Learn Chinese

As the capital of Hunan Province, Changsha is the center of the province in terms of politics, economy, culture, education, transportation, communication, finance, business and information. Under its jurisdiction are one city, three counties and five districts. They are Liuyang City, Changsha County, Wangcheng County, Ningxiang County and north, south, west, east and suburb districts. Changsha City lies in the northeast of Hunan Province, at the lower reaches of the Xiangjiang River. The Xiangjiang River runs from its north to south. North of the Dongting Lake and south to Hengshan Mountain, it was once called the lips of Hunan and Hubei, the throat of Guizhou and Guangdong. Changsha is a beautiful city in South China with many hills, rivers, lakes, pains, lakes and cities.

Changsha is a cultural city with a long history. Results of the archaeological studies show that 7,000 years ago, people began to inhabit here. The legendary Emperors Yao and Shun were both buried in ancient Changsha. Changsha first got its name in the Western Zhou Dynasty (11th century-771BC) 3,000 years ago. In the period of the Xia (21st- 17th century BC) and Shang (17th- 11th century BC) dynasties, Changsha was part of the ancient Sanmiao Kingdom. It was an important city in terms of military affairs and was major area for rice production, both in the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476BC) and the Warring States Period (475-221BC). When the Qin Dynasty (221-206BC) unified China, Changsha became one of the 36 prefectures of the whole country. The capital of Changsha Prefecture was Xiangxian County (today’s Changsha). This was the start of Changsha being listed within the administrative scope of China. In 202BC, the founder of the Western Han Dynasty (206BC-8AD) Emperor Gaozu conferred Wu Rui the governance of Changsha, and set up the State of Changsha. Then, Changsha was under the jurisdiction of Wu in the Three Kingdoms Period (220-280), and was renamed as Tanzhou in the Sui and Tang dynasties. Changsha was part of Hunan Province and changed into Changsha Prefecture in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). In the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911)) it was known as the capital of Hunan Province. In 1922 it was reaffirmed as the capital of Hunan, and in 1933, Changsha City was established. Changsha welcomed its peaceful liberation on August 5, 1949, and a new chapter was unveiled in its history.

Changsha has a long history of civilization and a splendid ancient culture. There are many ancient tombs and relics here. Having a lot of talents and heroes, Changsha was called the Cradle of Revolution. With beautiful scenery and a booming economy, Changsha is a land flowing with milk and honey. Changsha, an open city, is full of hope and progress towards modernization.

Changsha was once proclaimed one of the 24 cultural and historical cities by the State Council and listed among the first batch of open tourist cities. The famous historic sites here are the Yuelu Academy, the Mawangdui Tomb, the Kaifu Temple, and the Tianxin Pavilion. The well-known scenic spots are the Yuelu Mountain, the Martyrs’ Park and the Island of Oranges. The Hunan cuisine, Hunan embroidery and Hunan opera are all with recognizable local characteristics.

(Source: chinaculture.org)