Changsha lies on the banks of the Xiangjiang, a large tributary of the Changjiang, in a fertile agricultural region in the northeast of Hunan province. The town is served by the Beijing-Canton railroad and by a small airport.
Changsha can look back on two thousand years of history. In the Spring and Autumn periods and the period of the Warring Kingdoms (771-221 BC) it was known as Qinyang because of the amount and quality of hand worked and artistic goods it produced (textiles, metallurgy, lacquer-work). It was given its present name in the Qin period (221-206 BC), when it was one of the most important towns in China.
Under the Song dynasty (960-1279) Changsha became an educational center. The town walls, parts of which still stand, were built at the beginning of the Ming period (1368-1644). In 1664 the Qing rulers elevated it to the status of provincial capital of Hunan. In 1904, under pressure from western powers, the town was opened up to foreigners, and Europeans and Americans subsequently settled here. Mao Zedong (Tse-tung) lived in the town from 1911 to 1923; he studied and taught at the College of Education. In the Sino-Japanese war of 1937-45 a large part of Changsha was destroyed and reconstruction did not commence until after the founding of the People's Republic in 1949. Helped by its position on the Xiangjiang, the town developed as a commercial center; its harbor is now the largest on the river. Today it is also a financial and industrial center, with light industry predominating.
The Island of Oranges - so named after the large numbers of orange trees growing here - is a narrow strip of sand 5km/3mi long in the middle of the Xiangjiang river. The southern end of the island has been made into a public park. Here the visitor will find a pretty pavilion and a stone tablet on which is engraved a poem about the town written by Mao Zedong. From the southern end of the island there is a particularly good view of the river.
Lushan-Si Temple, built in 268, is one of the oldest Buddhist sanctuaries in the province. The main doorway and the Cangling Ge pavilion can still be seen.
Close by stands a valuable stone tablet inscribed by the famous calligraphist Li Yong (678-747), which uses more than 1400 characters in describing how the temple was built.
Martyr Park, with its memorial pagoda, was laid out in 1955 in memory of those who died in the liberation struggle. There is an exhibition hall in the base of the 38m/125ft high pagoda.
The early history of the Communist Party Committee of the province is portrayed in the Qingshuitang, which gets its name from a pond which once lay behind the house. The conference rooms and Mao Zedong's residential quarters can be seen.
This temple in Kaifu Si Street was erected in 907. After repeated acts of destruction over the centuries the major buildings have now been restored. The complex includes the Halls of Sansheng Dian and Pilu Dian, as well as the Hall of the Great Buddha (Daxiong Badian) which was rebuilt in 1923. The temple houses two inscribed stone tablets dating from the 17th and 19th C.
The house where Mao Zedong (Tse-tung) was born in 1893, the son of a well-to-do farmer, and where he lived until 1910, stands in the village of Shaoshan, 100km/60mi from Changsha. In 1912 Mao moved to Changsha in order to attend the college there.
Built in typical Hunan style, the house was made into a museum in 1964. On display are personal items owned by the young Mao together with photos from his revolutionary period.
The main scenic attraction of Hunan province is the large Wulingyuan Scenic Area, a national park situated 300km/186mi west of Changsha, which was declared a World Natural Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1992. It is characterized by bizarre steep sandstone rock formations and dense forest which covers almost the entire area. The mild climate allows a large variety of plants and animals to thrive. The national park has three parts: the Suo Xi Gorge, the Mountains of the Heavenly Son (Tian Zi Shan) and the nature reserve Zhang Jia Jie.
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Yuelushan Hill
