|
|
| ¡¡ |
|
 |
|
¡¡¡¡Changsha, a famous city with three thousand years¡¯ history dated back to the ancient Chu State and Han Dynasty, the nowadays capital city of Hunan Province, is not only the political, economic and cultural center of the whole province, but also one of the earliest 24 famous cities of great historical and cultural interest in China as well as one of the cities where tourism is playing a major role in opening it to the rest of the world.
¡¡¡¡Nature and Geography
¡¡¡¡Located at the east to the north of Hunan Province, within a rich and beautiful central Xiang River valley plain, in the lower reaches of the Xiang River and west on the Changliu basin, the city of Changsha, stretches from 111¡ã54¡¯ to 114¡ã15¡¯ east of longitude for about 88kms and from27¡ã5 1¡¯ to 28¡ã40¡¯ north of latitude for about 230 kms. It is bordered by Luoxiao Mountain on the east, Wuling Mountain on the west, Hengshan Mountain on the south and Dongting Lake on the north. It has a varied topography with height in east, west and south and low in north. As in a subtropical area characterized by clear distinction between seasons, Changsha has a humid monsoon climate with heavy rainfall in the late spring and early summer and with much drought in the late summer and the autumn. The mean annual temperature varies from 16.8¡ãC
to 17.2¡ãC and the coldest days are in January with the average temperature of 4.7¡ãC . It has a frost-free period of 275 days in an annual year. As there are high mountains in the east and west, its annual rainfall is abundant and averages 1360mm with a rainfall of 1600mm to 2200mm around the eastern mountains and of 1400mm to 1600mm near the western mountains.
¡¡¡¡Its total area is 11,819.5 sq-km and population 6.13 million, whiles the present city proper covering 556.3 sq-km and inhabited by 2.086 million urban citizens.
¡¡¡¡As a rich and beautiful land, Changsha possesses of abundant natural resource with over 40 kinds of discovered mineral resources, whiles there are metals including iron, cuprum, manganese, vanadium, aluminum, zinc, tungsten, aurum, argentum, uranium and etc. and non-metals including coal, phosphor, sulphur, gypsum, granite, meerschaum, ammonite, argil and etc., of which meerschaum and ammonite are the rarest. It has a largest storage of proved up meerschaum renowned as a ¡°national treasure¡± in China and the only storage of ammonite that has never been found in the rest of the world. Grain plantings are mainly rice with twice ripeness a year. And economic crops include cotton, tobacco, ramie, vegetables, tea and flowers. Another natural resource that exists in the Changsha area is the great variety of wild animals and plants, whiles there are 977 kinds of trees, which fall into 102 species.
Administrative areas
¡¡¡¡Since the foundation of the P. R. China, the regionalism of Changsha has been divided into two periods including the period from August 1949 to December 1958 in which it has no jurisdiction over counties and the period from the year 1959 up until now in which it has jurisdiction over not only cities and suburbs but also counties.
¡¡¡¡Since the peaceful liberation of Hunan Province in August 1949, Changsha was capital of Hunan and had jurisdiction over eight districts including Eastern City District, Southern City District, Western City District, Northern City District, Wenyi District, Jinpen District, Yuelu District and Huichun District. In September 1958, the counties of Changsha and Wangcheng which had been part of Xiangtan City were transferred into the jurisdiction of Changsha City. In February 1959, the suburbs were quashed from Changsha and in March 1959, the former Changsha County and Wangcheng County were united into Changsha County under jurisdiction of Changsha City. In March 1960, Yuelu District was set up and the administrative area formerly affiliated to Changsha County Yuelu Commune became that of Yuelu District. In April 1960, it carried out a system of Urban Citizens Commune and the former 5 districts under its jurisdiction became 5 Urban Citizens Communes. In September 1961, the communes were quashed and the 5 districts, namely, eastern, western, southern, northern and Yuelu Districts and the streets were restored. In January 1962, the suburbs of Changsha City were restored. In January 1974, Yuelu District was quashed and its area was united into Western District. In September 1977, Wangcheng County was restored and Changsha County was divided into two counties of Changsha and Wangcheng. By the end of the year 1978, there had been 5 districts and 2 counties including 16 regions under the counties, 84 communes, 6 towns, 29 streets, 1132 production brigades and 308 citizens¡¯ committees. In February 1983, Liuyang, Ningxiang and Xiangyin had been united into the jurisdiction of Changsha City. In July 1995, Changsha quashed boroughs, united the villages into towns and had the jurisdiction of 5districts, 3 counties, 1 county-level city, 38 streets, 67 towns, 53 townships, 648 citizens¡¯ committees and 3091 villages. In 1996, it quashed suburbs and set up 5 districts of Furong, Tianxin , Yuelu, Kaifu and Yuhua. By the end of 2002, there had been 5 districts, 3 counties, 1 county-level city, 54 streets, 79 towns, 39 townships, 568 citizens¡¯ committees and 2727 villages. In 2003, under its jurisdiction were the 5 boroughs of Furong, Tianxin, Yuelu, Kaifu, Yuhua and the 3 counties of Changsha, Wangcheng, Ningxiang and 1 county-level city of Liuyang.
Historical Evolution
¡¡¡¡With a long history, there had been activities of hominid in the Changsha area since the Paleolith Era. In the Neolithic Era, gens and clans had come into being. In the Shang Dinasty(16th Century BC-11th Century BC), Changsha belonged to the area of Yangyue and was a branch of Baiyue tribe. Changsha was also named Xingsha. According to the ancient literature ¡°Zhouli¡¤Zhengzhu¡±, Chu was the area affiliated to Zhen Stars that include a little star named Changsha, by which reason, Changsha was named after it. The corresponding area affiliated to Lunsu Changsha Star of the 7-Su of Zhuque in the south was named Changsha, which was also the reason why Changsha had another beautiful name of Xingsha (Star City of Changsha). The earliest written history about Changsha was the book ¡°Yizhoushu¡¤Wanghuipian¡± in which there had been a recordation of the tribute named ¡®Changsha turtle¡¯ to the King of Zhou. And there are many other stories about the origin of Changsha¡¯s name including ¡®thousands¡¯ Li of ancestral temple of Sha¡¯, ¡®Changsha Continent¡¯, ¡®sha, ie. sand as long as rice¡¯, ¡®the land of sacrifice to goddess¡¯ and etc.
¡¡¡¡Since bordering on the west of Xiang River and on the east of Linxiang Mountain, the Jun Government of Changsha was ever set up in Xiang County in Qin Dynasty and it was renamed Linxiang County in Han Dynasty, which was the reason why Changsha had another name of Xiangcheng(Xiang City). Since the era of Xizhou, the name of Changsha had come into being and during the Warring States Period (475BC-221BC), Changsha was already a key town in the ducal State of Chu. Qin set Changsha as a Jun (equal to a county), Western Han reset Changsha as a state, Eastern Han restored Changsha as a Jun, and in the metaphase of Tang Dynasty, Changsha was named Tanzhou and became the location of Dao Government of Hunan (provincial level). In the 5 Dynasties and 10 States Period, Chu had jurisdiction of Hunan and set Changsha as the location of the state government. During the Ming Dynasty and Qing Dynasty, Changsha had a regionalism including 12 cantons and counties. In the year 1664(the 3rd year of Kangxi Emperor in Qing Dynasty), the governance of former Lianghu was separated into two governments of Hunan and Hubei and Changsha became the location of the government of Hunan Province. In Northern Song Dynasty, the southern part of Changsha County and the northern part of Xiangtan County were united into Shanhua County coexisting with Changsha County as the government location of Tanzhou. In Yuan Dynasty, Changsha was reset as Tanzhou Lu of Huguang Province and in the 5th year of Hongwu Emperor in Ming Dynasty, Tanzhou Lu was renamed as Changsha Government. In 1664, Pianyuan Xunfu moved its governance to Changsha and set up Hunan Buzheng Government in Changsha County. After the New Democratic Revolution in China, Changsha became capital of Hunan and in the year 1993, Changsha City had come into being. On August 5, 1949, Changsha was peacefully liberated and since the liberation, Changsha had all along been the capital city of Hunan province with jurisdiction of 8 districts. Since the year 2003 up to now, under its jurisdiction has been the 5 boroughs of Furong, Tianxin, Yuelu, Kaifu, Yuhua and the 3 counties of Changsha, Wangcheng, Ningxiang and 1 county-level city of Liuyang.
Tourist Resources
¡¡¡¡With a long-standing name of ¡®a famed prefecture of Mountains and Waters¡¯, Changsha boasts a picturesque landscape and graceful natural environment. With the west bank dominated by the green Yuelu Mountain, Orange Island and Moon Isle floating on it, 12 parks and many greenbelts dotted with the city, the Xiang River flows through the city from south to north and Liuyang River winds its way from east to west, turning it into a unique picture of a scenic area integrated with not only clean waters and tranquil mountains but also isles within the city. The ancient tombs of Han Dynasty, the wooden and bamboo slips of Three States Period, the Yuelu Academy, the Tianxin Tower, the Autumn-Admiring Pavilion, the Yuelu Mountain, the Orange Island and the etc., all dates back to the ancient star city of Changsha, containing profound cultural meaning for the development of local tourism. Out of the city proper , there are fancy Dawei Mountain National Forest Park and 10-mile-long Liuyang Lake Scenery Belt in the east, the famous Wei Mountain Range, Wei Waters and Huitang Hot Spring International Holiday Resort in the west, the picturesque Forest Arboretum and the tombs of celebrities Zeng Guofan and Zuo Zongtang in the south, as well as Changsha Wild Animals Park, the Shanyingtan Holiday Resort, the highest suburban Heimi Mountain and ten miles¡¯ Tongguan Town, the ancient Capital of Chinaware in the north. Such charming landscapes both within and out of the city make Changsha a famous beautiful city in Southern China. There are 6 categories of the tourist resources, namely, cultural sceneries, water spots, ecological sights, places of historical interests and architectures, leisure and shopping centers, which fall into 39 kinds and 544 spots. The Yuelu Mountain Beauty Spots, the Orange Island, the Yuelu Academy, the Huitang Hot Spring, the Han tombs of Mawangdui, and the 170 thousand wooden and bamboo slips of Three States Period, seem to be so unique. The Man-face Tripod, the big Bronze Cymbals and the Four-goat Square Jar are even rarer to be seen. In Chairman Mao¡¯s poet¡®Qinyuanchun¡¤Changsha¡¯, there are such lines that ¡®On the bank of Xiang River flowing to the north, I sit alone at the Orange Island, watching maple leaves dotted with the mountains turning red which make forest and trees more beautiful¡¡¯ is the very picture of the natural sight of Changsha.
¡¡¡¡The tourist provision and services have all round increased and scale of the tourist industries has been expanded. By now, there have been altogether 86 star-level hotels including 6 five-star hotels, 12 four-star hotels and 46 three-star hotels; there have been 158 travel agencies and 80 tourist spots including 1 state-level scenery place of interest, 2 state-level forest parks, 7 four-A-level tourist spots and 5 three-A-level ones. Besides there are over 300 passenger cars for tourists to use and the infrastructure and the related facilities for tourism become more and more perfect. Especially the Qingzhu Lake Golf Court and the Golden Eagle International Exhibition and Conference Center almost reach the highest level compared with other counterparts.
¡¡¡¡The transportation and communication for tourism in Changsha is convenient. It has formed a modern system of water, land and air transportation. Changsha Huanghua Airport is an international one which has 39 direct flights to Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hongkong, Bangkok and other metropolitans and areas. Since the expressways network of the whole province with Changsha as its core has been formed, and the state highways as No. 107 and 319, and the Beijing-Zhuhai Line crisscross the city, Changsha is ranked as one of the 45 main hub cities of highway transportation in China. Changsha is also an important hub city of railway transportation in China. The Beijing-Guangzhou Double Line runs through the city from south to north; Hunan-Guizhou Line, Zhejiang-Jiangxi Line and Changsha-Shimen Line connect east to west. With thousand-ton production capabilities, the first phase of the biggest inland hub port-Xianing New Port, has been finished its construction and launched into use. Its comprehensive telecommunication function ranks the 3rd among the national cities, and the telecommunication is available for people associated with the rest of the nation as well as over 180 countries and regions around the world. |
 |
|
locality£º
