Changsha

Changsha, city in southern China, the capital of Hunan Province, a busy port on the Xiang River. Changsha is the industrial, transport, and cultural centre of a rich agricultural region. Factories here produce machine tools, aluminium, processed food (especially rice), chemicals, electronic equipment, and embroidered textiles. Changsha is associated with (and has many monuments to) the early career of Mao Zedong, who was born in nearby Shaoshan and spent most of the period from 1913 to 1921 here. In the city are Hunan University and the Changsha Museum, whose holdings include famous artefacts from a Western Han dynasty (206 bc-ad 8) tomb in nearby Mawangdui.

Founded in the 3rd century bc, the city was originally called Qingyang. As Tanchow, it became the capital of the later Zhou state (ad 951-960), and as Changsha it was a leading commercial and cultural centre during the Song dynasty (960-1279). It was made the capital of Hunan in 1664 and was finally opened to foreign trade in 1904. Severely damaged during the Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945), the city grew as an industrial centre after 1949. Population 1,775,000 (2000 estimate).