This is the third article I’ve written about Changsha after my recent trip to the city.
It’s rare for me to dedicate three consecutive articles to a single city, which speaks volumes about my fondness for Changsha.
In fact, there will be a fourth article. This city is simply perfect for a short getaway. Everything from dining to entertainment is conveniently located, making it a pleasure to explore and indulge in the fiery flavors of the local cuisine.
Today, I’ll provide a comprehensive guide to Changsha, aiming to cover as much as possible in the hopes of assisting you in planning your trip.
Initially, I had only three reasons for visiting Changsha: to drink tea at Cha Yan Yue Se, to savor the crayfish at Wen He You, and to pay a visit to the statue of Chairman Mao at Orange Island.
However, the more I researched, the more intrigued I became by this fascinating city.
Changsha’s enchanting qualities rival those of Chongqing.
The city boasts a hospital called Wangwang Hospital, where you’ll find slogans wishing you “robust health” everywhere. Rumor has it that the hospital even sells Wangwang gift packages at prices lower than outside.
Changsha’s Martyr’s Park is a renowned spot for matchmaking.
At Changsha’s Kaifu Temple, even the vegetarian dishes are spicy.
The aunties who sell stinky tofu during the day transform into famous nightclub DJs in the evening. These 60-something-year-old ladies know how to party harder than the younger crowd.
So, my initial plan of a 3-day, 2-night trip focused on food and sightseeing evolved into a 4-day, 3-night in-depth exploration, and I ended up extending my stay by an extra day.
This city has a strong sense of community and warmth. Once you arrive, you won’t want to leave, and after you leave, you’ll yearn to return.
Getting to Changsha is convenient
Changsha is a city well-connected by high-speed intercity trains, with the intersection of the Beijing-Guangzhou and Shanghai-Kunming high-speed railways located in Changsha.
Cities within a 3-hour high-speed train ride from Changsha include Wuhan, Nanchang, Guilin, Guangzhou, and Southeast Guizhou. Even from Hangzhou, the fastest high-speed train to Changsha takes no more than 4 hours, making it incredibly accessible.
I took the high-speed train to Changsha this time.
Another advantage of traveling to Changsha by high-speed train is the ability to pack and bring back Cha Yan Yue Se.
Changsha South Railway Station has Cha Yan Yue Se outlets at both the exit and entrance, and even inside the waiting hall.
I heard that students from Wuhan often take the high-speed train to Changsha just to buy Cha Yan Yue Se, as it might be faster than queuing up in Wuhan, even with the round trip.
From Hangzhou, it takes just three and a half hours. Bringing back a cup of Cha Yan Yue Se for your friends – that’s what true friendship is all about.
So, if you have friends returning from Changsha, don’t hesitate to ask them to bring back a cup of Cha Yan Yue Se for you.
Oh, and remember to go early, as there are still queues at the Cha Yan Yue Se in the high-speed rail station.
What to do in Changsha?
Changsha can be summed up in four words: “Mountain, Water, Island, City.”
The mountain refers to Yuelu Mountain, the water is the Xiang River, the island is Orange Island, and the city is Changsha itself. These attractions are all quite close to each other, and even if it’s your first visit, one day is enough to cover them.
I recommend visiting Yuelu Mountain in autumn when the maple leaves turn red, creating a stunning sight.
Yuelu Mountain is not high, with an altitude of just 300.8 meters (even lower than the IFS in the city center). There’s a cable car from the East Gate to the top, and a sightseeing bus from the South Gate. I took the route from Yuelu Academy, and it took me 2 hours to reach the summit.
The route is as follows:
Yuelu Academy – Aiwan Pavilion – Qingfeng Gorge – Lushan Temple – Yunlu Palace – Summit – Cable Car – East Gate
From the top of Yuelu Mountain, you can take in the entire city of Changsha.
There are also many places to explore near Yuelu Academy.
For example, Hunan University is located here, and its old buildings and auditorium are quite attractive. There’s even a statue of Chairman Mao in Dongfanghong Square next to the university.
Orange Island
Orange Island stretches across the middle of the Xiang River for more than ten miles. Based on my personal experience, I highly recommend taking the sightseeing train, which costs 20 yuan per person. Otherwise, you might end up walking until your legs give out.
The environment on Orange Island is excellent, but the main reason to visit is to see the statue of young Chairman Mao.
Hunan Provincial Museum
Whenever I visit a new city, I always make a point to visit the museum. I’ve been to quite a few museums, and the Hunan Provincial Museum definitely ranks among the top provincial museums in the country.
Here, you’ll find a beautiful, thousand-year-old “mummy.”
“In the north, there are the Terracotta Warriors; in the south, there’s Mawangdui.” The Mawangdui ancient tomb is considered the eighth wonder of the world and is listed as one of the top ten ancient tombs globally. Over 3,000 cultural relics were unearthed from the Mawangdui Han tombs, and it’s safe to say that more than half of the collections in the Hunan Provincial Museum come from Mawangdui.
Remember, it’s essential to make a reservation before visiting the Hunan Provincial Museum. They only admit 15,000 visitors per day, so there’s a chance you might be turned away if you show up without a reservation.
You can make a reservation directly through their official WeChat account.
Xie Zilong Photography Art Museum
This art museum is stunning, both in terms of its appearance and content. The Xie Zilong Photography Art Museum is definitely worth a visit.
Although there is an admission fee, the exhibitions inside are truly worth seeing.
The museum’s security guard is an internet celebrity. His photography skills are always on point, and visitors line up to have their photos taken by him.
Li Zijian Art Museum
The Li Zijian Art Museum is located right next to the Xie Zilong Photography Art Museum, so you can visit both together. Admission to the Li Zijian Art Museum is free, but that doesn’t mean it lacks anything to see. The permanent exhibition on the first floor showcases Li Zijian’s own paintings.
Hunan Radio and Television and Mango TV
If I had more time, I could have participated in the live recordings of some Hunan Satellite TV shows in Changsha, as an audience member, of course.
You can sign up to be an audience member for shows like Happy Camp and Day Day Up.
I highly recommend the Cha Yan Yue Se Ren Jian Cao Mu store located next to the Hunan Radio and Television Ferris wheel. During my 4-day, 3-night stay in Changsha, I drank more than 10 cups of Cha Yan, and this store had the shortest queue.
Meixi Lake Art Center
This place can be considered a new landmark in Changsha, designed by the world-renowned designer Zaha Hadid. The building truly embodies Zaha’s design style and bears similarities to the Dongdaemun Design Plaza in Seoul and the Infinitus Plaza in Guangzhou.
Food and Drink in Changsha
The dining scene in Changsha can be described in four words: “Gods Fighting in Heaven.”
This is no exaggeration. Every ten steps, you’ll find a rice noodle shop, every fifty steps, a milk tea store, and every hundred steps, a place serving spicy crawfish. The entire city is a paradise for spicy food lovers, with countless snacks and late-night eats.
While other cities might become quiet after midnight (even Hangzhou), Changsha’s rice noodle stalls are still bustling with crowds at 4 am.
When it comes to food and drink in Changsha, Cha Yan Yue Se is the most well-known, with a store every 50 meters, making it a true city staple.
With delightful names like Youlan Latte, Mulberry Reverie, Oolong Echoes, and Paper Kite Rhapsody, the teas are as pleasing to the ear as they are to the palate.
During my time in Changsha, I basically had three cups a day. Fortunately, Cha Yan is affordable, with prices around 10 yuan per cup, which is much more reasonable compared to other trendy milk tea brands.
If you can’t decide which Cha Yan store to visit, I recommend the one that has a collaboration with San Dun Ban.
Although Cha Yan Yue Se has countless stores, this is the only collaboration store. Not only is the store visually appealing, but you can also buy both San Dun Ban and Cha Yan Yue Se here.
It’s said that both the San Dun Ban and Cha Yan at this store are exceptionally delicious. After all, when two popular street beverage brands collaborate in the same store, they compete against each other, so neither can afford to be inferior.
In this store, besides buying coffee and drinking milk tea, you can also purchase various peripherals and collaboration gift boxes from San Dun Ban and Cha Yan. The store itself is worth exploring.
Changsha has a rich variety of coffee shops and milk tea stores.
Particularly in the Guanyinjing Alley area of Furong District, there are many trendy coffee shops. Luguang Coffee, Hammer Coffee, Momota… are all nearby.
If you love coffee, you can have a great time exploring that area.
Changsha also has numerous food streets and snack streets.
Taiping Street is a concentrated hub for many local Changsha specialties. It is one of the most famous snack streets in Changsha, where you can eat from one end of the street to the other.
Pozi Street is another snack street where you can hardly go wrong with any choice. The main specialty foods on Pozi Street include stinky tofu, sugar oil rice cakes, spring rolls, pork blood with pig fat, snail noodles, and spicy crawfish.
Huogongdian is also located on Pozi Street. Although many people say that Huogongdian is a tourist trap and the snacks outside are better, if you go to Huogongdian at 7 am, you can taste the most authentic Changsha steamed buns.
I witnessed with my own eyes local Changsha aunties buying a dozen or more steamed buns from Huogongdian early in the morning.
Donggua Mountain is the holy grail of late-night dining in Changsha, where you can eat until 4 am.
There’s a popular saying in Changsha: “Changsha night, Donggua Mountain.” You’ll find barbecue stalls, open-air restaurants, and snack shops here. Donggua Mountain pork sausage, Dandan hot braised food, and Meng Zhong barbecue are all recommended spots on Donggua Mountain.
Nanmenkou Wenmiao Ping is a food street near Changsha’s universities, lined with snack stalls that have accompanied the growth of many Changsha residents.
Sugar oil rice cake is one of Changsha’s famous snacks. Jinji Sugar Oil Rice Cake, located next to Changjun Middle School at Nanmenkou Wenmiao Ping, has been open for thirty years and holds memories for several generations.
There’s also a Hunan Rice Noodle Street
For Hunanese, a day must start with slurping rice noodles. They can have rice noodles for breakfast, lunch, and even dinner. Without a daily dose of rice noodles, they feel weak. Yes, after a bowl of these noodles, they walk with exceptional stability.
Although Changsha has rice noodle shops on almost every street, if you’re a tourist, it’s worth visiting Hunan Rice Noodle Street.
Famous rice noodles from various parts of Hunan can be found on this street. It’s a great place for out-of-town visitors to centrally explore Hunan rice noodles.
There’s a Hunan Rice Noodle Museum here, where you can learn about the knowledge of rice noodles before indulging in a bowl.
Additionally, this street has many trendy photo spots. It’s a perfect combination of eating, drinking, strolling, and taking pictures, all on one unique street.
Here are some Changsha restaurants worth visiting
Super Wenheyou
A few days ago, the news of over 50,000 people queuing for a number at the Super Wenheyou in Shenzhen went viral, right? This trendy restaurant, originating from Changsha, now has branches in Guangzhou and Shenzhen as well.
I ate at Super Wenheyou during my Changsha trip. To be honest, I wasn’t extremely impressed, possibly because the spiciness was a bit too much for me to handle.
But Super Wenheyou is indeed very photogenic. It is essentially a museum of local life, recreating Changsha’s market culture from the 1980s. Every scene and object, along with the various snacks and foods, instantly makes you feel a sense of familiarity.
Super Wenheyou is located close to Pozi Street, Hisense Plaza, and Huangxing Road Pedestrian Street. It is recommended to get a queue number on their WeChat official account, then go for a stroll on Pozi Street, and head over to eat when your turn is almost up. This way, you can save the most time.
Alternatively, staying at the Grand Hyatt upstairs is also a good option. You can get a queue number on your phone, and then conveniently go downstairs to the restaurant when it’s your turn.
Yizhandeng
In the beginning, Yizhandeng was a small hole-in-the-wall restaurant in an alley. Now, even though it has moved into a shopping mall, it still maintains its affordable prices and down-to-earth style with plastic tablecloths, disposable tableware, and small wooden tables.
Yizhandeng specializes in authentic Changsha-style dishes, and it is a well-known Hunan cuisine restaurant among Changsha locals. Personally, I have a better impression of it compared to Super Wenheyou.
Steamed pork with rice flour, dry pot duck, and beef brisket over the bridge are all dishes that pair well with rice.
Additionally, other Hunan cuisine restaurants like Luge, Juanjuan, and Tianxiake are also worth recommending.
However, these Hunan cuisine restaurants can be quite spicy, and if you’re not careful, you might end up eating a lot of rice. After all, you can’t fully appreciate the charm of Hunan cuisine without having it with rice, as the spiciness and fragrance of the dishes make them incredibly appetizing.
I have previously summarized quite a few restaurants in Changsha, so I won’t go into detail today. You can visit them as needed:
- Heise Jingdian Stinky Tofu (a must-eat every time I visit Changsha)
- Donggua Mountain Pork Sausage (go to the most crowded stall on Donggua Mountain)
- Dandan Hot Braised (the pork fat-mixed noodles are extremely fragrant)
- Jinji Sugar Oil Rice Cake (located at the entrance of Changjun Middle School)
- Huji Fried Foods (the flavor is a bit heavy, you can ask the owner to use less seasoning; look for the one on Taiping Street)
- Qiaobo Cold Noodles (an old and well-known cold noodle shop, often with long queues)
- Xiangjiang 36 (the Chinese restaurant at Grand Hyatt Changsha, a reliable hotel dining option)
- Laoshifu Restaurant (every dish is a perfect match with rice; it’s best to avoid peak meal hours as it gets very crowded)
- Zhou’s Noodle Shop (recommended signature original soup pork noodles with meat pie and egg)
- Xia’s Noodle Shop (recommended meatball noodles/pig trotter noodles)
- Bayi Bridge Original Flavor Noodle Shop (even the original soup base is very rich)
- Guoyaya (focuses more on fresh-squeezed fruit juices and teas)
- Changpo Wonton (has a great reputation among locals; the wontons are made fresh to order)
- Peng’s Meatball Shop (almost every Changsha food connoisseur knows about it)
Nightlife in Changsha
Have you seen Changsha at 2 am? The roadside of Jiefang West is crowded with people, and the night market stalls on Donggua Mountain are bustling with lights.
Changsha might have the most vibrant nightlife among all the Chinese cities I’ve been to.
It’s definitely much better than Hangzhou. After midnight, there are hardly any people on the streets in Hangzhou, but that’s not the case in Changsha. Even at 3-4 am, there are still many people eating, drinking, and having fun.
I discussed this issue with my friends from Changsha. They said that Changsha people believe in “drinking today’s wine today,” and the reason they can afford to do so is that Changsha people have figured out that while the consumption level is not high, the disposable income is high.
The main reason is the low housing prices in Changsha.
A few years ago, working for a month in Changsha allowed you to buy one square meter of housing in the city. Generally, buying a house after working for 5 years wasn’t a problem. Now, housing prices have risen slightly, but compared to other provincial capital cities in China, Changsha’s prices are still considered to be at a low point.
When housing prices are low, the per capita disposable income is high, naturally allowing for more eating, drinking, and entertainment.
Thinking about my city Hangzhou, the income is indeed higher than Changsha, but the housing prices are even higher.
Are you willing to endure the “blessings” of working 996 (9 am to 9 pm, 6 days a week)? Or would you prefer to have a stable, albeit not high, salary and be able to go home on time? I think people in different cities would give different answers.
Changsha is the latter.
Changsha has a nickname called “Foot Capital.” Friends can gather to get foot massages, companies can have team-building activities at foot massage places, and business banquets can also be held at foot massage establishments.
This is not an exaggeration. If you go for a foot massage in Changsha without a reservation, you might have to wait in line for several hours.
Jinse Yinxiang and Sixi Fujiao are well-known chain foot massage stores in Changsha. Yierkang is also a brand that cannot be ignored in the “Foot Capital.”
After a day of eating and drinking, it’s perfect to arrange a foot massage in the evening.
Jiefang West Road in Changsha is a famous bar street.
Changsha’s nights are both fiery and lively. If you want to experience the nightclub culture, Jiefang West is a must-visit. There are probably more than a dozen bars on Jiefang West Road.
Where to Stay in Changsha
Most of Changsha’s attractions are centered around Wuyi Square. Taiping Street, Yuelu Mountain, Orange Island, and the museum can be completed in a circle within one or two days.
So, if you’re traveling to Changsha for leisure, I recommend staying near Wuyi Square. However, the downside is that whether it’s the Grand Hyatt, Niccolo, or Wanda Vista, the prices have risen significantly since the end of last year.
That’s the advantage of a good location. Hotels with prime locations can afford to be more expensive.
There’s an LC Luxury Selection hotel at Meixi Lake, which is convenient if you’re interested in exploring Meixi Lake.
For travelers, I don’t particularly recommend staying at The St. Regis. Its location is more business-oriented, but fortunately, there’s a metro station downstairs, so getting to the city center isn’t too much trouble.
A W Hotel is also set to open next to The St. Regis in Changsha this year, but I absolutely do not recommend it for travelers due to its awkward location.
In addition, a Langham Place is opening at Dawang Mountain, which is said to be the second deepest pit hotel in China.
It is right next to the Ice and Snow World (Happy Snow Region), which is suitable for indoor snow entertainment with children. Huayi Brothers Movie Town is also nearby, and Yuelu Mountain is not too far away. It’s worth paying close attention to, as there will be opening specials.
Changsha is not a big city. Even if you stay in Dawang Mountain, it only takes about 30 minutes to get to Wuyi Square by taxi.
Alright, although this article doesn’t have a lot of words, it took quite a bit of time to write.
If you find it useful, please give more likes and support. In the comments section, you can share your views on Changsha or any places you think are worth visiting that I didn’t mention.
This is a city that I’m willing to visit several times every year.
