Hunan Province is located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. Most of its territory lies south of the famous Dongting Lake, hence the name Hunan, which literally means south of the lake in Chinese.

Rich in natural resources, Hunan has long been known as a Land of Rice and Fish, the Home of Nonferrous Metals, Home of Non-metallic Minerals and a Tourists Resort. Located in central subtropical zone, Hunan has a continental wet monsoon climate.

As both the capital of Hunan and an important transport hub for travellers on to other areas of China, Changsha has plenty of hotels. Unfortunately for those on a cheap budget, many of the cheapest hotels are without a permit to accommodate foreigners. For the budget traveller, therefore, the best accommodation is a little out of the city proper, in the universities. The most convenient is the Hunan Normal University Foreign Experts Building (Hunan shifan daxue zhuanjialou, Tel: 0731-8883131...