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Guides for the Business Traveler
Changsha (2007)
4 hours in Changsha (2007)
2007 Business Traveler 4-Hour Guide Sponsored by Korean Air. Chris Taylor takes in the sights of Changsha, including a 2,100-year-old mummy and a thousand-year-old university.
 | Hunan Provincial Museum Slightly to the north of town, on Dongfeng Lu, the Hunan Provincial Museum is fascinating for two reasons. One, its chronicle of Chinese revolutionary history—Hunan is Mao Zedong's home province—and two, the relics it houses from the excavations of Western Han (206–25 B.C.) tombs at Mawangdai. In the latter category, no visitor can fail to be fascinated by the preserved body of a 2,100-year-old woman, who was mummified in more than 20 layers of silk. More than 3,000 relics have been excavated from the tombs, including lacquerware, silks and porcelains, and much of it is on display at the museum, providing a fascinating glimpse of ancient Chinese life. Open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., entry RMB15 |  | Former Office of the Hunan Communist Party Committee A 10-minute taxi ride (ask for the Zhonggong Weiyuanhui Jiuzhhi) south of the museum, and accessed from Bayi Lu, it is possible to visit Mao Zedong's former living quarters. Mao lived in Changsha from 1913 to around 1923, with a brief break in between. The Party office has now been converted into a small museum, preserving the former chairman's living quarters, and exhibiting Mao memorabilia and his poetry written in his distinctive, powerful calligraphic script. Open daily 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., entry RMB7.50 |  | Mount Yuelu Park A 15-minute taxi ride west of town, on the other side of the Xiang River, Mount Yuelu is Changsha's premier attraction, along with its fine provincial museum. A sprawling hillside park, it is a pleasant place simply for idle wandering in the right season, but it is made more interesting by the fact it has a number of significant tourist attractions. The Aiwon Pavilion is an elegant, early Qing Dynasty (1644–1911) structure. Much more ancient, and surrounded by trees and fronted by two white, stone elephants, is Lushan Temple, which dates back to the Jin Dynasty (265–420 AD). Of more interest to Chinese tourists is the Monument to King Yu, a legendary Chinese figure from the 21st century B.C., venerated for teaching the people how to control the
rivers and lakes—and thus prevent flooding. |  | Yuelu Academy Also located in the park, and of special interest, Yuelu Academy is China's oldest university. It was established in 976 A.D., during the Northern Song Dynasty. For many centuries it was a famous place of Confucian learning, preparing students for the Imperial exams in faraway Beijing. By the last years of the Qing Dynasty, however, its curriculum was modified to reflect the needs of a China under pressure to modernize from the West. In 1926, the Nationalist Government renamed it Hunan University, and the modern university is still located here. Part of the original academy has been preserved and is open to the public. Open daily, 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. |
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