Hunan's Spicy Capital — the Xiang River city where Chairman Mao was educated, the 2,000-year-old Han Dynasty Mawangdui tombs preserve the world's best-preserved pre-imperial mummy, and one of China's most vibrant snack cultures centres on stinky tofu, chilli, and night-market street food
Changsha is the capital of Hunan Province — a fast-modernising river city on the Xiang River with deep historical ties to the communist revolution (Mao Zedong studied and worked here from 1913 to 1925) and a food culture built around the fiery Hunanese cuisine that influenced Chairman Mao's own tastes. The Hunan Provincial Museum is one of China's finest — its centrepiece is the Mawangdui Han Dynasty Tombs collection, including the 2,000-year-old remarkably preserved body of Lady Dai (Xin Zhui), a Han Dynasty noblewoman whose corpse was found in 1971 in such perfect condition that her interna…
Changsha's recorded history begins with the Spring and Autumn Period (8th–5th centuries BCE) when it was an important trading post in the Chu Kingdom — one of the major Warring States period powers. The area's importance to the Chu state is attested by the concentration of ancient burial sites in the region; the Mawangdui tombs (168 BCE) are the most significant. During the Han Dynasty, Changsha became the administrative capital of the Changsha Kingdom (a vassal state). The city was an important centre for intellectual life throughout the imperial period: the Yuelu Academy (founded 976 CE, So…