Chishang

Chishang 池上市 Chíshàng shì
City
Clockwise from top: Chishang skyline, Huachang State Museum, Chishang Blossom Park
Chishang Map of Monsilva with Chishang highlighted
Country	Monsilva
State	Huachang
Settled	10th century BCE
Declared city	19 September 1439
Huachang state est.	1 July 1984
Government
• Body	Chishang City Council
• Mayor	Ma Liu (Green)
Population  (July 2022)
• Total	1,674,966
Time zone	AMT+13 (Monsilvan Eastern Time, MET)
ISO 3166 code	MS-HUA-C
Major airports	Chishang City Airport (CCA)
Transit System(s)	MRA Chishang Metro
Police	Chishang Metropolitan Police
Ambulance	Huachang State Ambulance
Fire	Huachang Fire Service

Chishang (Monsilvan: 池上市; pinyin: Chíshàng shì), is a city in Monsilva and the capital of the state of Huachang. It is located in the east of the state, not far from the border with the state of Amking. The city is one of five cities which lie upon the Meihua River, and is situated in the Chishang Valley surrounded by the hilly terrain of Huachang. As the capital and only city in Huachang, it is the seat of the Huachang State Government, and is home to the Huachang State Office. The city has an estimated population of 1,674,966 (July 2022). Chishang is Monsilva's 9th most-populous city, sitting just ahead of Waiping in 10th but well behind Wodai in 8th. The city holds 86% of the state of Huachang's population, with the other 14% living in the many towns situated around the state.

Chishang sits within the Chishang Valley which formed from thousands of years of erosion caused by the Meihua River which runs through the city towards Amking. The area in which the city stands today was settled in approximately the 10th century BCE, with the first evidence of a noticeable settlement being dated to the 7th century BCE, not longer after the establishment of the Xia dynasty in which Chishang was located. Huachang's population had been very spread out throughout history, with most of the region being covered in farms and other agricultural land. This included the region of Chishang, which was where the best arable land was which is what eventually lead to the region reaching the point where it had become a city. In later history, once Chishang had developed into a significant settlement, its industry began shifting from agriculture into manufacturing, particularly pottery, glass and textiles. Chishang is also well known for holding the headquarters for the Monsilvan Aerospace Exploration Agency (MAXA) and the National Health Research Institutes (NHRI).

Chishang is a somewhat common tourist destination. Popular attractions in the city include: Chishang Blossom Park, Huachang State Museum and the Enshi Bridge. Education in Chishang is good, with many educational institutions in the city. The University of Chishang is a leading research university, with its main focus being in nuclear energy. Residents and tourists can traverse the city via the Chishang Metro, while travellers can utilise railways, highways, an airport and bus lines to enter and leave the city. The city is served by Chishang City Airport which runs very occasional domestic flights to the north and west of the country. National railway services operated by the Monsilvan Railways Administration run out of the city towards Amking, Houzhuang, Waiping, Xinji and Zhangye.

Toponymy

The name, Chishang comes directly from the HY Pinyin of the Monsilvan "池上", (Chíshàng). The character "池" (chí) means "pond", which has been confirmed to have been the intentional meaning behind that part of the word, however the second character "上" (shàng) has a somewhat disputed background. The most widely accepted meaning is "above", which makes "池上" mean "Above the pond", referring to the city's location around many small ponds created by the Meihua River.

History

Early history and dynastic eras

Chishang has been inhabited for thousands of years, but not by many. Most of Huachang was farming land for the majority of its history, and this included Chishang for a long period of time. However, Chishang had some of the most arable land in the region, which was the main cause behind its development into a major population center. By the end of the Zhao dynasty (around the 4th century CE), Chishang had become the largest town in what is now the state of Huachang. After the Zhao-Shang Succession War in the early 7th century, Chishang began growing in population much more and it transition from an agricultural industry to one that focused more on manufacturing textiles and pottery.

When the Zhou dynasty was founded in 1201, Chishang had made its name as the home of Monsilvan pottery, with merchants coming from far and wide to collect jewellery, pots and other ceramics. This bustling industry helped Chishang build its city status which it eventually gained in 1439. However, this prosperity was challenged in the early 16th century during the height of the Beining Crisis, when the Zhou dynasty began seriously suffering both economically and politically. Many businesses in Chishang lost their customers and therefore ceased to operate causing immense poverty in the city.

Empire and Civil War period

When the Zhou dynasty ceded itself to the Empire of Baltanla in 1568, the Beining Crisis came to an end and Chishang's industries were able to return to their previous rate. With the empire's size and global influence, Chishang's pottery became more widely known and became an iconic form of pottery making, with former Chishang residents heading to other cities across the empire to establish Chishang-style pottery shops. Pottery became a key icon in the city's culture and is still noticeable today despite the decline in demand of hand-made pottery and ceramics.

After the Kingdom of Great Shan formed from a Monsilva independent from the empire, Chishang's pottery was one of the first things to put the new nation onto the world stage. The city's proximity to Amking meant that it was easily accessible for the thousands of tradespeople who came from all across the world to purchase authentic Chishang ceramics. This contributed massively to the city's economy and its size tripled during the brief existence of the Great Shan.

When the Monsilvan Civil War struck out in 1824, Chishang was suddenly overshadowed with fighting and its simplistic pottery industry became unimportant to the country's government which was too preoccupied with fighting the Liberate Monsilva Movement. This seriously affected the city economically, with hundreds of people suffering from famine and thousands from poverty. Although the city was fortunate enough to see minimal fighting, the war still took a toll on the city.

Post-civil war and modern Monsilva

Once the Kingdom of Monsilva was established at the end of the war in 1830, Chishang was faced with the reality that in a modernising world, they had to start focusing on other industries and focal points outside of ceramics manufacturing. This lead to Chishang beginning to return to its agricultural roots, with the building of greenhouses and large processing factories to produce increasing amounts of rice, tea and many other crops to accommodate and increasing population and demand for food.

During martial law in Monsilva, Chishang was exhausted with excessive demands from the military government to produce more and more resources for the growing government and army. Although many public protests had taken place across the country already, Chishang held some of the first workers strikes against the military government, with the largest being the 1974 Huangnong Worker's Strike whereby several thousand workers at the Huangnong Factory in Chishang went on strike, which resulted in five deaths after the military police began deploying highly concentrated tear gas.

After the establishment of the Monsilvan Republic in 1978 Chishang was one of the largest cities of Lionglin until Chishang was made capital of Huachang after the state's establishment in July 1984.

Government

Local government

Chishang has its own city council, the head of which is the Mayor of Chishang. The city council serves as a replacement for the county councils which would exist for the counties that make up the city if Chishang was not a multiple-county city. The council is currently lead by the Green Party.

State government

Chishang, as the capital of Huachang, is home to the Huachang State Government in the State Office. The Huachang State Parliament, also in the State Office, is a 42-seat unicameral legislature which serves the entire state of Huachang, including the city. The seats correspond to each municipality of the state, many of which are Chishang's urban municipalities.

Geography

Chishang is located in the Chishang Valley upon the Meihua River which flows through four other cities, including Amking. The land on which Chishang sits is highly arable, which made it a popular region for farmers in the area's early history and is what lead to the city becoming a population centre in the first place. The city is bounded by the hills of Huachang which sit at its north and south, with the city's suburbs being located in the east and west as opposed to circling the city as they do in most cities.

The city has a warm climate which is made cooler by the city's altitude, however the city never sinks below 9 degrees celcius in the winter and can reach highs of up to 35 degrees celcius at the height of the summer.

Cityscape

View of Chishang's skyline

Demography

As of 2022, there are just under 1.7 million people living within Chishang's metropolitan area, making it Monsilva's eighth-largest city by population, sitting just ahead of Tsingyi but well behind of Wodai. Chishang is a very well spread city with a rather low population density (for a city). The city's buildings are not very tall and the city has no skyscrapers, which has made Chishang a very suburban city. As with most urban areas in Monsilva, the city has a diverse population. Although the majority of Chishang's residents are Monsilvan, there are still noticeable diasporas of other nationalities, such as Baltanese people.

Most residents of Chishang adhere to the practices of Monsilvan folk religion. However there are still many followers of Buddhism and a rapidly growing number of religiously unaffiliated people in the city.

Education

University of Chishang

Chishang has many educational institutions around the city, from elementary schools to universities. The city is home to the University of Chishang, a well regarded research university known for its extensive research into nuclear power, as well as being home to one of only two fusion reactors in Monsilva. The university has a large capacity that has lead to Chishang commonly being referred to as a 'university town' or '大学城'. According to federal law, education in Chishang is mandatory up to the age of 16, however there has been a recent increase in advocation for the age to be raised to 18 on par with many of Monsilva's states.

Chishang is also the home to the University of Luhai's Xiasi Campus located in the centre of the city which is usually populated during the holiday months with many international and some domestic students from the university.

Culture

Sport

The most popular sport in Chishang is football. The city is home to Chishang Laohu F.C., which is currently in the Monsilvan Super League. Yuchio is also a very popular sport in the city, and was much more popular than football until the 1980s. So popular in fact, that the city, as well as many other towns in the state, have struggled with large numbers of abandoned yuchio courts which the state government are trying to restore or refurbish into them into homes, businesses or community halls. As with most of southern Monsilva, basketball is a somewhat popular sport in the city. The Chishang Mountains Basketball Team is a very successful basketball team located within the city.

Tourism

Huachang State Museum

Chishang is home to many tourist attractions which include:

• Huachang State Museum
• Chishang Blossom Park
• Enshi Bridge
• Campus of the University of Chishang
• Museum of the History of Chishang
• Monsilva Ceramics Museum

Travel

Chishang is served by the Chishang Metro within the city, but it is also served nationally by the Monsilvan Railways Administration which operates services to cities such as Amking, Waiping, Houzhuang, Xinji and Zhangye. The city also has Chishang City Airport, however it only runs flights during peak holiday seasons as the city has easy travel access to Monsilva's busiest airport, Xu Zhou-da International Airport in Amking.

See also

• Outline of Monsilva