Direct-controlled municipalities
are the highest-level cities in China, with status equal to that of the
provinces. Both the People's Republic of China (PRC) on mainland China
and the Republic of China (ROC) on Taiwan adopt this system with some
variations. Geographically and culturally, many of the Chinese
municipalities are enclaves in the middle of provinces. Some occur in
strategic positions in between provinces. Current municipalities of PRC
are Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Chongqing, and current
municipalities under ROC administration are Kaohsiung and Taipei.
China's Mainland municipalities can be quite large. All four
municipalities extend far beyond their urban areas into the surrounding
areas, encompassing towns, villages, farmland, hills, and other areas
that are much larger than the urban area. The largest municipality,
Chongqing, is larger in size than the smallest province, Hainan. Provincial city (副省级城市) (or deputy-provincial city) in the People's Republic of China,
is a prefecture-level city that is ruled by a province, but is
administered independently in regard to economy and law. The mayor of a
sub-provincial city is equal in status to a vice-governor of a
province. Its status is below that of municipalities, which are
independent and equivalent to provinces, but above other, regular
prefecture-level cities, which are completely ruled by their provinces.
The original 16 sub-provincial cities were created on February 25, 1994
by the Central Organization Committee out of prefecture-level cities. They are sometimes the capitals of the provinces in which they are located.
Currently, there are 15 sub-provincial cities:
Major Cities
Tourist cities see World Heritage List
| Area |
City |
North China |
Baoding |
Chengde |
Datong |
Pingyao |
Wutai Mountain |
Northeast China |
Tai'an |
Taishan Mountain |
Suzhou |
Wuxi |
Yangzhou |
Zhenjiang |
East China |
Huangshan Mountain |
Jiuhua Mountain |
Jiaxing |
Jinhua |
Shaoxing |
Yandang Mountain |
Guilin |
Putian |
Wuyi Mountain |
Xisha Islands |
Kaifeng |
Luoyang |
Central China |
Zhangjiajie |
Jingdezhen |
Jinggang Mountain |
Lushan Mountain |
Zhangshu |
Yanji |
Northwest China |
Dunhuang |
Jiayuguan |
Huashan Mountain |
Yan'an |
Emei Mountain |
Jiuzhaigou |
Dali |
Lijiang |
|
