Chongqing has reason to be proud, but not complacent

Chongqing landscape.[Photo/Icpress]

About a month ago I hosted Joseph, an Australian colleague, in my hometown Chongqing when he was doing a report about robots here. My hospitality, including showing him around the city and feeding him delicious local food, obviously touched him deeply.

“Chongqing people are so in love with their city, right?” Joseph asked me.

I didn’t have to reply to him as he could see how proud I was when I introduced my city to him.

“It is good to be proud of your hometown,” he said.

But I still felt a little embarrassed and realized that I have fallen victim to the Chongqing-is-the-best syndrome

Like Joseph, many visitors to this southwestern city can immediately experience our straightforward love and pride about almost everything here: the unique landscape, the famous hotpot, the beautiful girls…

Especially when it became the fourth municipality in China on June 18, 1997, separated from Sichuan province and under the direct leadership of the central government, we seemed to gain more reasons to believe “Chongqing is the best city in China".

In the past 18 years, my hometown has really developed on a fast track from a plain hilly inland city into a modern metropolis.

With a double-digit growth rate since 1997, Chongqing’s GDP in 2014 reached about 1,500 billion yuan, ($241 billion) 10 times that of 1997, according to the local bureau of statistics.

The urbanization ratio has nearly doubled, from 31 percent in 1997 to 59.6 percent in 2014.

Spicy hotpot in Chongqing, originated in the 19th century, has enjoyed increasing popularity among diners at home and abroad. Photos Provided to China Daily

“The 12.2 percent average growth rate shows that Chongqing’s economy is sound and steady,” said Yi Xiaoguang, the director of the Chongqing Economic Information Center.

“Chongqing is among the fastest growing areas in China.”

And the city’s real estate market has not gone crazy like other big cities. Chongqing's average residential housing price was 6,778 yuan per sq m, ranking 24th among 31 major Chinese cities, according to real estate market data provider cityre.cn .

So, should Chongqing people be proud of their city based on these achievements?

Of course we should. But we must be aware that this complacency has made us close-minded and lazy, like a frog in warm water.

Last month, on the 18th birthday of this municipality, the China Economic Herald published an article saying in addition to economic development, Chongqing needs more of an opening-up attitude and to establish a unique culture.

It quoted a Mr. Guo as saying that “Chongqing people enjoy their comfortable life so much that they don’t pay much attention to the outside world.” Guo, from Shandong province, went to university in Chongqing and then worked for a few years here as a journalist before he left for Beijing for more working opportunities.

“The easy life is eroding people’s spirit here,” Guo added.

Liu Tao from neighboring Hubei province told the newspaper that Chongqing, a city boasting an illustrious history stretching back millennia, has not cared much to develop its own culture and lift the level of public civility.

Those comments from outsiders sounded harsh but so true. As the youngest municipality in China, Chongqing still has a long way to go to become a true cosmopolitan city.

As a proud Chongqinger, I really need to cure my Chongqing-is-the-best syndrome.