Changsha is the capital of Hunan Province. The history of the city dates back to the Western Zhou Dynasty (1046-771 BC) and Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220). It is also the centre of Huxiang Culture. Encompassing 11,819 square kilometers, the city is composed of five districts and four counties with a population of 5.82 million.

The area and population of the city proper are 554 square kilometers and 1.51 million respectively. The city lies in the rich Xiangjiang Plain. The annual average temperature is 17.6 °C (63.7 °F). The city is now a major port, handling rice, cotton, timber, and livestock. It is a centre of rice milling and also has oil-extraction, tea and tobacco curing, and meat-processing plants. Its textile industry produces cotton yarn and fabrics and engages in dyeing and printing. Agricultural chemicals and fertilizers, farm implements, and pumping machinery are also produced.

Changsha is one of China's top 20 "economically advanced" cities. The mainstay industries of Changsha are food, electronics, machinery, chemicals, building materials, textiles, pharmaceuticals and metallurgy. Traditional export products including Hunan embroidery, fireworks, pottery, porcelain and granite enjoy a good reputation in the international market.

In 1998, Changsha was named China's "excellent tourist city with main attractions including the Hunan Provincial Museum, the Yuelu Academy, the Lushan Buddhist Temple, the Kaifu Buddhist Temple, the Aiwan Pavilion, etc.

Yuelu Academy
The Yuelu Academy (also as known as the "Yuelu Academy of Classical Learning", is located on the east side of Yuelu Mountain in Changsha. It was founded in 976, and was one of four most renowned academies of higher learning in China. It was later renamed Hunan Normal College, Hunan Public Polytechnic School, and finally Hunan University in 1926.

The academy has witnessed more than a thousand consecutive years of history and is the only one of the ancient Chinese academies of Classical Learning to have evolved into a modern institution of higher learning. As a part of Hunan University, today the academy is a center of publication and research of the ancient Han Chinese language, and is one of the most important academic and cultural centers in China. Yuelu Academy, which has undergone restorations, has been listed as a key historical site under the state protection.

Hunan Provincial Museum
Hunan Provincial Museum, the largest museum of history and art in Hunan Province, was set up in the early 1950s. The museum boasts abundant collections that feature cultural relics excavated from the marvelous Mawangdui Han Tombs, including the bronze wares of the Shang and Zhou Dynasties and the Kingdom of Chu, pottery and porcelain works in the past dynasties, calligraphy works and paintings, as well as modern cultural relics. 　　

The Exhibition of Han Tombs at Mawangdui featuring excavation from three tombs of the Western Han dynasty. Over 3,000 cultural relics and a well-preserved female corpse were unearthed. Among the uncovered relics are bright-colored lacquer wares representing the highest level of workmanship at that time. The well-preserved female corpse is even a miracle in human antisepsis. Serving as an important window to interpret the history and nuances of Hunan culture, it attracts every year hundreds of thousands of visitors from China and abroad.

Tianxin Pavilion
Located on the ancient rampart of Changsha. It was built by the general of the army Yang Xi in 1746, the 11th year of Qianlong Period in Qing Dynasty. It covers a total area of 864 square meters, which was the tiptop of the city at that time. The existed pavilion was rebuilt in 1983, of the timberwork-like style, with brown tiles, painted pillars, three layers and corridor. The whole pavilion is of the distribution of arc.

Tianxin Pavilion consists of three pavilions and one corridor. The ancient rampart of Tianxin Pavilion was built during the Hongwu Period of Ming Dyansty. It was part of the city rampart at that time, with the function of military recovery. The whole wall was built with bricks, with stone base and has been repaired for many times. There are also some precious calligraphy and painting by famous people treasured up in the pavilion.