Chengdu is located in the west of Sichuan Basin and the hinterland of Chengdu Plain with an area of about 12.4 thousand sq km (3 million acres). It has a mild subtropical monsoon climate. Chengdu is a Megacity with the population of more than 16 million. As a matter of fact, Chengdu is famous for three unique characteristics, that is, 'Heavenly Scenery', 'Bashu (one title of Sichuan) Culture' and 'Hometown of Pandas'.
Regarded as the starting point of the Southern Silk Road leading towards Europe, Chengdu has historically played an important role in the political, economical, cultural and military development of the southwest China. At the present time, Chengdu has been positioning itself to be a financial center for Western China and has attracted a large number of foreign financial institutions. Besides, boasting the claim as "China’s Famous Exhibition City", Chengdu takes the lead in central and western China for its scale of convention economy. It has become one of the five largest convention and exhibition cities in China. More than 14 million people have come to Chengdu to participate in conventions and exhibitions from foreign countries and other parts of China.
