Sights in Chángshā
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A
Hunan Provincial Museum
This first-rate museum should not be missed for its fascinating exhibits from the 2100-year-old Western Han tombs of Mǎwángduī, some 5km east of the city.
But the highlight is the body of the Marquess of Dai, extracted from her magnificent multilayered lacquered coffin after 2100 years. Due to the air-tight sealing and 80 litres of preserving fluid, her body is marvellously well pickled. The mummy wears a horrified expression - perhaps aghast at her exposure to hordes of tour groups, bright lights and the surgery she underwent at the hands of modern doctors who dissected her to remove her internal organs.
A further hall is devoted to marvellous Shang- and Zhou-dynasty b…
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B
Changsha City Museum
A colossal 1968 statue of Mao - cast in Hēilóngjiāng from an aluminium-magnesium alloy - affably greets you at the entrance to this museum. Compare his carriage - right arm raised aloft, heralding a new dawn - with that of his more demure statue in Sháoshān from the 1990s, when the reform drive had long kicked in and Mao was a demigod no more.
Head right towards the almost empty exhibition hall with the huge red-tiled façade and a huge portrait of a youthful Mao, if only to gawp at its magnificent exterior. Upstairs, visitors are serenaded by a Chinese-language paeon to Mao Zedong and his second wife, Yang Kaihui.
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C
Hunan No 1 Teachers' Training School
Hunan No 1 Teachers' Training School is where Mao attended classes between 1913 and 1918; he returned as a teacher and principal from 1920 to 1922. A fun self-guided tour takes in Mao's dormitory, study areas, halls where he held some of his first political meetings and an open-air well where he enjoyed taking cold baths.
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Hunan CPC Committee
It is the former site of Mao's living quarters and includes photos and historical items from the 1920s, along with a wall where Mao's poems are on view. A small and fun antiques market materialises at the museum gate on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
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D
Yuelu Academy
Hunan University (Húnán Dàxué) evolved from the site of the Yuelu Academy, which was established during the Song dynasty for scholars to prepare for civil examinations.
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E
Yuelu Park
This park (yuèlù gōngyuán), at the bottom of the High Mountain Park, is one of Changsha's most historic spots and is a pleasant place to visit.
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F
Tiānxīn Gé
The only remaining part of the old city walls is Tiānxīn Gé, off Chengnan Xilu, which is an interesting area to explore.
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