Changsha is the capital city of Hunan province. The city owes its prosperity and wealth largely to its location on the fertile Hunan plains on the Xiangjiang River, a region that is becoming China's most important grain producing regions.

Changsha also has a rich history: the city has been inhabited for 3000 years, and by the recordable Warring States Period (Zhan4 Guo2 Shi2 Qi1; 453-221 BC), the city had already grown up to large size.

Most part of the city is between Xiangjiang River (to the west) and Jing-guang Railway/Changsha Railway Station (to the far east of the city). The major street, Wuyi (May 1st) Road leads away from the station to the river and sparate the city into north and south.

Across the Xiangjiang is the Yuelu Park where Loving Dusk Pavilion (Ai4 Wan3 Tin2) is located. This is the spot where the youthful Mao Zedong wrote a poem in the 1920s depicting an "all-red" China, as the view from the top of the Yuelu Mountain down to Xiangjiang River in late fall.