Xichang, formerly known as Jiandu and Jianchang, is a city in and the seat of the Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, in the south of Sichuan, China. In 2012 it had a population of 481,796.
Owing to its low latitude and high elevation, Xichang has a monsoon-influenced humid subtropical climate milder and far sunnier than the Sichuan Basin, with mild, very sunny and dry winters, and very warm, rainy summers. The monthly 24-hour average temperature ranges from in January to in July, and the annual mean is. Over 60% of the annual precipitation occurs from June to August. With monthly percent possible sunshine ranging from 36% in September to 72% in January, the city receives 2,367 hours of bright sunshine annually.
History
The Qiongdu were the local people at the time of contact with China. The county of Qiongdu is attested in the area from the Han dynasty. Under the Song, a local lord was given the title of "King of the Qiongdu". The area formed part of the medieval Kingdom of Dali and was subdued by the Mongolians from 1272–4, after which it was incorporated into Yunnan of the Yuan dynasty. It was organized as the Jiandu Ningyuan duhufu, qianhufu, or wanhufu but continued to be often known as Jiandu. In the book of his travels, Marco Polo recorded that the people of Jiandu and its hinterland used no coins but rods of gold bullion reckoned in saggi. Small change was made using half-catty pieces of molded salt, each reckoned as one-eightieth of a saggio of pure gold. Under the Qing, it was officially known as Ningyuan Commandery but also continued to be referenced under the old name Jianchang. In the 19th century, it was the center of Sichuan's production of "white wax".
Xichang's spaceport is located about northwest of the city and went into operation in 1984. Communications satellites are the most common payload to be inserted into orbit from the Xichang spaceport. A number of Long March 3 rockets have been launched from the spaceport. On January 26, 1995, a Long March 2E rocket veered off course two seconds after take-off from the spaceport and exploded, killing at least six on the ground. On February 14, 1996, a similar failure occurred during the launch of Intelsat 708. The rocket veered severely off course right after clearing the launch tower and landed in a rural village. Xinhua News Agency initially reported six deaths and 56 injuries. The number of civilian deaths has been disputed.
