Things to do in Húnán
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Húnán Provincial Museum
Not to be missed, this first-rate museum has fascinating exhibits from the 2100-year-old Western Han tombs of Mǎwángduī, some 5km east of the city.
The items on show allow you to get a rare handle on Western Han aesthetics – check out the astonishing expressions on the faces of some of the wooden figurines. Also excavated are more than 700 pieces of lacquerware, Han silk textiles and ancient manuscripts on silk and bamboo wooden slips, including one of the earlier versions of the Zhōuyì (Yìjīng, also called I Ching), written in formalised Han clerical script.
But the highlight is the body of the Marquess of Dai, extracted from her magnificent multilayered lacquered…
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Chángshā City Museum
A colossal 1968 statue of Mao – cast out of an aluminium-magnesium alloy in Hēilóngjiāng – affably greets you at the entrance to the museum's pleasant grounds. Compare his carriage – right arm raised aloft, heralding a new dawn – with that of his more demure statue erected in Sháoshān in 1993, when the reform drive had long kicked in and Mao was a demigod no more.
The statue is the first clue that this hammer and sickle–decorated museum is essentially a shrine to Chángshā's most famous adopted son, despite the paintings, ceramics and jade on display here. Check out the huge portrait of the young Mao, with shafts of light emanating from his head, which hangs o…
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Huǒgōngdiàn (Wuyi Dadao)
Perhaps famous for its stinky dòufu (tofu; as Mao said: 'The stinky dòufu at Chángshā's Huǒgōngdiàn smells stinky, but tastes great') but there's much else here, from tasty dim sum wheeled round in carts to the excellent máoshì hóngshāoròu (毛氏红烧肉; Mao-style braised pork) and its scrummy pale green vegetable parcels, xiāngjiān sùcàibāo (香煎素菜包). There are three branches in town.
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Húnán No 1 Teachers' Training School
Mao attended classes here between 1913 and 1918; he returned to teach Chinese from 1920 to 1922. It's still a working college and if you're lucky a student keen to practise their English will show you around the place, including Mao's dormitory, his old classrooms, halls where he held some of his first political meetings and an open-air well where he enjoyed taking cold baths. Otherwise, there are a few English captions. Take bus 1 from the train station.
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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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Huǒgōngdiàn
There's a great buzz at this landmark Chángshā restaurant – Mao was a fan of its stinky dòufu (tofu). A huge selection of steaming dim sum–style dishes are wheeled around by ladies who like to tempt foreigners into trying such delights as chicken feet. Make sure to order the excellent máoshì hóngshāoròu (毛氏红烧肉; Mao-style braised pork; Y48) off the menu. There's a less atmospheric branch near the train station at 93 Wuyi Dadao (call (8412 0580).
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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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Xīnhuá Lóu
This long-time favourite is a can't-miss option for local dishes; harried middle-aged ladies wheel around trolleys of cold and hot dishes for patrons to pick and choose. It also does great noodles (from Y7). Another branch is across the way at 108 Wuyi Dadao.
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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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Tiānxīn Gé
The only remaining part of the old city walls is a popular place to escape the summer heat. It's off Chengnan Xilu. Catch bus 212 from the train station.
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Yùquánxī Scenic Area
Cross the bridge over the river to visit this 2.6km-long scenic area, where you follow a path along a valley by the Yùquán Stream, past haystacks (consisting of stout wooden poles sunk into the ground onto which are tossed clumps of hay) and gorgeous belts of layered terraced fields. Walk along the valley for a good 1.5km before the path ducks into a small gorge, where you will traverse the river at several points, and continue on into a thick profusion of green. Cross the Jade Fountain Gate (玉泉门; Yùquán Mén) and follow the path to the waterfall, which spills down in a single thread of water. If you have the energy, climb the steps up to the Tiānwèn Platform …
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Yang Family Ancestral Hall
Further along the wall is this building, its exterior still decorated with Maoist slogans from the Cultural Revolution.
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Wǔlíngyuán
There are two principal access points to Wǔlíngyuán. Zhāngjiājiè village (张家界村; Zhāngjiājiè cūn), the site of the south entrance, is the more appealing option, situated nearly 600m above sea level in the Wǔlíng foothills, surrounded by sheer cliffs and vertical rock outcrops. It's technically known as the Zhāngjiājiè National Park Entrance (张家界公园门票站; Zhāngjiājiè Gōngyuán Ménpiàozhàn), but the locals mostly refer to it as simply Forest Park (森林公园; Sēnlín Gōngyuán).
From the east, you can use the Wǔlíngyuán Entrance (武陵源门票站; Wǔlíngyuán Ménpiàozhàn), east of Suǒxī Lake (索溪湖; Suǒxī Hú). In the north of Wǔlíngyuán is…
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Tian Family Ancestral Temple
Currently shut, this temple is a portrait of Fènghuáng in neglect: it's overgrown with weeds.
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Three Kings Temple
A welcome respite from the crowds and good views over town await at this temple, up a steep flight of steps off Jianshe Lu.
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Sun River Dumpling Restaurant
Need a break from chewing chillis? If so, then try this big, bustling place that specialises in the far less fiery cuisine of northern China. Dumplings (jiǎozi) are the house speciality, and there are seemingly endless varieties, including vegie options, on offer. The picture menu has many other dishes to choose from too.
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Southern Great Wall
This Ming-dynasty construction is 13km outside town – reach it by bus (Y5) from Fènghuáng – but it doesn't compare with the bastion that fortified north China.
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Soul Too
An upmarket cafe serving a wide variety of proper coffee (from Y25), as well as good pizza (from Y45), pasta and tempting chocolate cake, Soul Too makes for a nice pit stop away from the tour-group madness. It's not cheap, but then there aren't many places in Fènghuáng with an extensive list of foreign wines and a choice of Cuban cigars
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Sháo Peak
This cone-shaped mountain is visible from the village. The summit has a lookout pavilion, and the forest of stelae' on the lower slopes has stone tablets engraved with Mao's poems. From Sháoshān village you can take a minibus or motorcycle taxi (Y5) south to the end of the road at the cable-car station. Hiking to the top of the mountain takes about an hour.
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Queen of Heaven Temple
Off Dongzheng Jie, this simple temple is dedicated to the patron deity of seafarers.
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Pǔguāng Temple
Within Zhāngjiājiè city, this temple is a well-preserved historic Buddhist shrine.
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Nine Dragon Stream Scenic Area
This beautiful area winds along a stream out of the village, past Miao peasants labouring in the terraced fields, over bridges, alongside fields croaking with toads or seething with tadpoles (depending on the season), and into an astonishing landscape of peaks blotched with green and valleys carpeted with lush fields. At a bend in the path you will come to a point of entry for the Nine Dragon Waterfall, which leads to a fun 1.5km clamber past gullies and falls; however, if the weather is wet (when the falls are at their best), the climb is slippery and potentially dangerous, especially the slimy bridges. Continue to the end of the trail for the fantastic Liúshā Waterfall…
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