital of Nanjing.
If it's not clear-cut, which do you think should be promoted as the 5th city. I think it should be Chongqing, as the top 4 cities are coastal or near coastal (Beijing) and China needs a major megapolis deep in it's hinterland.
note: i made a mistake in the poll title, 5th not 4th
I would say the first four are Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Guangzhou.
I think one could make an argument for Shenzhen (economic importance), Chengdu, Chongqing (largest city municipality on earth in area/population), Tianjin (a SEZ) and the old capital of Nanjing.
Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai and Chongqing are centrally-administered province-level regions, and they do not belong to any particular province. Hong Kong is obviously a special administrative zone.
So I would rank Tianjin and Chongqing over Guangzhou. I really think that Guangzhou is important only because Hong Kong is more important.
You would have considerable debate over the 5th city in the USA. The first four New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Washington DC would barely be questioned. But the 5th city would be a battle between Atlanta, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Boston, Dallas, and Houston.
Shenzhen is close to Hong Kong and therefore effected by Hong Kong. BTW, would Hong Kong qualify as the 5th Chinese city even though it has its own international border?
I have visited each of the contender cities and I have to agree with the consensus that Chongqing should be considered China's 5th city. It has long passed Chengdu as the leader of west-central China economically and as someone else mentioned, politically as well. Chongqing also has the 'wow' factor.
However, because of the summer weather, I would prefer to live in Chengdu.
In regard to the list of contenders, I really think that Wuhan also should be on the list. It it also huge like Chongqing.
Shenzhen is close to Hong Kong and therefore effected by Hong Kong. BTW, would Hong Kong qualify as the 5th Chinese city even though it has its own international border?
Because China has control of Hong Kong and most urban people from the mainland can now visit Hong Kong, I think that it qualifies.
I have visited each of the contender cities and I have to agree with the consensus that Chongqing should be considered China's 5th city. It has long passed Chengdu as the leader of west-central China economically and as someone else mentioned, politically as well. Chongqing also has the 'wow' factor.
However, because of the summer weather, I would prefer to live in Chengdu.
In regard to the list of contenders, I really think that Wuhan also should be on the list. It it also huge like Chongqing.
I agree with you regarding Chengdu. It is a great, great place. Chongqing has its charms, too. Better 酸辣粉, for one thing.
You've lost me with Wuhan, however. No character, whatsoever.
I agree with you regarding Chengdu. It is a great, great place. Chongqing has its charms, too. Better 酸辣粉, for one thing.
You've lost me with Wuhan, however. No character, whatsoever.
In my eyes, Wuhan's character are based on being divided by an incredibly wide area of the Changjiang (Yangtze) River. It is the only city that I know of in China that has thee distinct local languages due to three cities that were officially joined together 70 years ago. Even with the modern bridges connecting the three and the ferries going back and forth, they still seem more like three cities to me.
That said, I don't mean to imply that Wuhan is full of character. I just think it belongs with the list of other cities because it is very large, is an economic center, and has quite a bit of historical significance. It does have the Yellow Crane Tower.
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