Overview of Changsha, Capital of Hunan Province

Changsha Municipality, Hunan Province. Known as "China's Entertainment Capital," "China's Animation Capital," and "China's Construction Machinery Capital." Selected in 2008 as one of "China's Happiest Cities." A national comprehensive reform pilot zone for a "resource-saving, environment-friendly" society, advancing toward becoming an "Entrepreneurship Capital."

This article has been compiled from historical materials in the "Zhangjiajie Tour Guide Network" (33519.com · City Overview section). Some administrative divisions, population, socioeconomic data, and policy information may be outdated and are for reference only; for the latest situation, please refer to official releases by the local government and scenic areas.

Changsha City, Hunan Province

[Changsha Municipality]

Known as the "Entertainment Capital of China," the "Animation Capital of China," and the "Capital of China's Construction Machinery"

Selected in 2008 as one of "China's Happiest Cities"

A national comprehensive reform pilot zone for a "resource-conserving and environment-friendly" society

Advancing toward becoming the "Capital of Entrepreneurship"

Introduction to Changsha:

The capital of Hunan Province, China, and known by the elegant name "Star City." The city covers an area of 556.33 square kilometers and has a population of 6.476 million (2007), including more than 2.8 million in the main urban area. It is located in central Hunan Province, on the lower reaches of the Xiang River, and on the Beijing–Guangzhou Railway line. It is a "famous city of Chu and Han" with a history of 3,000 years, one of the first 24 historical and cultural cities announced by the State Council, and one of the first tourist cities opened to the outside world.

Changsha is the political, economic, cultural, educational, scientific and technological, transportation, communications, and financial center of Hunan Province. It is a comprehensive industrial and commercial city mainly based on machinery, textiles, commerce and trade, and food processing industries, and is also one of the major regional central cities in the central and western regions.

Changsha City is located in the eastern part of Hunan Province, slightly to the north, on the lower reaches of the Xiang River and the western edge of the Changsha–Liuyang Basin. Its geographical range is 111°53′–114°15′ east longitude and 27°51′–28°41′ north latitude. It borders Yichun Prefecture and Pingxiang City of Jiangxi Province to the east, Zhuzhou and Xiangtan to the south, Loudi and Yiyang to the west, and Yueyang and Yiyang to the north. It is about 230 kilometers from east to west and about 88 kilometers from north to south. The city's total land area is 11,819.5 square meters, of which the main urban area is 556 square kilometers.

As early as the Spring and Autumn period, Changsha was already one of the strategic strongholds from which the State of Chu dominated the south. After Liu Bang founded the Han dynasty, in 206 BC he changed Linjiang to Changsha and established the Han dynasty's vassal state—the State of Changsha. From then on, Changsha began to build city walls and gradually became a place contested by strategists. On December 25, 2008, Changsha was selected as one of China's Happiest Cities in 2008.

The origin of the place name Changsha:

Regarding the origin of the name Changsha, historians and literary scholars have long had differing opinions, with no definitive conclusion. To sum up, there are roughly the following five theories—

1. It was named after a constellation. This is the most widely circulated and most accepted theory. In ancient astronomy, the stars in the sky were divided according to their positions into the Twenty-Eight Mansions, each established in one direction. Among the Twenty-Eight Mansions is one called Zhen, the last of the seven mansions of the Vermilion Bird of the South. The Zhen Mansion has four stars. In the Xibu Tian Ge there is a record: "The four pearls of Zhen are not equal in square, and one black one, Changsha, is hidden in the middle." The Zhen Mansion corresponds to the earthly Mount Heng in the south. In astrology, Zhen is the mansion that balances the weight of heaven and earth. Its subordinate small star—Changsha Star—is described in Tang dynasty Zhang Shoujie's Shiji Zhengyi: "One star, Changsha, is in Zhen and governs lifespan," and also: "When the Changsha star is bright, it governs longevity and descendants flourish." The ancients believed that above there are star patterns, and below there are corresponding star fields. The Shiji: Tianguan Shu says: "In heaven there are the arranged mansions, on earth there are the arranged regions." Thus the ground corresponding to the Changsha star was called Changsha. Therefore Changsha is also called Xing Sha. This astrological theory conformed to the ancients' level of cognition and psychological needs, so it spread widely and had the greatest influence.

2. It was named after the Wanli Sha Shrine. Jin dynasty Kan Yin's Shisan Zhou Zhi says: "In the Han dynasty there was the Wanli Sha Shrine, and from the west it reached Xiangzhou, and to the east to Donglai was ten thousand li, hence it was called Changsha." In Tang dynasty Du You's Tongdian, the self-annotation under Tanzhou, "In Qin it was Changsha Commandery," says: "There was the Wanli Sha Shrine, hence it was called Changsha." Thereafter, local chronicles of later dynasties often cited this theory as the source of the name Changsha and elaborated and examined it, believing that in ancient times Changsha had activities of sacrificing to the god of sand and soil.

3. It was named after a land of sand and soil. Changsha's geological structure is based on quartz sandstone, sandy conglomerate, siltstone, and shale. Through long-term external forces, collapsed bedrock was weathered and washed by flowing water, causing large amounts of sand and stone to accumulate on the surface. Especially in the Xiang River basin, even today in the dry season large sandbanks and sandbars can still be seen. In particular, the sand grains are large: white as frost and snow, long as grains of rice. Hence it was called Changsha.

4. It was named after a sandbar (that is, Orange Isle). Orange Isle is an island in the middle of the Xiang River, about 5 kilometers long and about 0.1 kilometers wide. There are different views about when this island appeared. According to the Song dynasty Taiping Huanyu Ji, "In the second year of Yongxing of Emperor Hui of Jin (305), this isle was formed." However, when geologists conducted sampling and analysis of Changsha's geological structure, they confirmed that the island is a typical stratum of a first-level terrace formed during the Quaternary Holocene, dating back at least more than ten thousand years. The "Nantutuo Site in Changsha County" excavated in 1986 is not far from the southern end of the island, located on the riverbank lower than the island, and the site dates back more than 7,000 years, with its stratum basically belonging to the Quaternary Holocene. Therefore, the island should have appeared before the Eastern Jin dynasty, and there was human activity there.

5. It was named after a place of ancient Manyue sacrifice. In the ancient Manyue language, sha refers to the primordial goddess; chang refers to the altar. Before Chu's "pacification of the Manyue in the south," the residents of Changsha belonged to the Manyue people. Changsha was the place where the ancient Manyue ancestors worshipped the goddess.

Among the above five theories, after discussion by scholars and experts of various periods, the first and second theories were gradually excluded and negated.

Regarding the theory that it was named after a constellation, it is believed that the earliest work to propose the theory that "heaven has nine fields and earth has nine provinces," Lüshi Chunqiu, records the Zhen Mansion and the Changsha star, but the book was completed in 239 BC, and the earliest record of the Zhen Mansion was only in 443 BC. On a lacquerware item from the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng in Hubei, there is a diagram of the Twenty-Eight Mansions and the name of the Zhen Mansion. In addition, some mansions already appear in the Book of Songs. It can basically be determined that the appearance of the mansions was in the late Western Zhou and Spring and Autumn periods. But all of the above are later than the appearance of the name Changsha. As the Shanhua County Gazetteer says: "The star was named after the sand, not the sand after the star." In fact, the names of the mansions are nothing more than things people imagined based on earthly objects or concepts.

As for the second theory, people had long doubted it. The Ming dynasty Chongzhen-era Changsha Prefecture Gazetteer says: "The general gazetteer says the commandery had the Wanli Sha Shrine, beginning in the time of King Weilie of Zhou, but this cannot be verified." Also, the Ming dynasty Yitong Zhi says: "Thirty li northeast of the seat of Laizhou Prefecture, flanking the two banks of Wansui, the sand extends three hundred li. This shrine is in Donglai and has nothing to do with Changsha." The ancients long ago doubted that it could not be verified and that Changsha had no relation to the sand shrine. The Shiji: Xiaowu Benji records: In the second year of Yuanfeng (11 BC), Emperor Wu of Han once went to Donglai in Shandong to pray at "Wanli Sha" (Qucheng in Donglai had a sand source extending more than three hundred li). In the Eastern Han, Ying Shao annotated: "Wanli Sha is a shrine." Changsha and Donglai are separated by ten thousand li and are completely unrelated. It is very likely that people at the time connected this event with the two places, and only then came the saying that Changsha was the so-called Wanli Changsha.

The third and fourth theories are basically the same. Both highlight Changsha's geological and material characteristics. Place names are products of human society developing to a certain stage. Naming a dwelling area after its prominent features was the main source of ancient place names and conforms to the ancients' level of cognition and materialist epistemology.

As for the fifth theory, there is still no definitive conclusion. Personally, I think it has some merit. To this day, in areas where Zhuang, Dong, and other ethnic groups live in concentrated communities, the custom of goddess worship still exists, and their idiom says: "Before a village is established, first establish Changsha." Not only Changsha City; in the south there are also some places named Changsha.

Although there is no definitive conclusion on the origin of the name Changsha, this is because there are many sources for the place name and each theory has some basis. The many origins of the place name Changsha precisely prove the rich connotations of place-name culture.

Historical culture

About 150,000 to 200,000 years ago, there was human activity in Changsha. After 150,000 to 200,000 years of development, Changsha's history entered the Neolithic Age; around 5000 BC, the ancestors of Changsha began to live settled lives, formed villages, and entered matrilineal society; around 3000 BC, Changsha's Neolithic Age entered the Qujialing culture stage; around 2500 BC, Changsha's Neolithic Age entered the Longshan culture stage. By this time there was primitive agriculture, while fishing and hunting were still important means of livelihood. Primitive pottery making and stone tool processing techniques had further developed, and primitive textile and jade processing techniques emerged.

Before the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties

Legend says that the primordial ancestors Yan Di and Huang Di both came to Changsha. Sima Qian's Shiji: Wudi Benji says that Huang Di once "cut through mountains and opened roads, reaching south to the river, and climbed Xiong and Xiang." Later he enfeoffed this land of Changsha to his son Shaohao (Song dynasty Luo Mi's Lushi records: Shaohao "began at Yunyang and was granted land at Changsha" (zuo means bestowal). Accordingly, the legendary Shaohao was a clan leader of ancient Changsha and the first person to develop Changsha.

Changsha belonged to the land of the ancient Sanmiao in the Xia dynasty; by the Shang and Zhou eras, the Sanmiao state had disappeared, but the descendants of Sanmiao still lived and multiplied on this land. At this time Changsha belonged to "Yangyue" (also called "Jingman"), historically known as "the land of Yangyue." As ancient Yue people (the ancient Changsha Yue people were a branch of the Yangyue), by this time they had created and formed a distinctive Yue culture, whose most representative feature was stamped geometric-patterned hard pottery, that is, stamped hard pottery. During the Shang and Zhou periods, the northern Central Plains dynasties frequently waged war against the southern "Jingman" and "Yangyue." Although they were unable to establish direct rule here, "the land of Yangyue" once became the "southern domain" of the Shang and Zhou, forcing the "Jingman" to submit and pay tribute.

Ancient Yue culture and Central Plains culture

During the Shang and Zhou dynasties, with the introduction of Central Plains culture, Changsha entered the Bronze Age. The ancient Yue people of Changsha still lived in thatched semi-subterranean houses, leading a clan-based life, mainly using stone tools and relying on slash-and-burn farming. In the mid-Shang dynasty, bronze casting techniques from the Central Plains were introduced, and people began to use and manufacture bronze tools such as bronze axes. By the late Western Zhou, bronze large hoes (an important tool for loosening soil) and bronze cha (i.e., harrows, farming tools used for loosening and lifting soil) appeared; moreover, exquisitely crafted bronze vessels and musical instruments with fine decorations were produced. The large number of Shang and Zhou bronzes unearthed in Changsha mostly exhibit high craftsmanship and a distinct Yue ethnic style; the famous Four-Ram Square Zun unearthed in Ningxiang in 1938 is a treasure among Shang and Zhou bronzes; since 1959, more than a dozen bronze mirrors unearthed in Ningxiang and Changsha County, generally weighing 70–80 kg, with the largest at 221.5 kg, are the largest Shang dynasty bronze mirrors discovered in China to date.

Jingchu Culture and Central Plains Culture

After the Eastern Zhou, the Spring and Autumn period began, also a time of turmoil in Chinese history. In the late Spring and Autumn period, the power of Chu (Jingchu) entered Changsha. In the early Warring States period, Yue destroyed Wu, and the Chu-Yue confrontation began, with Changsha becoming a key fortress on the southeastern frontier of Chu. In the mid-Warring States period, Chu implemented reforms, grew powerful, and launched large-scale military campaigns to the south, incorporating all of Hunan into Chu territory. Changsha became a major military town in southern Chu, the political and military center of a vast area including northern, central, and southern Hunan, and Chu established a city there. With the entry of the Chu people into Changsha, and after centuries of war, the ancient Yue people disappeared, and Changsha's ancient Yue culture was replaced by Chu culture.

The southward invasion of the Chu people brought production tools and experience from the Central Plains and the Jianghan region, leading the Changsha area into the Iron Age. Changsha ended the primitive state that had lasted over 1,000 years since the Shang and Zhou, and directly entered feudal society.

By the time of King Huai of Chu, the state of Chu grew weaker day by day, and the various feudal states, especially Qin, launched multiple wars against Chu. In 222 BCE, the Qin general Wang Jian led his army south, defeated the remaining Chu forces in the Jiangnan region, and the Jiangnan lands with Changsha as the political and military center were conquered by Qin, and Chu was destroyed. Changsha (Hunan) had been part of Chu and a major Chu military town for over 800 years.

Qin and Han Periods

Changsha Commandery in the Qin Dynasty

After Qin destroyed Chu, it established "Changsha Commandery" in the former Chu Jiangnan lands. Subsequently, the Qin dynasty was founded, and Changsha was one of the 36 commanderies of the Qin. From the Qin dynasty onward, Changsha began to be incorporated into China's unified political territory and for the first time was clearly recorded in history as an administrative region. The Qin-era Changsha Commandery covered most of present-day Hunan, southern Hubei, northwestern Jiangxi, Lian County in Guangdong, and Quanzhou in Guangxi, an area almost equivalent to the entire present-day Hunan province, with Linxiang County as its seat.

The Changsha Kingdom and the King of Changsha during the Western Han

The Qin dynasty fell and the Han dynasty was established. After Liu Bang proclaimed himself emperor, in 202 BCE he enfeoffed Wu Rui, a founding meritorious official of the Western Han, as King of Changsha, establishing the Changsha Kingdom from the former Qin Changsha Commandery, with Linxiang County as its capital. This marked the appearance of the first vassal kingdom in Hunan's history, and Changsha became a kingdom capital. The King of Changsha was the highest ruler (highest official) of the Changsha Kingdom, and the title was hereditary, but after the Eastern Han changed the system for vassal kingdoms in 144 BCE, it effectively became a nominal title. The Changsha Kingdom existed for over 200 years from its establishment in 202 BCE to its abolition in 7 CE, and was successively divided into the "Wu Clan Changsha Kingdom" and the "Liu Clan Changsha Kingdom" periods.

The Wu Clan Changsha Kingdom

The ancient city of Changsha served as the capital of the Han vassal king. The ancient city of Linxiang was located in the central area of the Changsha Kingdom, serving as the residence of successive Kings of Changsha and the political and military center of the kingdom. The ancient book "Commentary on the Water Classic" records that Linxiang City (i.e., the ancient city of Changsha, historically known as the old city of Linxiang) was built by Wu Rui when he was first enfeoffed as King of Changsha. In 157 BCE, the Wu Clan Changsha Kingdom was abolished.

The period of the Wu Clan Changsha Kingdom was a glorious era in ancient Changsha's history. Politically, it consistently upheld national unity and was a loyal vassal kingdom of the Western Han. Of the eight non-Liu vassal kings enfeoffed by Liu Bang—Zang Tu, Han Xin, Ying Bu, and others—seven were eliminated, but only the Wu Clan Changsha Kingdom remained loyal to the court from beginning to end. Even when the King of Huaiyin, Ying Bu (son-in-law of Wu Rui, King of Changsha), rebelled, the King of Changsha, Wu Chen (son of Wu Rui), placed righteousness above family loyalty. The Wu Clan Changsha Kingdom, from Wu Rui's initial enfeoffment to the death of his fifth-generation descendant Wu Zhu in 156 BCE, was abolished because Wu Zhu had no son. It passed through five generations over 46 years. The kingdom's official system was the same as the Western Han court, with a chancellor (initially called Zhuguo under Emperor Gaozu) directly appointed by the court, nominally to assist the kings but in reality to hold real power in the kingdom and control the locality.

The Liu Clan Changsha Kingdom

In 158 BCE, Emperor Wen's son Emperor Jing ascended the throne and re-established the Changsha Kingdom, historically known as the "Liu Clan Changsha Kingdom." In 155 BCE, Emperor Jing's son by a concubine, Liu Fa, was enfeoffed as King of Changsha. Liu Fa's Changsha Kingdom coincided with the Western Han's major reduction of vassal kingdom power. From its enfeoffment in 155 BCE to 145 BCE, with the court's changes to the management system of vassal kingdoms, the Changsha Kingdom's territory was greatly reduced, with Guiyang Commandery and Lingling Commandery split off, leaving only 13 counties: Linxiang, Luo, Xiajun, Yiyang, Liandao, Xiangnan, Ancheng, Chengyang, Chaling, You, and Zhaoling. The vassal king of Changsha also had his actual power stripped, unable to interfere in the governance of his kingdom, becoming a nominal king. From the chancellor (the highest administrative official managing governance, called "Chenxiang" before the reform) down to county magistrates, all were appointed and dismissed by the court. The "Liu Clan Changsha Kingdom" passed through seven generations and eight kings from Liu Fa's initial enfeoffment to Liu Shun's deposition, lasting 164 years, and was abolished with the fall of the Western Han. In 8 CE, Wang Mang usurped the throne and established the "Xin dynasty," renaming the Changsha Kingdom "Tianman Commandery" and the capital Linxiang "Fumu County."

The King of Changsha, Changsha Kingdom, and Marquis of Linxiang during the Eastern Han

Wang Mang's regime was quickly swept away by the great peasant uprisings at the end of the Western Han. In 25 CE, Liu Xiu (Emperor Guangwu), a descendant of Liu Fa, King Ding of Changsha, from the former Western Han imperial clan, raised troops and proclaimed himself emperor, establishing another Han dynasty. Because it was based in Luoyang, it is historically known as the Eastern Han. Due to the presence of peasant uprising forces and various armed separatist groups of all sizes across the country, Liu Xiu launched a war to unify the realm. In 26 CE (the second year of Jianwu), Liu Xiu remotely enfeoffed Liu Xing, son of the last Western Han King of Changsha, Liu Shun, as King of Changsha, re-establishing the Changsha Kingdom to control the situation south of Dongting. By 29 CE, the Administrator of Jiangxia, Hou Deng; the Administrator of Wuling, Wang Tang; the Chancellor of Changsha, Han Fu; the Administrator of Guiyang, Zhang Long; the Administrator of Lingling, Tian Xi; the Administrator of Cangwu, Du Mu; and the Administrator of Jiaozhi, Xi Guang, successively sent envoys with tribute and were all enfeoffed as marquises. At this point, all of Hunan, including Changsha, formally came under the Eastern Han. Changsha's submission to Han played an important role in Liu Xiu's war to unify the realm, and Liu Xiu unified China in 40 CE (the sixteenth year of Jianwu). As early as 37 CE, Liu Xiu, on the grounds that the King of Changsha Liu Xing and others "all inherited titles as kings, which does not conform to classical principles," changed them to Marquis of Linxiang and abolished the Changsha Kingdom, changing it to Changsha Commandery.

The Three Kingdoms, Western Jin, and Tang and Five Dynasties Periods

During the Three Kingdoms and Western Jin periods, Changsha was the seat of Changsha Commandery, under ancient Jingzhou. In the late Western Jin and the Northern and Southern Dynasties, Changsha was the seat of Changsha Commandery and the seat of Xiangzhou. In the early Sui, commanderies were abolished, and Changsha became the seat of the Tanzhou General Administration; in the late Sui, the zhou was changed to commandery, and Changsha again became the seat of Changsha Commandery. In the Tang dynasty, the seat of Tanzhou was established, once under Jiangnan Circuit and Jiangnanxi Circuit.

The Changsha kilns of the Tang and Five Dynasties periods flourished for a time and became the birthplace of underglaze color. During the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, Changsha was the capital of the Chu state, the only state ever established with Changsha as its capital.

From the Song Dynasty to Modern Times

During the Song dynasty, Changsha was the seat of Tanzhou. In the Northern Song, Yuelu Academy was established, bringing Changsha's culture and education to a peak.

In 1274 during the Yuan dynasty, it was changed to Tanzhou Route, the seat of Huguang Province. In 1281 it remained Tanzhou Route, the seat of the Hunan Dao Xuanwei Office, under Huguang Province; in the second year of Tianli of Emperor Wenzong, it was renamed Tianlin Route because of an "imperial visit," and at the end of the Yuan it became the seat of Tanzhou Prefecture.

In the early Ming, it became the seat of Changsha Prefecture, under Huguang Provincial Administration Commission.

In the third year of Kangxi in the Qing dynasty, "Hunan Province" was established, and Changsha was both the seat of Changsha Prefecture and the provincial capital of Hunan. During the Ming and Qing, Changsha was known for its four major rice markets and four major tea markets, and was one of China's most important rice markets.

In the late Qing, when the Taiping army attacked Changsha, Zeng Guofan became "the foremost man of Hunan." Changsha Prefecture produced important figures in Chinese history, such as Zeng Guoquan, Zuo Zongtang, and Hu Linyi, who suppressed the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, launched the Self-Strengthening Movement, and recovered Xinjiang, exerting a profound influence on late Qing China.

From the late Qing to the early Republic of China, Changsha became an important center of political and revolutionary activity. Chen Baozhen and Tan Sitong of the Hundred Days' Reform established the Shiwu Academy in Changsha. Subsequently, the Self-Reliance Army Uprising, the Huaxing Society, the public memorial for Chen Tianhua and Yao Hongye, the Liupingli Uprising, and the Rice Riot were all highly influential activities. Huang Xing carried out a series of anti-Qing activities in the late Qing, making major contributions to the founding of the Republic of China.

In the 22nd year of the Republic of China, Changsha County and City were separated, and "Changsha City" was established as a municipality directly under Hunan, and Changsha has remained the capital of Hunan to this day.

During the Republic of China period, Changsha was one of China's political revolutionary centers. On October 22, 1911, the revolutionary new army led by Jiao Dafeng and Chen Zuoxin recovered Changsha. In 1915, Cai E, who had studied at the Shiwu Academy, launched the National Protection Movement. In 1919, Changsha sent a large number of May Fourth youth to France for work-study programs, and Changsha was also one of the founding sites of the communist group. Mao Zedong, He Shuheng, Ren Bishi, Cai Hesen, Xiang Jingyu, and other early leaders of the Chinese Communist Party all studied or engaged in political activities in Changsha. In 1927, Mao Zedong launched the Autumn Harvest Uprising and attempted to attack Changsha; after its failure, he turned to the realistic strategy of "encircling the cities from the countryside."

1937 was a peak period of Changsha's development, with economic prosperity, and it initially became the rear area of the War of Resistance. The "Wenxi Fire" on the night of November 12, 1938, became the most tragic event in Changsha's history, with almost all of the city's various historical and cultural relics lost. From 1939 to 1944, Changsha was the main battlefield of the War of Resistance Against Japan, and China and Japan conducted four large-scale campaigns centered on Changsha, with China winning the first three.

On August 5, 1949, the communist regime was formally established in Changsha, and after the founding of the People's Republic of China, Changsha began reconstruction and development. As a place where Mao Zedong, one of the main founders of the People's Republic of China, studied in his early years and engaged in revolutionary activities, Changsha is regarded as a revolutionary memorial site. In the early 1980s of reform and opening up, the economic gap between Changsha and coastal cities gradually widened; in the late 1990s, Changsha began to enter a period of rapid development, becoming one of the major central cities in the central and western regions.

Geographical Location

Changsha is located in south-central China, south of the Yangtze River, in the eastern part of Hunan, slightly to the north. It lies in the transition zone from the southern end of the Dongting Lake Plain to the central Hunan hilly basin, bordering Yueyang, Yiyang, Loudi, Zhuzhou, Xiangtan, and Pingxiang. Its total area is 11,819 square kilometers, of which the urban area is 556.33 square kilometers, and the built-up urban area is over 200 square kilometers. Qixing Ridge of Dawei Mountain in Liuyang, at 1,607.9 meters above sea level, is the highest point in the jurisdiction; Yunlu Peak of Yuelu Mountain, at 300.8 meters above sea level, is the highest point in the urban area.

The Xiang River is Changsha's most important river, running through the entire territory from south to north, with a length of about 75 kilometers within the jurisdiction. The Xiang River also runs north-south through the Changsha urban area, dividing the city into two major parts: Hedong (east of the river) and Hexi (west of the river). Hedong is mainly commercial and economic, while Hexi is mainly cultural and educational. On October 10, 2001, the municipal government seat moved from Fanzheng Street in Hedong to Guanshaling in Hexi, with the aim of developing Hexi's economy to balance both banks of Changsha.

The map coordinates are 111°53'–114°5' east longitude and 27°51'–28°40' north latitude, about 230 kilometers long from east to west and about 88 kilometers wide from north to south. The region is elongated east-west, with mountainous terrain on the northern, western, and southern edges, mainly hills in the southeast, and mainly downlands in the northeast; mountains, hills, downlands, and plains each account for roughly a quarter. The soil is mainly weathered slate and shale, mixed with red soil, sandstone, and conglomerate.

Changsha has a humid subtropical monsoon climate with four distinct seasons. Late spring and early summer are rainy, while late summer and autumn are often dry; spring is humid and changeable, summer and autumn are mostly clear, the severe winter period is short, and the hot period is long. The annual frost-free period is about 275 days, the average annual temperature is 16.8–17.2°C, and the average annual total precipitation is 1,422.4 mm. Water resources are mainly surface water, with abundant supply, and the average annual surface runoff reaches 80.8 billion cubic meters. In addition to the Xiang River, there are 15 tributaries flowing into it, mainly the Liuyang River, Laodao River, Jin River, and Wei River. The largest reservoirs are Huangcai Reservoir in Ningxiang and Zhushuqiao Reservoir in Liuyang.

Administrative Divisions

The total area of Changsha City is 11,800 square kilometers, of which the main urban area is 598 square kilometers, one county-level city covers 5,007 square kilometers, and three counties cover 6,264 square kilometers.

Districts

Yuelu District. Area 139 square kilometers. Population 680,000. Postal code 410006. District People's Government at No. 517, Section 1, Jinxing North Road.

Furong District. Area 42 square kilometers. Population 670,000. Postal code 410011. District People's Government at No. 62, Renmin East Road.

Tianxin District. Area 74 square kilometers. Population 520,000. Postal code 410002. District People's Government at No. 9, Xiangfu Road.

Kaifu District. Area 187 square kilometers. Population 530,000. Postal code 410005. The district people's government is located at No. 393 Cai'e North Road.

Yuhua District. Area 114 square kilometers. Population 560,000. Postal code 410007. The district people's government is located at No. 4 Xiangzhang East Road.

County-level city

Liuyang City. Area 5,007 square kilometers, population 1.32 million. Postal code 410300. The city people's government is located in Huaichuan Subdistrict.

County

Changsha County. Area 1,997 square kilometers. Population 730,000. Postal code 410100. The county people's government is located in Xingsha Town.

Wangcheng County. Area 1,361 square kilometers. Population 700,000. Postal code 410200. The county people's government is located in Gaotangling Town.

Ningxiang County. Area 2,906 square kilometers. Population 1.21 million. Postal code 410600. The county people's government is located in Yutan Town.

Economic Industry

In the early days of reform and opening up, Changsha's development was relatively slow and it gradually fell behind coastal cities. After rapid development beginning in the mid-1990s, its total GDP rose from 54.285 billion yuan in 1998 to 110.885 billion yuan in 2004, accounting for about one-fifth of the province's total; calculated by registered population, per capita GDP was 18,296 yuan; total agricultural output value was 17.207 billion yuan, total industrial output value was 100.606 billion yuan, and per capita disposable income was 11,029.06 yuan, the highest among cities in central and western China. According to the calculation method adjusted after the First Economic Census, Changsha's GDP reached 151.99 billion yuan in 2005. Total retail sales of consumer goods were 74.343 billion yuan, ranking second in central China. Per capita disposable income of urban residents was 12,434 yuan, up 12.8% year on year. Fixed asset investment for the whole year totaled 88.144 billion yuan, up 31.93% year on year. The economy continued to maintain a relatively fast and steady growth momentum.

In 2007, Changsha's gross domestic product (GDP) for the whole year reached 219.025 billion yuan, up 16.0% over the previous year, an increase of 1.2 percentage points year on year. Its ranking by growth rate among provincial capital cities nationwide rose 5 places compared with 2006, and the growth rate was the highest since 1994. Within total GDP, the primary industry achieved added value of 13.880 billion yuan, up 6.5%; the secondary industry achieved added value of 98.483 billion yuan, up 17.0%, of which industry achieved added value of 77.156 billion yuan, up 21.1%; the tertiary industry achieved added value of 106.662 billion yuan, up 16.5%. Calculated by permanent resident population, per capita GDP reached 33,711 yuan, an increase of 5,729 yuan over the previous year, up 14.8%. The economy operated steadily throughout the year, with cumulative GDP growth in the four quarters at 16.2%, 16.1%, 16.1%, and 16.0% respectively.

In 2008, Changsha achieved the "three threes breakthrough" in GDP, total industrial output value, and local fiscal revenue, namely GDP exceeded 300 billion yuan, reaching 300.1 billion yuan, up 15%; total industrial output value exceeded 300 billion yuan, reaching 310 billion yuan, with total volume jumping to 10th place among provincial capital cities nationwide, and the structure of the three industries was successfully rewritten for the first time from 3, 2, 1 to 2, 3, 1; local fiscal revenue exceeded 30 billion yuan, reaching 34.2 billion yuan, up 30.3%.

Changsha vigorously promoted new industrialization, and industry became the primary support for economic growth. Six major industrial clusters including construction machinery and electronic information completed total industrial output value of 107 billion yuan; the construction machinery industrial cluster's output value exceeded 50 billion yuan; Hunan China Tobacco Company's annual sales revenue reached 30 billion yuan; Zoomlion (16.04, 0.47, 3.02%, bar) and Sany Heavy Industry (20.79, 0.42, 2.06%, bar) both exceeded 20 billion yuan; industrial growth in parks was 40%, and industry's contribution rate to the economy reached more than 50%, becoming the main driving force for economic growth.

The service sector and opening to the outside world continued to expand. In 2008, Changsha achieved total retail sales of consumer goods of 127 billion yuan, up 22.5%. Total tourism revenue reached 30.37 billion yuan, and total inbound tourism revenue ranked first among central China cities. The city actually utilized foreign capital of 1.75 billion US dollars, up 30%. A number of high-quality projects, including the 700-million-US-dollar French Outlets industrial park, settled in the Dahexi Pilot Zone.

The city's comprehensive competitiveness entered the national top 10 for the first time. It was rated one of "China's Top Ten Happiest Cities." China's top 10 "Happiest Cities" fully reveal the essence of urban happiness: a more beautiful and safer environment, and a more convenient and harmonious atmosphere. Changsha was rated one of the top ten dynamic cities among China's provincial capitals (including municipalities directly under the central government) in 2008, and one of China's top ten innovative cities. These are the achievements made by rapidly developing Changsha in 2008, and also society's recognition of Changsha's rapid development.

Its leading position in the province became more prominent, and its advantage in taking the lead in development accelerated and expanded. Changsha's economic aggregate accounted for 23.9% of the province's total, up 0.6 percentage points over the previous year; compared with other cities and prefectures, Changsha's GDP growth rate of 14.8% was far ahead.

Market prices were basically stable. The city's overall consumer price index for the year was 101.2, with the price increase falling 1.1 percentage points from the previous year; the city's retail price index of consumer goods was 101.2, with the price increase falling 0.5 percentage points.

The urban consumer price index was 101.1, with the price increase falling 0.8 percentage points from the previous year. Among the eight major categories of the consumer price index, six rose: food (up 1.7%), household equipment, articles and repair services (up 2.3%), housing (up 7.2%), tobacco, liquor and articles (up 0.3%), transportation and communications (up 0.4%), and health care and personal articles (up 1.5%); two fell: recreation, education, culture and services (down 0.7%) and clothing (down 3.1%). The urban retail price index of consumer goods was 101.1, with the price increase rising 0.7 percentage points.

Purchase prices of raw materials, fuel, and power rose 6.47% over the previous year. Ex-factory prices of industrial products rose 4.29%. Fixed asset investment prices rose 3.1%. Housing sales prices rose 5.8%. Land transfer prices rose 21.4%. Housing rental prices rose 3.3%. Property management prices remained flat.

Labor and employment developed healthily. At the end of the year, the city had 3.628 million employed people, an increase of 38,800 over the previous year, of which urban employed people reached 1.2869 million. The registered urban unemployment rate at the end of the year was 3.62%.

Secondary Industry

Changsha has two national-level development zones: Changsha Economic and Technological Development Zone (located in Xingsha) and Changsha High-Tech Industrial Development Zone (located in Lugu in Hexi). Changsha Economic and Technological Development Zone is located in Xingsha Town within Changsha County. Its comprehensive investment environment evaluation index ranks second among the 16 national development zones in central and western China, and its GDP has increased at a rate of 33.2% over the past three years. By the end of 2005, among the 21 Fortune Global 500 companies that had settled in Changsha, 13 had settled in Xingsha: South Korea's LG, Coca-Cola, Pepsi-Cola, COFCO Group, Electrolux, France's Danone, France's Total, the Netherlands' Philips, Japan's Mitsubishi, Germany's Bosch, Japan's Nissho Iwai, Japan's Mitsui & Co., and Lotus.

Changsha Cigarette Factory is one of China's largest tobacco producers, paying 5,455.14 million yuan in taxes in 2004, ranking 13th among all taxpaying enterprises nationwide [1]. Automobile enterprises such as Japan's Mitsubishi, Germany's Bosch, Changfeng Liebao, and BAIC Foton have made Changsha a new automobile production base in southern China. Large investments by Electrolux, LG Philips Shuguang, Hitachi Appliances, and Broad Group have also given Changsha's electronics manufacturing industry a start. At present, the proportion of Changsha's secondary industry is slightly lower than that of the tertiary industry, but its development speed exceeds that of the tertiary industry.

Tertiary Industry

Changsha is the city with the highest per capita income among central and western cities, but consumption is also very high. The area from Huangxing South Road Pedestrian Commercial Street to Wuyi Square is Changsha's core commercial area. The number and density of Changsha's "foot-washing centers" (foot bath and massage shops) are far ahead of major cities nationwide, and some jokingly call Changsha the "foot capital." The catering industry is also booming, with both street snacks and hotel food stalls enjoying a large customer base. The four major international chain supermarkets Carrefour, Walmart, Metro, and PriceSmart have successively opened one or more branches in Changsha. Well-known domestic or provincial chain supermarkets such as Xinyijia, Bubugao, and Jiarunduo have also joined the competition, and appliance specialty supermarkets such as Suning and Gome have multiple branches. At present, InterContinental and Sheraton have both opened new hotels in Changsha, and Shangri-La, Hilton, and the US-based Wyndham will also settle in Changsha. The media industry is also nationally renowned, represented by Hunan Satellite TV, the Golden Eagle Festival, and Titan Sports.

China's domestic animation has developed rapidly in Changsha, which has also led the government to resolve to build a capital of animation. Among the first nine animation industry bases approved for establishment by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, Changsha has two. Changsha also has one of the four national digital media technology industrialization bases approved by the Ministry of Science and Technology (the other three are Beijing, Shanghai, and Chengdu), and this base is the only national base featuring cartoon animation. The Changsha Cartoon Art Festival was held in November 2005.

Economic Cooperation

Changsha is the core city of Hunan Province's "one point, one line" construction and the core city of Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan economic integration. Its main urban area is less than 20 kilometers from both Zhuzhou and Xiangtan. Changsha is accelerating the creation of a "one-hour economic circle," and at the same time, it has joined hands with Wuhan to establish an economic cooperation zone and conduct economic cooperation with various central China cities. Hunan has also joined the "Pan-Pearl River Delta" in South China, receiving economic radiation from Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao.

Population

Based on archaeological inferences from cultural relics at the Tanheli site in Ningxiang, Changsha received advanced culture brought by outside ethnic groups during the Shang and Western Zhou dynasties. During the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, it was inhabited by the Yangyue and Chu people. The ancestors of Chu were the Jiuli and Sanmiao, and there is a saying that "the various Man peoples inherited the legacy of Sanmiao and opened the tradition of Changsha and Wuling." Over the long course of history, Changsha's ancestors continuously participated in the great flow of Chinese ethnic integration and gradually formed the principal ethnic group—the Han. Changsha formed several population peaks in history and was also left desolate because of wars. For example, the prosperity established during the Ma Chu period of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms gradually declined amid struggles for power in its final years. During the Northern and Southern Song dynasties, Changsha developed a large population, but after the failure of the heroic resistance against the Yuan at the end of the Southern Song, the city was massacred again. Zhu Yuanzhang's attack on Changsha in the Ming dynasty caused heavy casualties among most local residents, leading again to the "Jiangxi filling Huguang" migration. To this day, most native Changsha people claim Jiangxi ancestry, including famous figures such as Liu Shaoqi and Hu Yaobang. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, Changsha's population climbed steadily, and by the Republic of China period the urban population had already reached more than 300,000. Unfortunately, the "Wenxi Fire" and the Battle of Changsha reduced Changsha to ruins again. After the end of the War of Resistance Against Japan, Changsha people who had fled elsewhere and immigrants from other places came to Changsha and rebuilt it into Hunan's largest city.

The main ethnic group is Han. According to the fifth national population census in 2000, there were 48,564 ethnic minorities in the Changsha area, mainly Tujia, Miao, Dong, Yao, Hui, Zhuang, and Bai. Hanhui Village in Laodaohe Town, Kaifu District, is Changsha's only ethnic minority—Hui—settlement. At the end of 2007, Changsha's total population was 6.465 million, the birth rate was 10.14‰, the death rate was 5.92‰, and the natural growth rate was 4.22‰. In recent years, Changsha's population birth rate has been kept within 11‰, and both the birth rate and natural population growth rate have been lower than the provincial average. The total population has remained relatively stable.

Changsha people mainly believe in Buddhism, with a minority believing in Daoism. The largest temple in the city is the ancient Kaifu Temple, which has very flourishing incense offerings every year. In addition, there is the ancient Lushan Temple on Yuelu Mountain; Hongshan Temple in the Hongshanmiao area; Miyin Temple in Ningxiang; and the newly built Xixin Chan Temple in Wangcheng (the largest in Hunan); all are important temples in the Changsha area. Changsha people also like to go to the Nanyue Grand Temple in Hengshan to burn incense and worship Buddha, mostly for the purpose of praying for blessings. Ethnic minorities such as Uyghurs and Hui in Changsha believe in Islam, and now quite a few young people also believe in Christianity.

Transportation

At the bridgehead of the Third Xiangjiang River Bridge in Changsha, Changsha is an important transportation hub city in central China, with relatively developed and convenient land, water, and air transportation.

Railway Transportation

Changsha and Zhuzhou form a common railway hub. The Wuhan-Guangzhou Passenger Dedicated Line (Wuhan—Changsha—Guangzhou), with a total investment of 98.6 billion yuan, broke ground first in Changsha in 2005. The Hangzhou-Changsha Passenger Dedicated Line (Hangzhou—Nanchang—Changsha) was also approved in the same year. Changsha currently has one passenger station and is building the new Changsha Station in Lituo Township, Yuhua District, Changsha. For freight stations, there is the first-class freight station Changsha North Station, the second-class freight station Shumuling Station, and the third-class freight station Changsha South Station.

Connected railway lines include the Beijing-Guangzhou Railway, Xiang-Gui Railway (Zhuzhou), Zhe-Gan Railway (Zhuzhou), Shi-Chang Railway, and Luo-Zhan Railway (Changsha Ningxiang).

Road Transportation

The main urban trunk roads include Wuyi Avenue, Furong Road, Shaoshan Road, Zhongshan Road, Huangxing Road, Xiangjiang Road, Xiaoxiang Avenue, Renmin Road, and the "Six Bridges and Three Ring Roads."

Six Bridges and Three Ring Roads: Juzizhou Bridge (First Bridge), Yinpenling Bridge (Second Bridge), Houzishi Bridge (Third Bridge), Sanchaji Bridge (Fourth Bridge), Heishipu Bridge (Fifth Bridge), Yueliangdao Bridge (Sixth Bridge), Changsha First Ring Road, Changsha Second Ring Road, and Changsha Third Ring Road.

The Six Bridges and Three Ring Roads are now fully connected. Through the Second Ring Road, Third Ring Road, Changsha Avenue, Leifeng Avenue, Jinxing Avenue, and others, Wangcheng and Changsha County are gradually being integrated into Changsha's urban area. The Chang-Chang Expressway and Chang-Yong Expressway put Ningxiang County and Liuyang City less than an hour's drive from Changsha. Changsha has also set up long-distance bus stations in the east, south, west, and north of the city, and has set up the Chang-Zhu-Tan Passenger Bus Station at Changsha Railway Station.

Changsha's road density reaches 42.74 km per hundred square kilometers. The total length of expressways is 193 km. In addition, 3 national highways, 14 provincial highways, and 106 county roads are densely distributed, with the total length of graded highways being 3,361 km.

Expressways: Beijing-Zhuhai Expressway, Changsha-Changde Expressway, Changsha-Liuyang Expressway

The Changsha-Changde Expressway has been extended to Zhangjiajie, becoming the Changsha-Changde-Zhangjiajie Expressway, and there are now plans for further extension to Chongqing to build the Chongqing-Changsha Expressway. A section of the Changsha-Liuyang Expressway is also under construction to extend to Pingxiang. The Changsha-Xiangtan West Line Expressway and the Changsha-Zhuzhou Expressway, auxiliary lines of the Beijing-Zhuhai Expressway, have also begun construction.

National highways: National Highway 106, National Highway 107, National Highway 319

The Xiang River passes through Changsha and connects Dongting Lake and the main stream of the Yangtze River. Changsha has a 1,000-ton-class waterway on the Xiang River and the largest inland river main hub port in the country—Xianing New Port.

Air transportation

Changsha's civil airport is Huanghua International Airport. Huanghua International Airport is located in Huanghua Town in the eastern suburbs of Changsha, about 10 km from the city center, with direct access via the Airport Expressway and Changsha-Yong'an Expressway. The airport offers direct flights to 45 major domestic cities and overseas cities such as Hong Kong, Bangkok, Seoul, and Busan. In 2006, Huanghua Airport's annual passenger throughput exceeded 6 million, and its ranking among mainland Chinese airports jumped to 13th place, ranking 3rd in the Central South region, second only to Guangzhou and Shenzhen airports.

Datopu Airport is located outside the Third Ring Road in the southern suburbs of Changsha. It was formerly a dual-use military-civilian airport and is now a dedicated military airport.

First subway to open in 5 years

According to the recent construction plan for Changsha's rapid rail transit approved by the National Development and Reform Commission, from 2008 to 2015, the first phase of Rail Transit Line 1 and the first phase of Line 2 will be completed first.

Among them, the first phase of Line 2 runs from Gaoxin Road to New Changsha Station, with a line length of 23.15 km and a construction period from 2008 to 2013. It has 16 stations, starting from Lugu Avenue, passing through the West Bus Station, Yingwanzhen, Wuyi Citizens' Square, Furong Greening Square, Yuanjialing, Changsha Railway Station, Sports New City, to the New Changsha Railway Station. It connects with the Wuhan-Guangzhou High-Speed Railway, allowing passengers to achieve "zero transfer."

The first phase of Line 1 runs from the North Bus Station to Wanjiayuan Road Station, with a line length of 22.77 km and a construction period from 2010 to 2015. It has 17 stations, starting from the North Bus Station, passing through Wujialing, Furong Greening Square, Houjiatang, the Provincial Government, to the Environmental Protection Industrial Park. It connects with the Zhuzhou and Xiangtan intercity rail.

Education

New achievements have been made in the development of science and technology. At the end of the year, the city had 82 scientific research and development institutions. Throughout the year, the city achieved 238 scientific and technological achievements at or above the provincial and ministerial level. Yuanda was recognized as a national-level enterprise technology center, Zoomlion was included in the first batch of national innovative enterprise pilots, and the Changsha National Biomedical Industry Base entered the ranks of national-level biological industry bases. There were 4,700 patent applications, an increase of 18.12% over the previous year; 3,100 patents were authorized, an increase of 102.07%; 2,200 technology contracts were signed, with a transaction value of 2.458 billion yuan, an increase of 45.10%.

Education continues to develop. The city has 45 regular higher education institutions; 96 regular senior high schools; 226 junior high schools; and 1,217 regular primary schools. The city's regular higher education institutions have 418,100 enrolled students, an increase of 6.02% over the previous year; 33,200 graduate students, an increase of 17.21%; 148,000 regular senior high school students, an increase of 2.67%; 159,100 regular junior high school students, a decrease of 20.85%; 366,100 regular primary school students, an increase of 8.10%; and 89,200 kindergarten children, a decrease of 0.39%. The enrollment rate for primary school-age children is 100%, and the enrollment rate from primary to junior high school is 100%. In the autumn, 289,500 students in rural compulsory education were exempted from miscellaneous fees for enrollment, and 209 rural schools had their drinking water improved. The number of poor students in urban and rural compulsory education who received full exemption under the "one-fee system" reached 207,000 person-times, ensuring that all who should be exempted were exempted.

Changsha's secondary basic education has a high reputation within Hunan Province. The faculty, teaching facilities, and educational quality of the Affiliated High School of Hunan Normal University, Changsha No. 1 Middle School, Changjun Middle School, and Yali Middle School are all at an advanced level. They have famous alumni such as Mao Zedong, Zhu Rongji, Ren Bishi, Zhou Libo, and Chen Geng, and the proportion of graduates entering famous universities such as Tsinghua and Peking University over the years accounts for a large share of the province. Changsha No. 1 Middle School and the Affiliated High School of Hunan Normal University have won gold medals multiple times in the International Science Olympiad. In recent years, Changjun Middle School's college entrance examination results have consistently ranked among the top in Hunan Province. Yali Middle School was founded by the Yale-China Association, an alumni organization of Yale University in the United States, and is renowned for its English teaching.

Changsha's higher education is relatively developed, with 4 "key universities" under Project 211, namely National University of Defense Technology, Central South University, Hunan University, and Hunan Normal University. Three of them are included in Project 985, tying with Shanghai and Xi'an for second place in number. National University of Defense Technology is one of the best military academies and is particularly outstanding in the field of computers. Central South University occupies an important position in research in materials, machinery, metallurgy, medicine, and bridge and tunnel engineering. In 2005, it won the first National Technological Invention Award First Prize, which had been vacant for 6 years, for "Preparation Technology of High-Performance Carbon/Carbon Aviation Brake Materials." Hunan University's predecessor is Yuelu Academy, and its research in civil engineering and architecture, chemistry, and life sciences is gradually entering the front ranks.

List of universities in Changsha:

Higher education institutions

Project 211 schools:

Hunan University (211, 985)

Central South University (211, 985)

National University of Defense Technology of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (military academy, 211, 985)

Hunan Normal University (211)

Main undergraduate institutions:

Changsha University of Science and Technology

Hunan Agricultural University

Central South University of Forestry and Technology

Hunan University of Chinese Medicine

Hunan University of Commerce

Changsha University

Hunan First Normal University

Changsha Medical University

Hunan International Economics University

Main vocational colleges:

Hunan Public Security College

Hunan College of Finance and Economics

Hunan Industry Polytechnic

Hunan Women's University (Hunan Women's Vocational University)

Changsha Normal School

Changsha Social Work College

Hunan Communication Polytechnic

Hunan Mass Media Vocational and Technical College

Hunan Vocational College of Science and Technology

Changsha Aeronautical Vocational and Technical College (military name: Air Force Aeronautical Maintenance Technical College)

Insurance Vocational College

Hunan Biological and Electromechanical Polytechnic

Changsha Communication Vocational and Technical College

Hunan Engineering Polytechnic

Changsha Environmental Protection College

Hunan Vocational College of Commerce

Hunan Sports Vocational College

Hunan Foreign Economic Relations and Trade College

Hunan Network Engineering Vocational College

Hunan Judicial Police Vocational College

Changsha Commerce and Tourism College

Hunan Vocational College of Art

Hunan Mechanical and Electrical Polytechnic

Changsha Vocational and Technical College

Changsha Electric Power Technical College

Hunan Water Resources and Hydropower Vocational College

Secondary Education

Changsha Changjun High School

Changsha Yali High School

The High School Attached to Hunan Normal University

Changsha No. 1 High School

Mingde High School

Zhounan High School

Hunan Provincial Dizhi High School

Tian Jiabing Experimental High School

Changsha No. 15 High School

Changsha No. 21 High School

Changsha Railway No. 1 High School

Culture

Changsha is a national historical and cultural city and the only pilot city for ecological development demonstration among provincial capitals. Xiang opera and flower-drum opera are the main popular opera genres. The city has 12 art performance troupes, 10 cultural centers, 7 public libraries, 13 museums, and 14 archives. Radio and television have maintained a relatively high level of development; in 2004, the city's comprehensive radio population coverage rate reached 96.8%, and the comprehensive television population coverage rate reached 97.8%.

The city has a total of 66 tourist areas (sites), including 1 national-level scenic area, 4 national 4A-level tourist areas (sites), 2 national forest parks, and 2 national water conservancy scenic areas. Within the city there are 47 tombs of notable figures, 33 cultural sites, 30 ancient tombs, 25 former residences of notable figures, 13 modern and contemporary memorial sites, and 6 ancient city ruins.

The Changsha dialect is the Changsha variety of New Xiang Chinese, mainly represented by the urban area of Changsha and Changsha and Wangcheng counties. Changsha also has some taboos different from other places; for example, because forests were once dense and tigers frequently appeared, people avoided saying "tiger" (pronounced "fǔ" in the dialect), so "fermented bean curd" was read as "cat milk" (also read as "cat fish"), and "Fuzheng Street" was called "Maozheng Street".

Tourist Attractions

The urban area has more than 50 scenic spots and attractions open to visitors, and the counties (cities) under its jurisdiction also have numerous historical relics and tourist attractions. Major tourist attractions in adjacent areas, such as Mao Zedong's former residence in Shaoshan, Mount Hengshan (Nanyue), Yueyang Tower, and Peach Blossom Spring, are all places that can be visited promptly after arriving in Changsha.

The most important attractions in Changsha are: Yuelu Mountain and its affiliated scenic spots, Yuelu Academy, Tianxin Pavilion, Hunan Provincial Museum (with cultural relics unearthed from the Mawangdui Han tombs, etc.), Hunan First Normal University, Liu Shaoqi's former residence, and others.

Cultural and historical sites: Yuelu Academy, Mawangdui Han Tombs, Kaifu Temple, Ancient Lushan Temple, Yunlu Palace, Tianxin Pavilion, Beijincheng Ruins, Changsha Kiln Ruins, Zoumalou bamboo slips, Baisha Ancient Well, Yu Wang Stele, Taogong Temple, Liuyang Confucian Temple.

Scenic areas: Yuelu Mountain, Orange Isle, Window of the World, the Xiangjiang Scenic Belt, the Botanical Garden, as well as Shanyingtan Resort and Shiyanhu Resort, Daweishan National Forest Park, Daowushan Scenic Area, Huitang Hot Springs and Heimeifeng Scenic Area, and Martyrs' Park.

Memorial sites: In the urban area there are Martyrs' Park, the former site of the CPC Xiangjiang District Committee at Qingshuitang, Chuanshan Society, the former site of the Xinmin Society, Hunan First Normal School, Jia Yi's Former Residence, Li Fuchun's Former Residence, Aiwan Pavilion, Huang Xing's Tomb, and Cai E's Tomb; the Lei Feng Memorial Hall, Huang Xing's Former Residence, Zhu Rongji's Former Residence, Yang Kaihui's Former Residence, Hu Yaobang's Former Residence, Liu Shaoqi's Former Residence and Memorial Hall, Zeng Guofan's Tomb, Zuo Zongtang's Tomb, the Wenjiashi Autumn Harvest Uprising Memorial Hall, and Tan Sitong's Former Residence and Memorial Hall.

Other tourist attractions: Xiangjiang River, Lushan Temple Stele, Jiao Dafeng's Tomb, Xiaoyuan Park, the Ming Princely Mansion, the Site of the King of Wu's Tomb, Yu Wang Stele, Banshan Pavilion, Python Cave, Xianggu Ridge, Xiaoti Cliff, Jia Yi's Former Residence, Jinpenling Tomb No. 9 of the Jin Dynasty, Baisha Well, Xianjiahu Tang Dynasty Tomb

National-level scenic areas and cultural relic protection units

4 national AAAA-level tourist areas: Yuelu Mountain Scenic and Historic Area, Changsha Window of the World, Hunan Shiyanhu Ecological Tourism Park, and Daweishan National Forest Park;

1 national key scenic and historic area: Yuelu Mountain Scenic and Historic Area (including Yuelu Mountain, Yuelu Academy, and Orange Isle);

2 national forest parks: Tianjiling National Forest Park and Daweishan National Forest Park;

2 national water conservancy scenic areas: Changsha Xiangjiang Water Conservancy Scenic Area (Xiangjiang Scenic Belt) and Changsha Qianlonghu Ecological Resort.

6 national key cultural relic protection units: Yuelu Academy (in the urban area of Changsha, third batch), Huang Xing's Former Residence and Tomb (located respectively in the urban area of Changsha and Changsha County, third batch), Liu Shaoqi's Former Residence (Ningxiang, third batch), Tongguan Kiln Site (Wangcheng County, third batch), the Site of the Wenjiashi Meeting of the Autumn Harvest Uprising (Liuyang, first batch), and Tan Sitong's Former Residence (Liuyang, fourth batch).

Historical and cultural districts

Due to the eight-year War of Resistance, the Wenxi Fire, and the three-year civil war, the ancient buildings and cultural relics in the urban area of Changsha were almost entirely lost. Since the reform and opening up in 1978, urban construction has developed rapidly, but the protection of historical districts was not fully taken into account. At present, there is no complete historical and cultural district, and only 4 complete granite-paved streets remain. In recent years, attention has begun to be paid to rescuing the ancient city area, and five "historical and cultural districts" have been established for protective rescue. These districts are

Taiping Street;

Chaozong Street;

Hualongchi;

Xiaoximen;

Tianxin Pavilion Historical and Cultural District.

Historical and cultural towns and villages

In February 2004, a total of 7 "Historical and Cultural Towns and Villages of the Changsha Area" were designated:

Tongguan Town, an ancient town located about 30 kilometers east of the lower reaches of the Xiangjiang River north of Changsha City. Among the cultural relics unearthed from the Mawangdui Han Tomb were Tongguan pottery wares; during the Three Kingdoms period it was the boundary between Wu and Shu.

Shen Family Mansion, located in Xinkai Village on the bank of the Laodao River in Longfu Town, Liuyang. The village of Xinkai, with its village layout handed down from the Qing Dynasty, is well preserved, with ancient residential buildings covering more than 30,000 square meters. The well-preserved residential building complex has the Shen Family Mansion as its core and essence.

Jinggang Town, with ancient buildings covering more than 5,000 square meters. It was an important ancient military town, formerly the main distribution port for Huai salt and one of the four major rice markets in Hunan.

Wenjiashi, a historical witness of the Northern Expedition period and the period of the Chinese Civil War, with large numbers of Red Army propaganda slogans in places such as the Liu Family Ancestral Hall and Hekou Great Mansion.

Langli Town, Taogong Temple and its temple fair. The temple fair is held on the 13th day of the first lunar month and the 17th day of the eighth lunar month each year, and each fair lasts about ten days.

Weishan, located in western Ningxiang, has long been known as "Little Tibet." Its main building is Miyin Temple, first built in the second year of the Yuanhe reign of Emperor Xianzong of Tang (807 AD). At its peak, it housed more than a thousand monks.

Daweishan Town, whose old street is well preserved, quiet, and quaint, and has long been known as "Little Shanghai."

Specialties and folk customs

The most important specialties of Changsha are the "Three Wonders of Changsha," namely Xiang embroidery, Chinese red porcelain, and chrysanthemum stone carving. The origin and development of Xiang embroidery both took place in Changsha, and it is one of the four famous embroideries. Changsha also has a Xiang Embroidery Museum for research, visits, and sales. Chinese red porcelain first appeared in the Changsha kilns of the late Tang Dynasty 1,100 years ago, but none of the porcelain that appeared afterward, including later wares, had a pure red color. At the end of 1998, Yin Yanzheng developed pure red porcelain in Changsha, and a Chinese Red Ceramic Art Park was established in Changsha's Longping High-Tech Park. Chrysanthemum stone is produced in the rock layers at the bottom of the Daxi River in Liuyang, naturally bearing white chrysanthemum patterns, and its carvings are a major specialty of Changsha.

Liuyang has the reputation of being the "Home of Fireworks," and the fireworks it produces are sold throughout China and around the world.

Changsha observes all Han Chinese festivals, some of which have local characteristics. There are also many unique folk customs on certain days. The Taogong Temple fair is a major feature of market gatherings. On the third day of the third lunar month, Changsha people have the custom of boiling eggs with shepherd's purse. With the continuous development of urbanization, this custom has been forgotten by many people, but it is still maintained in the suburban counties. At the Beginning of Summer, there is the custom of eating Beginning of Summer rice cake. At Awakening of Insects, farming families light lamps in dark places and spread lime around the four sides of houses and in damp dark corners. Children set off firecrackers one by one, throw them toward the corners of houses and under walls, and shout while throwing: "Awakening of Insects, Awakening of Insects, blast the insects and ants stiff." Xiang opera, once popular in Changsha, is a local opera genre with very strong local characteristics. Today, Xiang opera lacks a market dominated by young people and is gradually declining.

Dietary customs

Changsha has a great variety of foods, and local snacks and Hunan cuisine are the most popular in Changsha. At the same time, Changsha people also love many famous dishes from other places, so foods from all over the country often become fashionable for a time. Representative examples include Guizhou beer duck, Chongqing hot pot, and Guangdong fruit porridge.

Since around the 1990s, Changsha began to introduce various rural dish series, with representative flavors such as chopped chili fish head, smoked cured meat, and salted fish; the most famous flavor snacks are stinky tofu, yellow catfish, and lampwick cake, as well as the recently popular spicy crayfish and duck neck. Famous rural dish restaurants include the Chopped Chili Stir-Fried Pork Rural Restaurant and Tanzhou Clay Pot, among others.

Changsha's snacks are numerous in variety, and because of local Hunan flavors, many snacks are unique to Changsha. Street-side snack shops are the main places to eat snacks. Every evening, people come in an endless stream to eat snacks in places such as Nanmenkou; even after midnight, the people coming for late-night snacks still make the streets extraordinarily lively. The especially famous late-night snack area is on a road between Nanmenkou and Laodong Square that can be crossed in a ten-minute walk, with restaurants lining both sides. Among them, the most famous are "Fourth Grandma Spicy Crayfish" and the stinky tofu stall at the entrance of Mayishun Lane. Huogongdian and the food street are new snack areas developed in 2005.

The main local Hunan dishes include: Liuyang steamed dishes, country cured meat, Ningxiang flavor snake, chopped chili stir-fried pork, yellow catfish, braised pork, Sifangping native chicken, Tanzhou clay pot, bamboo-scented fish, Liuyang smoked dried fish, and others.

The main local snacks include: Changsha stinky tofu, lampwick cake, spicy crayfish, spicy chicken, spicy frog, duck tongue, duck neck, stewed pig trotters, orchid dried tofu, fried tofu, scraped jelly, Changsha rice noodles, sucked snails, spicy tied chicken, and cilantro cold-tossed pork kidney, among others.

Media and economy

Changsha's media industry is developed. Hunan Satellite TV is the local television station with the highest annual revenue and viewership ratings in mainland China, and it has gathered a large number of famous hosts and media workers. Its main works include "Happy Camp," the TV dramas "My Fair Princess," "Dreams Link," and "Ugly Wudi," among others. The successful holding of "Super Girl" in 2005 and the broadcast of TV dramas such as "Dae Jang Geum" further enhanced its influence. It held Spring Festival galas in both 2005 and 2006. Hunan Economic TV is the most popular local television station in Hunan, and its ratings and support exceed those of Hunan Satellite TV. Hunan Economic TV focuses on local audiences, so it often broadcasts programs with Hunan local characteristics, such as the variety show "Yue Ce Yue Kaixin" and the family drama "One Family Old and Young Charging Forward," among others.

The China Golden Eagle TV Art Festival has Changsha as its permanent venue, and the Golden Eagle Award is one of the most important awards in China's film and television industry. Influential newspapers published in Changsha include the local newspapers Changsha Evening News and Xiaoxiang Morning Herald, and the national newspapers Sports Weekly and Today's Women's News, all of which have repeatedly won the title of "National Advanced Unit in Local Newspaper Office Management." Sports Weekly is the sports newspaper with the largest circulation in China.

The best of Changsha

Changsha is rich in underground cultural relics. Important archaeological discoveries include the Changsha Mawangdui Han Tomb, the bronzes of the Tanheli Site in Ningxiang, the Changsha Zoumalou bamboo slips, Chu tombs of the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, and the Tongguan Kilns, among others. The following lists important historical records. Bamboo slip production factory

The world's earliest cast iron artifacts — the late Spring and Autumn period iron concave hoe and iron ding, cast in the late Spring and Autumn period (around the 6th to 7th century BC).

The world's lightest silk fabric — the plain gauze unlined garment, unearthed at Mawangdui in Changsha. It weighs only 49 grams (some say 48 grams). Because the silk fiber is extremely fine, it cannot be reproduced by modern techniques.

The world's earliest printed fabric — a printed silk quilt cover, unearthed from a Chu tomb of the Warring States period. See ancient Chinese printing and dyeing.

The world's earliest writing brush — unearthed at Zuojiagong Mountain in Changsha, made during the Warring States period.

The world's earliest surviving astronomical work — the Western Han "Five Stars Divination" and "Miscellaneous Divinations on Astronomy and Meteorology," unearthed at Mawangdui in Changsha.

The world's earliest underglaze colored porcelain — unearthed at Changsha Kiln, which is therefore considered the birthplace of underglaze color.

The world's largest excavation of bamboo slips — more than 140,000 Wu bamboo slips of the Three Kingdoms were unearthed at Zoumalou in Changsha in a single excavation, exceeding the total number of bamboo slips unearthed in all previous years combined.

China's earliest steel product — a steel sword of the late Spring and Autumn period, unearthed at Yangjiashan in Changsha;

China's earliest works on sexual medicine — the bedroom books from the Han tombs at Mawangdui, including "Ten Questions," "Discourse on the Ultimate Way in the World," "Joining Yin and Yang," and three others, six in total.

China's largest bronze nao of the Shang dynasty — the Shang dynasty elephant-patterned large bronze nao, unearthed in Ningxiang, weighing 220.76 kilograms.

China's largest square zun of the Shang dynasty — the Four-Ram Square Zun, unearthed in Ningxiang, 58.3 centimeters high and weighing about 34.5 kilograms.

China's largest bronze bu of the Shang dynasty — unearthed in Ningxiang. Overall height 62.5 centimeters, mouth diameter 58 centimeters, belly diameter 89 centimeters, weight 55 kilograms.

China's earliest metal weighed currency — 224 small bronze axes with a currency function were hidden in a Shang dynasty bronze nao unearthed in Ningxiang in 1959. Note 3

China's first standard automobile highway — the Chang-Tan (Changsha to Xiangtan) Highway, built in 1913. Note 4

Sports

Changsha's sports undertakings have developed well. Diving, gymnastics, badminton, and weightlifting are among Changsha's traditional strong sports, and its athletes have represented China in winning gold medals in the world.

In 1996, the first Asian Gymnastics Championships were held in Changsha. In 2003, China's Fifth National City Games were held here. At the City Games, Changsha athletes won a total of 19 gold medals, ranking 5th in gold medal count among the 79 participating cities. In 2004, the city held 28 sports meets at or above the county level, double the number of the previous year. At the end of the year, it had 61 sports schools, 52 public sports venues, 153 newly developed ranked athletes, and 60 newly developed ranked referees. Sports facilities were complete. On October 7, 2003, on the basis of the Helong Stadium, after renovation and the addition of fully equipped auxiliary facilities, the "Helong Sports and Culture Center" ("New Century Culture Center") was officially completed, becoming a landmark building of Changsha.

The "Helong Cup" football invitational tournament, first held at Helong Stadium in 1983, saw the Hunan team achieve good rankings in all five editions.

In 1994, Chinese football turned professional. That year Hunan had its first men's football Jia B team, Hunan Jinxiang. In the final round of that year, it defeated the Locomotive team to successfully avoid relegation. In April 1995, it was renamed Hunan Laifu. In the 21st round, in another match against the Locomotive team, a fan riot occurred, and the team received severe punishment and was ultimately relegated. After that, Changsha went as long as eight years without a single top-tier team, entering a low period for football. It was not until 2004 that Changsha acquired its first men's top-tier football team, Hunan Xiangjun, through a purchase, and it remained in the top tier in both 2004 and 2005. In 2007, the Chinese Super League team Jinde moved its home ground to Changsha, and from then on Changsha had its own Chinese Super League team. In basketball, Hunan College of Finance and Economics won the runner-up place in the first Chinese University Basketball League held in 1999.

Changsha has produced world-class athletes such as Xiong Ni, Tang Jiuhong, Lu Li, Liu Xuan, Li Xiaopeng, and Bao Chunlai, who have won many gold medals in world-class competitions, including 7 gold medals at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

Famous Figures

During the pre-Qin and Qin-Han periods, Changsha was remote from the Central Plains and was also the southern edge of the Chu state, an area where Han cultural influence was relatively weak. Even by the Western Han, it still retained very obvious Chu culture. Because of this, Changsha also became a place of demotion or exile for Qu Yuan, Jia Yi, and others at the time. After the Han dynasty established the Changsha Kingdom, Changsha, as the central city of the Hunan region, saw its culture settle and also attracted many men of letters to come to Changsha. Zhang Zhongjing, Huang Zhong, Sun Simiao, Du Fu, Zhu Xi, and others either lived in Changsha for long periods or had far-reaching influence. Changsha produced many calligraphers, and the works of Ouyang Xun, Huaisu, He Shaoji, and Qi Baishi are widely praised.

From Zeng Guofan in the late Qing dynasty to the present day, Changsha and the whole of Hunan entered an era of talented people emerging in large numbers. In Changsha Prefecture and its then subordinate counties such as Xiangtan, Xiangxiang, Ningxiang, and Xiangyin, a large number of famous figures emerged, exerting a very profound influence on the entire modern and contemporary history of China. Such as Zeng Guofan and Cai Hesen of Shuangfeng; Zuo Zongtang of Xiangyin; Mao Zedong, Qi Baishi, Peng Dehuai, and Ma Ying-jeou of Xiangtan; Zhou Libo of Yiyang; Liu Shaoqi, He Shuheng, Jiang Mengzhou, Xie Juezai, and Wang Lingbo of Ningxiang; Tan Sitong, Tang Caichang, Ouyang Zhonghu, Ouyang Yuqian, Liu Renxi, and Jiao Dafeng of Liuyang,

Yu Zhimo of Xiangxiang; Huang Xing, Yang Yulin, Yang Changji, Shen Jin, Li Weihan, Wang Xianqian, and Pi Xirui of Changsha,

Yang Kaihui, Zhu Rongji, Tian Han, and others. Most of the former residences and tombs of famous people have been preserved. Because of changes in administrative divisions, some were placed under newly established prefecture-level cities after the abolition of Changsha Prefecture.

Hip-Hop songs praising Changsha

"Changsha Ce Changsha" is an authentic Changsha dialect song written by a Changsha HIP-HOP group that describes and introduces Changsha. It introduces Changsha's scenic spots and historic sites and its general situation, and also visits all kinds of delicious and fun places in Changsha. The word "ce" in the Changsha dialect means "chat" or "talk."

From childhood to adulthood, I've lived in Hexi, Changsha

The water I drink and the fish I eat are all from the Xiang River

From Hedong to Hexi, from there to here

I know all the bus routes; if I really don't, I take a taxi

I'm not a tough guy, nor an old hand

But for betel nut I choose no other, only Laokouzi

You know Baisha Well, Baisha cigarettes, Baisha liquor

But maybe not Honghua Slope, Huangtu Ridge, Heishi Ferry

Xin Zhui, the old lady of Mawangdui, now lives in the museum

The provincial library is full from Monday to Sunday

Of the ancient sites, now only Zoumalou and Tianxin Pavilion remain

Aiwan Pavilion and Yuelu Academy you must know clearly

You may have heard piano playing, but not necessarily C-BLOCK

You may know how to dance, but not necessarily HIPHOP

We live in Changsha, so we rap in Changsha dialect

You gotta know the vibe, raise your hand and wave, just like our country's fans

Even at 60, Grandpa still goes to Wuyi Square to skateboard

When carrying a child, you gotta eat chili, she says otherwise it's hard to give birth

Endure hardship, be tough, this is the Changsha attitude

The ancient culture of Xiangchu, only Changsha has it

I studied at the Affiliated Middle School, there's a 'Depravity Street' here

Snacks everywhere, and the girls are one more HIGH than the next

A car across the bridge to the Pedestrian Street, and do some other stuff too

The 'four-in-one' at Yaowang Street, you gotta eat it hot

Remember Changsha has Flower Drum Opera and Xiang embroidery

Once you hear 'Liu Hai Chops Wood,' you won't want to leave

C-BLOCK welcomes everyone to Changsha

Changsha people, stretch out your hands and say no more

I walked from Nanmenkou to the riverside

In the moon cake, there's a grandpa

Grandpa comes out to buy groceries, in it there's a grandma

Let me tell you, I'm a Changsha boy, an authentic Changsha kid

So Changsha's rap, I do it in Changsha dialect

From young to old, from small to grown

0731 always makes you feel proud

Nanmenkou, the riverside, have changed a lot

The old run-down Baizheng Street is long gone

From Dongtang, Qingshuitang to Saobatang

And Changling, Yaoling to Wujialing

Changsha develops fast, the city gets better and better

Just like Changsha's HIPHOP, getting more awesome

Changsha TV is amazing, ratings fly to the sky

Ideas ahead of others, you all don't come near me

The old generation of Changsha experts built this beautiful Star City

Telling us to endure hardship and work hard, that's the Changsha spirit

Changsha has so many pretty ladies, Star Girls are stunningly beautiful

I love Changsha, gotta speak out my heart

Every performance, grandpas and grandmas shout along with me

Want good food, all the kids follow me

Fourth Grandma, Yang Yuxing, Fire Palace

Baisha Well water before meals, a Baisha cigarette after

Not only fills you up, tastes good and is really cheap

If all else fails, you can still 'eat it round or eat it flat'

Besides moon cakes, here there's also sugar-oil rice cakes

The one sitting in front isn't Grandpa, but it's really delicious

And there's Nanmenkou, with the most fragrant stinky tofu

Anyone who says it's not tasty is just a liar

I love Changsha, she's like my own mother

We're all 'ce shen' (masters of banter), we're called C-BLOCK

It's not Cadolido, and it's not 'jiejingkuangjing' (meaning long-winded)

Just representing Changsha to welcome everyone

Play around Changsha

Changsha has many fun things to do, the most famous being its bar culture. Changsha bars use venting as a way and pursuing happiness as their goal. Famous bars include Ouyang Pangpang Song and Dance Hall, Jiuku, Soho, and Shuimu Nianhua.

Changsha's other entertainment is also famous nationwide, like Changsha's TV culture—no need to say more about that, all Chinese people know it.

Next, Changsha's most distinctive feature is its foot massage places. 10-yuan massage shops are everywhere; 10 yuan gets you a 45-minute massage, a price you won't find in many places nationwide.

Sister Cities

As of April 2003, Changsha had established 'sister city' relationships with cities in 9 foreign countries. In addition, Liuyang under Changsha's jurisdiction established one sister city, Francisco Beltrao in Brazil.

Brazzaville, Congo, August 9, 1982

Kagoshima City, Japan, October 30, 1982

Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States, May 9, 1988

Bukit Timah Town (Jurong-East Town), Singapore, April 10, 1994

Fribourg, Switzerland, June 10, 1994

Jersey City, United States, November 29, 1995

Mons, Belgium, May 14, 1998

Gumi, South Korea, October 19, 1998

Francisco Beltrao, Brazil, October 25, 2000

Entebbe, Uganda, April 14, 2003

Domestic Sister Cities

Fushun, Benxi, Jixi, Zhanjiang, Haikou, Xiamen, Huangshan, Zhenjiang, Nanchang, Kunming, Nanning, Beijing Chongwen District, Shanghai Hongkou District, Guangzhou—14 cities (districts) in total

Travel Guide

Best Time to Visit

Apart from the high temperatures in midsummer, Changsha is suitable for tourism in the other three seasons. Spring in Changsha begins after mid-February, when the weather is changeable; visitors should dress warmly to prevent colds. By late May, summer arrives. Although Changsha is known as a 'furnace,' even during the dog days of summer you still need a blanket to sleep in the mountains. Autumn begins in mid-August, with temperatures usually around 15°C to 20°C. At this time, the autumn air is crisp and refreshing, and you can go to Juzizhou to admire the red leaves. Late November marks the start of winter, with average temperatures around 5°C, and sometimes it snows—this is the time to go into the mountains to see ice formations. Overall, autumn is a relatively suitable time to visit Changsha.

Changsha's City Flower and City Tree

Changsha's city flower is the azalea (ying shan hong). Azaleas come in several varieties. Changsha's city tree is the camphor tree!

Source & reference