Product Code Database
Changsha is the capital of Hunan, China. It is the 15th most populous city in China with a population of 10,513,100, the third-most populous city in Central China, and the most livable city in China, located in the lower reaches of the Xiang River in northeastern Hunan.
The city forms a part of the Changzhutan along with Zhuzhou and Xiangtan, also known as the Changzhutan City Cluster. Greater Changsha was named one of the 13 emerging mega-cities in China in 2012 by the Economist Intelligence Unit. It is also a National Comprehensive Transportation Hub, "State Council on the issuance of the "Thirteenth Five-Year Plan" modern comprehensive transport system development plan" State Council, State Development 2017 No. 11 and one of the first National Famous Historical and Cultural Cities in China. Changshanese, a kind of Xiang Chinese, is spoken in the downtown area, while Ningxiangnese and Liuyangnese are also spoken in the counties and cities under its jurisdiction.Institute of Linguistics, CASS. Language atlas of China. The Commercial Press. Beijing. December, 2012. As of the 2020 Chinese census, the prefecture-level city of Changsha had a population of 10,047,914 inhabitants.
Changsha has a history of more than 2,400 years of urban construction,Changsha Municipal Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology. Archaeological Discoveries and Studies of Ancient City Sites in Changsha. Hunan Yuelu Publishing House. 1 December 2016. and the name "Changsha" first appeared in the Yi Zhou Shu written in the pre-Qin era. Yi Zhou Shu·Wang Hui :"长沙鳖，其西，鱼复鼓钟钟牛" In the Qin dynasty, the Changsha Commandery was set up, and in the Western Han dynasty, the Changsha Kingdom was established. The Tongguan Kiln in Changsha during the Tang dynasty produced the world's earliest Underglaze, which was exported to Western Asia, Africa and Europe.Wang Xiga. The History of Changsha. Social Science Literature Press. December, 2014. In the period of the Five Dynasties, Changsha was the capital of Ma Chu. In the Northern Song dynasty, the Yuelu Academy (later Hunan University) was one of the four major private academies over the last 1000 years.Fan Chengda (1126-1193). Shigushanji(石鼓山记)："天下有书院四：徂徕、金山、岳麓、石鼓。" In the late Qing dynasty, Changsha was one of the four major trade cities for rice and tea in China.Institute of Changsha Culture, Changsha University. The prosperity of commerce in ancient Changsha and its causes (below) Journal of Changsha University. 2011 No. 1. In 1904, it was opened to foreign trade, and gradually became a revolutionary city. In Changsha, Tan Sitong established the School of Current Affairs, Huang Xing founded the Huaxinghui with the slogan "Expel the Tatar barbarians and revive Zhonghua" (驱除鞑虏，复兴中华), and Mao Zedong also carried out his early political movements here. During the Republican Era, Changsha became one of the major home fronts in the Second Sino-Japanese War, but the subsequent Wenxi Fire in 1938 and the three Battles of Changsha from 1939 to 1942 (1939, 1941 and 1941–42) hit Changsha's economy and urban construction hard.Lei Jing (2008). "A Study of the Modernization Process in Changsha 1800-1949". Xiangtan University, 2008.
Changsha is now one of the core cities in the Yangtze Economic Belt and the Belt and Road Initiative, "Strategy Basics - Yangtze River Economic Belt" Office of the Leading Group for Promoting the Development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt. 13 July 2019. a Beta- (global second-tier) city by the GaWC, a new Chinese first-tier city and also a pioneering area for China-Africa economic and trade cooperation. "Hunan: Building an pioneering zone for in-depth China-Africa economic and trade cooperation" Forum on China-Africa Cooperation. 19 January 2021. Known as the "Construction machinery capital of the world", Changsha has an industrial chain with construction machinery and new materials as the main industries, complemented by automobiles, electronic information, household appliances, and biomedicine. "Study on industrial restructuring and upgrading in Changsha" Bureau of Statistics of Changsha. 16 Oct. 2017. "Changsha: "Capital of Construction Machinery" explores world coordinates" Xinhuanet. 20 May 2019. Since the 1990s, Changsha has begun to accelerate economic development, and then achieved the highest growth rate among China's major cities during the 2000s.Zhang Huaizhong. "Changsha's GDP grows 460% in 10 years, leading the country in growth" People's Daily Online Finance. 22 August 2016. The Xiangjiang New Area, the first state-level new area in Central China, was established in 2015. "Central China's First State-Level New Area Xiangjiang New District Officially Launched" Ifeng Finance. 24 May 2015. As of 2023, more than 180 Global 500 companies have established branches in Changsha. The city has the 22nd largest number of skyscrapers in the world. The Human Development Index of Changsha reached 0.817 (very high) in 2016, which is roughly comparable to a moderately developed country.
As of 2023, Changsha hosted 59 institutions of higher education, ranking 8th nationwide among all cities in China. The city houses four Double First-Class Universities of Hunan University, National Defense Technology, Central South, and Hunan Normal. It is a major center of research and innovation in the Asia-Pacific with a high level of Nature Index, ranking 23rd globally in 2024. Changsha is the birthplace of Hybrid rice, the Tianhe-1 supercomputer, China's first laser 3D printer,Municipal Local Records Editorial Office. "Changsha City Profile" Official website of Changsha, China. 13 April 2021. and China's first domestic medium-low speed maglev line. "Medium-Low Speed Maglev in Changsha" CRRC ZELC EUROPE. Changsha has been named the first "UNESCO City of Media Arts" in China. The city is home to the Hunan Broadcasting System (HBS), the most influential provincial TV station in China. "TV ratings rankings 2009-2017 Hunan TV No. 1 for the ninth consecutive year" tvtv.hk. 14 January 2018. "2020 "TV Landmark" and "Voice of the Times" List Released" Xinhuanet. 7 December 2017.
Later Chinese legends related that the Yan Emperor and visited the area. Sima Qian's history states that the Yellow Emperor granted his eldest son Shaohao the lands of Changsha and its neighbors. During the Spring and Autumn period (8th5th centuryBC), the Baiyue spread into the area around Changsha. During the succeeding Warring States period, Chu took control of Changsha. Its capital, Qingyang, became an important southern outpost of the kingdom. In 1951–57 archaeologists explored numerous large and medium-sized Chu tombs from the Warring States Era. More than 3,000 tombs have been discovered. Under the Qin dynasty , Changsha was a staging post for expeditions south into Guangdong that led to its conquest and the establishment of the Nanyue kingdom.
Under the Han dynasty Linxiang was the capital of the kingdom of Changsha. At first this was a client state held by Liu Bang's Baiyue ally Wu Rui that served as a means of controlling the restive Chu people and as a buffer state against Nanyue. By Linxiang had city walls to protect it against uprisings and invasions. The famous Mawangdui tombs were constructed between 186 and Xin Zhui was buried in the earliest tomb and, during its excavation in the 1970s, was found to have been very well preserved. More importantly, the tombs included the earliest surviving copies of the Tao Te Ching and other important literary and historical documents.
When Wu Rui's descendant Wu Zhu Wú Zhù) died childless in , the kingdom was granted to a cadet branch of the imperial family as their fief. The kingdom was abolished under Wang Mang's short-lived Xin dynasty and briefly revived by the Eastern Han. In its prince was demoted and the area administered as and Changsha Commandery.
The Three Kingdoms state of Wu ruled Changsha for several decades, a period whose administration is well known because its documents have been excavated. Following the turmoil of the Three Kingdoms, Emperor Wu of Jin granted Changsha to his sixth son Sima Ai. The local government had over 100 counties at the beginning of the dynasty. Over the course of the dynasty, the local government of Changsha lost control over a few counties, leaving them to local rule.
The Sui dynasty dynasty (6th century) renamed Xiangzhou to Changsha Tan Prefecture or Tanzhou. It was named after Zhaotan in the ninth year of Emperor Kaihuang (589 A.D.) of the Sui dynasty, and the Tanzhou General Manager was established. During the reign of Emperor Yang of the Sui dynasty, Tanzhou was abolished, and Changsha County, a first-level administrative unit, was established, but the jurisdiction area was reduced. Changsha's 3-tier administration was simplified to a 2-tier state and county system, eliminating the middle canton region. Under the Tang dynasty, Changsha prospered as a center of trade between central China and Southeast Asia but suffered during the Anshi Rebellion, when it fell to the rebels.
In early 10th century, Changsha served as the capital of the state of Ma Chu (南楚), or Southern Chu, established by Ma Yin (马殷) in 907, one of the ten southern war loads. Nanchu, lasted about 50 years, was the only independent state in the history that has ever been built in Hunan with Changsha as the capital, being eventually overthrown by Nantang (南唐) in 951.
Under the Song dynasty, the Yuelu Academy was founded in 976. It was destroyed by war in 1127 and rebuilt in 1165, during which year the celebrated philosopher Zhu Xi taught there. It was again destroyed by the Mongols during the establishment of the Yuan dynasty before being restored in the late 15th century under the Ming dynasty. Early 19th-century graduates of the academy formed what one historian called a "network of messianic alumni", including Zeng Guofan, architect of the Tongzhi Restoration,William T. Rowe. China's Last Empire: The Great Qing. (Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, History of Imperial China, 2009; ), p. 162-163 and Cai E, a major leader in the defense of the Republic of China.Daniel McMahon, "The Yuelu Academy and Hunan's Nineteenth-Century Turn toward Statecraft", Late Imperial China 26.1 (2005): 72–109 Project MUSE . In 1903 the academy became Hunan High School. Modern-day Hunan University is also a descendant of the Yuelu Academy. Some of its buildings were remodeled from 1981 to 1986 according to their presumed original Song design.
During the Mongolian Empire conquest of the Southern Song, Tanzhou was fiercely defended by the local Song troops. After the city finally fell, the defenders committed mass suicide. Under the Ming dynasty (14th–17th centuries), Tanzhou was again renamed Changsha and made a superior prefecture.
The 1903 Treaty of Shanghai between the Qing and Imperial Japan empires opened the city to foreign trade effective 1904. Most favored nation clauses in other unequal treaties extended the Japanese gains to the Western powers as well. Consequently, international capital entered the town and factories, churches, and schools were built. A college was started by Yale University alumni, which later became a medical centre named Xiangya and a secondary school named the Yali School.
Following the Xinhai Revolution, further development followed the opening of the railway to Hankou District in Hubei province in 1918, which was later extended to Guangzhou in Guangdong Province in 1936. Although Changsha's population grew, the city remained primarily commercial in character. Before 1937, it had little industry apart from some small cotton-textile, glass, and nonferrous-metal plants and handicraft enterprises.
Mao Zedong, the founder of the China, began his political career in Changsha. He was a student at the Hunan Number 1 Teachers' Training School from 1913 to 1918. He later returned as a teacher and principal from 1920 to 1922. The school was destroyed during the Chinese Civil War but has since been restored. The former office of the Hunan Communist Party Central Committee where Mao Zedong once lived is now a museum that includes Mao's living quarters, photographs and other historical items from the 1920s.
Until May 1927, communist support remained strong in Changsha before the massacre carried out by the right-wing faction of the KMT troops. The faction owed its allegiance to Chiang Kai-shek during its offensive against the KMT's left-wing faction under Wang Jingwei, who was then allied closely with the Communists. The purge of communists and suspected communists was part of Chiang's plans for consolidating his hold over the KMT, weakening Wang's control, and thereby over the entire China. In a period of twenty days, Chiang's forces killed more than ten thousand people in Changsha and its outskirts.
During the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–45), Changsha's strategic location made it the focus of four campaigns by the Imperial Japanese Army to capture it from the Nationalist Army: these campaigns were the 1st Changsha,Van De Ven, Hans J., War and Nationalism in China, 1925–1945, pg. 237. the 2nd Changsha, the 3rd Changsha, and the 4th Changsha. The city was able to repulse the first three attacks thanks to Xue Yue's leadership, but ultimately fell into Japanese hands in 1944 for a year until the Japanese were defeated in a counterattack and forced to surrender. Before these Japanese campaigns, the city was already virtually destroyed by the 1938 Changsha Fire, a deliberate fire ordered by Kuomintang commanders who mistakenly feared the city was about to fall to the Japanese; Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek had suggested that the city be burned so that the Japanese force would gain nothing after entering it.
Following the Communist victory in the Chinese Civil War, Changsha slowly recovered from its former damage. Since Deng Xiaoping's Reform and Opening Up Policy, Changsha has rapidly developed since the 1990s, becoming one of the important cities in the central and western regions. At the end of 2007, Changsha, Zhuzhou, and Xiangtan received approval from the State Council for the "Chang-Zhu-Tan (Greater Changsha) Resource-Saving and Environment-Friendly Society Comprehensive Reform Pilot Area", an important engine in the Rise of Central China plan. In 2015, Xiangjiang New Area was approved as a national new area.
The Xiang River is the main river in the city, running northward through the territory. 15 tributaries flow into the Xiang, of which the Liuyang River, Laodao River, Jinjiang and Wei are the four largest. The Xiang divides the city into two parts. The eastern part is mainly commercial and the west is mainly cultural and educational. On 10 October 2001, the seat of Changsha City was transferred from Fanzheng Street to Guanshaling. Since then, the economy of both sides of the Xiang River has achieved a balanced development. sina.com (2013-5-8) china-zjj
| |||||
| Furong District | 芙蓉区 | 523,730 | 42 | 12,470 | |
| Tianxin District | 天心区 | 475,663 | 74 | 6,428 | |
| Yuelu District | 岳麓区 | 801,861 | 552 | 1,453 | |
| Kaifu District | 开福区 | 567,373 | 187 | 3,034 | |
| Yuhua District | 雨花区 | 725,353 | 114 | 6,363 | |
| Wangcheng District | 望城区 | 523,489 | 970 | 540 | |
| Liuyang | 浏阳市 | 1,278,928 | 4,999 | 256 | |
| Ningxiang | 宁乡市 | 1,168,056 | 2,906 | 402 | |
| Changsha County | 长沙县 | 979,665 | 1,997 | 491 | |
In 2013, the financial news portal Yicai.com published its first edition of a list of ranking cities in China, with Changsha being included as one of 15 new first-tier cities. In 2017, Changsha made its way into the 1-trillion-yuan GDP club, becoming the 13th city in China with a GDP of one trillion yuan (154 billion US dollars). As of 2020, more than 164 Global 500 companies have established branches in Changsha. The Rise of Central China is Gaining Momentum - Hunan Chapter-Changsha: Endless Innovation to Create a New High Ground for Business Environment CNR News. 23 Sep 2020. As a new first-tier city, Changsha was rated #10 nationwide in terms of its commercial worth in 2022.
As of 2021, Changsha's GDP exceeded RMB 1.327 trillion (US$208 billion in Nominal GDP and US$318 billion in PPP), making it the 5th most wealthy city in the South-Central China region after Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, and Wuhan and the 2nd richest city in the Central China region after Wuhan. Changsha's GDP (nominal) was US$208 billion in 2021, exceeding that of Ukraine and Hungary, with GDPs of US$200 billion and US$182 billion, the 22nd and 23rd largest economies in Europe respectively. Changsha has also led the development of the night economy and as of 2021, it ranked 2nd nationwide after Chongqing in terms of nighttime economic power according to the "China City Night Economy Impact Report 2021-2022".
According to the Hurun Global Rich List, Changsha ranked among the top 35 cities globally as of 2022, and as of 2024, it ranked first in the Central China region and 9th in Greater China (after Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Hong Kong, Hangzhou, Taipei, Guangzhou, and Ningbo) in terms of resident billionaires.
Changsha's nominal GDP is projected to be among the world's top 50 largest cities according to a study by Oxford Economics in 2035 and its nominal GDP per capita will reach US$41,000 in 2030.
The Liuyang ETZ is a national biological industry base created on 10 January 1998, located in Dongyang Town. Its pillar industry comprises Biomedicine, Information technology and Health food. , It has more than 700 registered enterprises. The total industrial output value of the zone hits 85.6 billion yuan (US$13.7 billion) and its business income is 100.2 billion yuan (US$16.1 billion).About Liuyang ETZ: letz.gov.cn Its builtup area covers .
The city has its own siu yeh culture.
In May 2008, the BBC broadcast, as part of its Storyville documentary series, the four-part The Biggest Chinese Restaurant in the World, which explored the inner workings of the 5,000-seating-capacity West Lake Restaurant ( Xihu Lou Jiujia) in Changsha.
During the Warring States period, Qu Yuan, a great patriotic poet, recorded many dishes in Hunan in his famous poem "The Soul"(招魂). During the Western Han dynasty, there were 109 varieties of dishes in Hunan, and there were nine categories of cooking methods. After the Six Dynasties, Hunan's food culture was rich and active. The Ming and Qing dynasties are the golden age for the development of Hunan cuisine. The unique style of Hunan cuisine is basically a foregone conclusion. At the end of the Qing dynasty, there were two kinds of Hunan cuisine restaurants in Changsha. In the early years of the Republic of China, the famous Dai (Yang Ming) School, Sheng (Shan Zhai) School, Xiao (Lu Song) School, and Zuyu School appeared in various genres, which laid the historical status of Hunan cuisine. Since the founding of New China, especially since the reform and opening up, it has been better developed.
Mawangdui is a well-known tomb located east of Changsha.Buck, David D., 1975, Three Han Dynasty Tombs at Ma-Wang-Tui. World Archaeology, 7(1): 30–45.Lee, Sherman E., 1994, A History of Far Eastern Art, Fifth edition, Prentice Hall It was discovered with numerous artifacts from the Han dynasty. Numerous Silk Funeral banners surround the tomb, along with a wealth of classical texts.Hsu, Mei-Ling, 1978, The Han Maps and Early Chinese Cartography. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 68(1): 45–60 The tomb of Xin Zhui lies in Mawangdui is well known due to its well-preserved state: scientists were able to detect blood, conduct an autopsy and determined that she died of heart disease due to a poor diet.Harper, Don, 1998, Early Chinese Medical Literature: The Mawangdui Medical Manuscripts, Kegan Paul International
Changsha is a sister city with St. Paul, Minnesota. St. Paul is developing a China garden at Phalen Park, based on the design of architects from Changsha. Phalen Regional Park China Garden Current plans include a pavilion replicating one in Changsha, while in return St. Paul will send the city five statues of the Peanuts characters. They will be placed in Phalen's sister park, Yanghu Wetlands. St. Paul Chinese garden getting pavilion gift from sister city
Changsha is a major city for research and innovation in Central China, as well as in the Asia-Pacific region. It ranked 23rd globally, 15th in the Asia & Oceania region, 13th in China, 5th in the South Central region after (Guangzhou, Wuhan, Hong Kong and Shenzhen), and 2nd in the Central China region after Wuhan by scientific research outputs, as tracked by the Nature Index 2024 Science Cities.
Changsha was also ranked 32nd globally and 3rd in the South Central region after (Shenzhen–Hong Kong–Guangzhou and Wuhan) in the "Top 100 Science & Technology Cluster Cities" rankings based on "publishing and patent performance" released by the Global Innovation Index 2024.
As of 2020, Changsha ranked 8th in the top 10 China's innovation-oriented cities, and 6th (behind Shenzhen, Hangzhou, Shanghai, Chengdu and Beijing) in the Top 10 China's most attractive cities for talent, according to the 21st Century Business Herald report. Changsha has held the title "China's Leading Smart City" since 2021. As of 2021, Changsha had 97 independent scientific research institutions, 14 national engineering and technology research centers, 15 national key engineering and technology laboratories, and 12 national enterprise technology centers.
As of June 2023, Changsha hosts 59 institutions of higher education (excluding adult colleges), ranking 8th nationwide and 4th among all cities in the South Central China region after Guangzhou, Wuhan and Zhengzhou. Changsha ranked among the top 10 cities in the whole country and among the top three cities in South Central China region with strong education based on an evaluation of Chinese universities' discipline levels, including A+, A, and A− issued by the Ministry of Education as of 2020.]]
National key public universities
There are three Project 985 universities in Changsha: Central South University, Hunan University, and the National University of Defense Technology, the third highest among all cities in China after Beijing and Shanghai. Hunan Normal University is the key construction university of the national 211 Project. These four national key universities are Double First-Class Construction. Changsha, the provincial capital of Hunan Province, is home to a significant number of top-tier educational institutions. Specifically, among the twelve universities in Hunan Province included in the 2022 U.S. News & World Report Best Global University Ranking, eight are based in Changsha, accounting for almost two-thirds of the total. This concentration of highly ranked universities further solidifies Changsha's status as a prominent hub for higher education within the province.
Hunan University and Central South University are included in the world's top 300 in several global university-rankings, including the Academic Ranking of World Universities, the U.S. News & World Report Best Global University Ranking, the CWTS Leiden Ranking and the Center for World University Rankings,. As of 2024, these two universities are placed among the world's top 50 universities ranked by the Nature Index.
Hunan Normal University and the National University of Defense and Technology were ranked in the world's top 501-600 of the Academic Ranking of World Universities.
Provincial key public universities
Changsha University of Science and Technology and Hunan Agricultural University were ranked in the world's top 701 and 801 respectively of the Academic Ranking of World Universities. Central South University of Forestry and Technology was ranked # 1429 in the 2022 Best Global Universities by the U.S. News & World Report Best Global University Ranking. Hunan University of Chinese Medicine was ranked the best in the Central China and 26th nationwide among Chinese medical universities, and ranked #1854 globally in the 2023 Best Global Universities by the U.S. News & World Report Best Global University Ranking. Hunan University of Technology and Business was ranked # 2341 in the world by the University Ranking by Academic Performance 2022–2023.
General undergraduate universities (private)
Note: Institutions without full-time bachelor programs are not listed.
The city's public transportation system consists of an extensive bus network with over 100 lines. Changsha Metro is the city’s 6-line network. Metro Line 2, the first line, opened on 29 April 2014 and 20 stations for Line 2 opened on 28 June 2016. Line 3 runs southwest–northeast and is long, Line 4 northwest-southeast and long. Changsha Maglev running between Changsha South station and Changsha airport opened in April 2016, with a construction cost of €400m. Changsha to Construct Maglev Train , 2014-01-09 Connecting Changsha with Zhuzhou and Xiangtan, Changzhutan Intercity Rail opened on 26 December 2016.
The G4, G4E, G4W2, G5513 and G0401 of National Expressways, G107, G106 and G319 of National Highways, S20, S21, S40, S41, S50, S60 and S71 of Hunan provincial Expressways, connect the Changsha metro area nationally. There are three main bus terminals in Changsha: the South Station, East Station and West Station, dispatching long- and short-haul trips to cities within and outside the province of Hunan. Changsha is surrounded by major rivers, including the Xiang River (湘江) and its tributaries such as the Liuyang River, Jin, Wei, Longwanggang and Laodao River. Ships mainly transport goods from Xianing port in North Changsha domestically and internationally.
Changsha Railway Station is in the city center and provides express and regular services to most Chinese cities via the Beijing–Guangzhou and Shimen–Changsha Railways. The Changsha South Railway Station is a new high-speed railway station in Yuhua district on the Beijing–Guangzhou High-Speed Railway (as part of the planned Beijing–Guangzhou–Shenzhen–Hong Kong High-Speed Railway). The station, with eight platforms, opened on 26 December 2009. Since then passenger volume has increased greatly. The Hangzhou-Changsha-Huaihua sector of the Shanghai-Changsha-Kunming high-speed railway entered service in 2014.
Changsha Huanghua International Airport is a regional hub for China Southern Airlines. The airport has daily flights to major cities in China, including Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, as well as Hong Kong and Macau. Other major airlines also provide daily service between Changsha and other domestic and international destinations. The airport provides direct flights to 45 major international cities, including Taipei, Los Angeles, Singapore, Seoul, Pusan, Osaka, Tokyo, Kuala Lumpur, London (Heathrow Airport), Frankfurt and Sydney. the airport handled 70,011 people daily. Due to the global effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, Changsha Huanghua International Airport was the 34th busiest airport in the world in 2020, making its debut in the world's top 50 busiest airports for the first time.
Changsha is Sister city with:
|
|
