A Casual Three-Day Trip in Changsha

Actually, rather than calling this a guide, it's more of a personal travelogue about my time in Changsha, likely sprinkled with my own complaints about the journey. Writing a strictly formal guide doesn't seem to capture the feelings and thoughts this short trip gave me, and I never intended to write a pure guide anyway. But honestly, I didn't originally plan to write this at all, to the point where I couldn't even find decent photos for illustration.

The decision to visit Changsha was quite accidental. It started when I happened to chat with a friend—we live in different provinces—and we thought it would be nice to pick a city, meet up, and hang out together. After much discussion, Changsha became our final destination. Before this trip, my impression of Changsha was mostly tied to the word 'internet-famous': spicy food, milk tea, celebrity chasing. But after visiting, I feel Changsha is an interesting city, and if I get the chance, I'd consider coming again.

Changsha is quite suitable for traveling with friends. It's not that going alone is bad, but the experience is better with company, especially when wandering around the central area around Wuyi Square—the difference between being alone and with someone is significant. Also, queuing for food, buying milk tea, waiting for a table at a restaurant—it's always nice to have someone to chat with. Of course, this is just a suggestion, because our duo trip to Changsha was a great experience, though a bit tiring on the legs. (Nearly 30,000 steps a day was overwhelming for a couch potato like me.)

Okay, enough rambling. Let me officially start introducing my Changsha trip.

I went to Changsha in mid-March. For two weeks before, my friend and I had been watching the weather there—it's really unpredictable. We saw the weather on our arrival date change from rainy to cloudy to sunny in a strange way. So if you go during this season, I suggest bringing all sorts of gear: umbrellas, scarves, etc., and keep an eye on the weather. Some days I saw temperatures around 10°C with light rain, and my personal habit would be to wear a jacket, a sweater, and a base layer. But when we got there, it turned out surprisingly sunny and even a bit warm—the thick clothes we brought were unnecessary. However, mornings and evenings were cool, and once the wind picked up at night, it felt chilly. As my friend said, 'You can always buy clothes in Changsha if you don't bring enough,' which I found quite reasonable, since we were shopping every day.

Eating is probably a major highlight in Changsha, and likely a key reason many people visit. Here's what I ate in Changsha. But since I'm pretty easygoing about food, I ended up missing many snacks, which felt a bit unexpected.

When dining in Changsha, especially at popular brands (like we did), remember to get a number in advance. If you can get it online, that's best; otherwise, lunch might turn into afternoon tea, and dinner into a late-night snack. So when you've been shopping for a while, remember to grab a number for your meal.

Food prices in Changsha are surprisingly affordable—lower than in my own city. I always thought that as a tourist city, dining would be a big expense.

Sexy Tea (Cha Yan Yue Se): Almost everyone has heard of this brand. In Changsha, especially around Wuyi Square and other crowded areas, you'll be amazed to find Sexy Tea everywhere. The most extreme case: within a 100-meter radius, we found four Sexy Tea shops, and all of them had long lines. That said, Sexy Tea is indeed quite tasty. But my vocabulary is limited—besides 'tasty,' I can't think of other words. Overall, Sexy Tea emphasizes the tea flavor. Although they add cream and nuts, the toppings blend well with the tea, and it doesn't taste like sugary water. Personally, I prefer milk tea with a stronger tea taste (like Hong Kong-style milk tea). Anyway, if you don't know Sexy Tea, when you see those four characters in Changsha, just buy a cup. The queue length depends on luck; sometimes it's short, sometimes long—waiting half an hour is nothing special. (By the way, Gaode Maps once led us to a Sexy Tea that wasn't even open yet. So be careful with Gaode.)

Yi Zhan Deng (A Light): This is a famous brand in Changsha. They mainly serve stir-fried dishes, predominantly spicy. For someone like me from the south who isn't good with spicy food, their spiciness is S-level. I remember we ordered a stir-fried beef that wasn't marked as spicy on the menu, but the more we ate, the spicier it got—finally unbearable. However, their pork rice noodles were quite tasty and cheap. The biggest takeaway from Yi Zhan Deng was discovering that spicy food with ice-cold cola is a perfect match. No wonder almost every table had a bottle of cola. Also, Yi Zhan Deng had a huge queue, but the call number moved fast. Overall, it was the fastest restaurant we visited in terms of waiting time. But it's really spicy—if you can't handle spice, think twice.

Fei Da Chu (Master Fei): This one is much friendlier in spiciness compared to the previous one, and the portions are slightly larger. As someone not picky about food, I couldn't tell much difference in taste between the two, but I felt the rice at Fei Da Chu was better. After the meal, they even gave us a free ice pop, which was a fun service. The queue here was also super long, though they seem to have more branches than Yi Zhan Deng. Choose wisely.

Next is a Japanese restaurant. My friend and I both like Japanese culture a bit, so we decided to have dinner at a Japanese place. That dinner almost turned into a midnight snack due to the long wait. The restaurant was called Toromak, near Wuyi Square, specializing in sushi. The background music was mostly popular Japanese songs, mixed with some light music. I have to complain about the waiting time: we got a number at 6 PM and didn't get in until around 7:30. In between, we even walked around a nearby mall and sat at Starbucks for over ten minutes. That said, the sushi was quite good—better than what I've had at other Japanese places. Japanese food lovers might want to try it.

Mezi BBQ: This was our first meal together in Changsha. Overall, it was average—not terrible, but not great either. Just a standard BBQ place, slightly cheaper than in my city. We went to the one on Taiping Street, which was still under renovation on the first floor, so we didn't even realize it was a BBQ place at first. What impressed me most wasn't the food, but the ordering system. It automatically matched the language of my WeChat—since I use WeChat in English, I saw an almost entirely English ordering interface. It made me feel like they thought I was a foreigner. You could even learn some English words while ordering. This place accepts online queue numbers via WeChat, but the call speed wasn't very fast.

Noodles (Fen): This is another thing I find hard to differentiate. I personally like noodles, and we had noodles for breakfast every day in Changsha, but I couldn't tell any difference between shops. I won't recommend any, but Changsha's noodles are quite famous. There are noodle shops everywhere—near Wuyi Square, in business districts, residential areas—anywhere there are people. Having a bowl of noodles is a good choice.

Finally, some things I didn't eat but are famous online: crayfish, stinky tofu, and grilled sausages. The most famous crayfish place is Wenheyou. Stinky tofu is a common snack, with 'Black Classic' being a well-known brand. On the pedestrian streets, you can basically find all these snacks, so there's no need to hunt for food deliberately—it's everywhere.

For accommodation, my friend and I spent a long time choosing. Eventually, we didn't stay near Wuyi Square as expected. We stayed at the Lavande Hotel (Furong Square branch) for over 200 RMB per night, about 100 cheaper than hotels near Wuyi Square. It was about a 10-minute walk from Furong Square metro station—not too far—and convenient to Wuyi Square, Hunan Provincial Museum, etc. The two-night stay was overall fine, except for poor soundproofing. If you're unlucky like me and have a neighbor talking loudly at 1 or 2 AM, you can clearly hear every word and can only pray to fall asleep. The next day, after we reported it, the hotel quickly changed our room. The room felt a bit stuffy—maybe I forgot to turn on the air purifier (there was a machine). Amenities were decent, and the self-service breakfast was only 28 RMB—very cheap. Note that the hotel is in an office building, sharing elevators with offices. It's best to take the elevator designated for high floors (the hotel is on floors 29-31), and the lobby is on the first floor. A small incident: when we first arrived, Gaode Maps led us to the back door of the hotel. Again, be careful with navigation apps.

For friends from Guangdong, most people take the high-speed rail to Changsha. But this time, I found that flight tickets were a bit cheaper than the train, so we flew. The flight took about an hour, but the airport is far from the city center. After landing, if using public transport, first take the maglev from the airport station to Changsha South Railway Station—about 40 minutes, I think (I fell asleep halfway because I was up early). Changsha Railway Station or Changsha South is where most people arrive. The maglev terminal is at Changsha South; the fare was maybe 18 or 14 RMB from the airport. If you've done your homework, you can buy your first cup of Sexy Tea there, though there are four branches at Changsha South—all very crowded. After getting off the maglev, follow signs to Changsha South metro station. It's on Line 2, and Furong Square and Wuyi Square are also on Line 2, so you can go directly to the city center. Also, you can use an app for subway and bus payments—very convenient.

Now, let me talk about the places I visited. Frankly, most of the trip was spent chatting and joking with my friend, so I neglected to take photos. Now I can't find good ones to illustrate. If you don't mind dry text, read on.

Strictly speaking, this is a broad area. I'll just group the pedestrian streets I visited: Taiping Street, Pozi Street, Huangxing Road Pedestrian Street, etc. Over three days, we basically walked through all of them. The biggest impression was bustle—so many people, and you could see both familiar and unfamiliar brands. I even unexpectedly saw a Turkish ice cream guy who doesn't give the ice cream easily. In short, it's a great place to sip Sexy Tea, think about what snack to eat, and wander around.

At first, my poor English made me wonder what IFS stands for. It's a more upscale area compared to the pedestrian streets near Wuyi Square. Shopping is secondary here; most people go to the rooftop to see the KAWS statues (I had to Baidu that term). I didn't research why they're there, but it's a good photo spot. From the roof, you can see many high-end hotels and nightclubs, and also overlook the night view of Changsha's crossroads—a nice experience. Speaking of crossroads, near IFS there are a few intersections reminiscent of Shibuya 109 in Tokyo, with diagonal crosswalks where pedestrians from all four directions cross at the same time—a spectacular sight.

Besides these two famous spots, the museum was highly recommended by my friend. The first thing to remember is to book in advance—daily capacity is limited. I don't know if it gets tight in peak season, so book a day or two ahead on the official website. Booking is free, unless there's an extra charge for some exhibitions; you'll see it in the confirmation. (Official website: ) Indeed, we entered a little after 9 am and didn't finish until almost noon—we visited all the exhibition halls, though we didn't understand many exhibits. Still, we felt a cultural impact. Everyone has heard of the Mawangdui Han Tomb artifacts, which are displayed there. Through the exhibition, you can get a glimpse of how ancient rich people lived. Even if other halls don't interest you, don't miss the Mawangdui hall. There's a bus stop right in front of the museum—very convenient.

This was actually our first stop after arriving in Changsha—mainly to appreciate Chairman Mao's legacy and experience Orange Island (Juzizhou), which inspired his famous poem. Take Metro Line 2 to Juzizhou station. The environment there is nice. You don't need a ticket if you walk in (no small train). The small train tickets can be purchased at self-service machines inside, no need to queue at the entrance. The train circles the island, and you can get off at any stop. Walking is fine, but I think it's more suitable for biking or an evening stroll. During the day, if the sun isn't too strong, it's okay. My friend and I started our power walk there. At the exit, you can find a small house (identifiable by a mailbox) where you can get a free postcard (one per train ticket) and stamp it with nine different designs—a nice souvenir. But as I write this, I haven't even mailed my postcard yet… so slow.

This was our last stop in Changsha. Take Line 2 to Yingwanzhen station to reach Yuelu Mountain. We had breakfast nearby and then headed up. It can take a long time to explore thoroughly, but we had to return by afternoon and also planned lunch, so we left around 10:30 am. We started climbing around 9 am. Walking up and down is free, but you need to scan a QR code to register. I suggest registering in advance before queuing, so you don't hold up the line. You can take a cable car up or down. We took the cable car down—it was quite pleasant, enjoying the mountain scenery. There's also a toboggan option, like a go-kart but lighter. The mountain offers a bird's-eye view of Changsha. When we were going down, we noticed a huge crowd starting to climb around noon—surprising. If you want to avoid crowds, get up early; maybe 11 am is when Changsha truly wakes up as a tourist city.

Super Wenheyou:

(I only realized I missed this after finishing the whole article.) It's a chain brand with many small food shops offering various snacks. But the most famous is definitely crayfish, though we weren't interested. We just went to the one in Haixin Plaza to take photos. The interior has a retro style, reminiscent of the 1980s-90s. You can see many girls posing for photos, and modern shops blending in. Many 'fake' shop signs and ads are made by the 'prop team,' so you sometimes can't tell which are real and which are fictional. Overall, it was fun to wander around—for a moment, I felt like I had traveled back in time. If you plan to eat there, arrive early. We went around 4 pm, when it wasn't too crowded; we didn't see the legendary long queues. We explored up to the 7th floor (top floor) and exited back to reality there. Finally, we waited half an hour on the 7th floor for a cup of Sexy Tea.

I've written a lot of what I wanted to say earlier. Finally, I want to thank my travel buddy again for listening to my rambling and for making this trip full of fun memories. Changsha is indeed a lively city—noisy, bustling (and with affordable housing—I'm so jealous). I hope you, the patient reader, also get a chance to invite friends and experience (or re-experience) the charm of this city.

Travelogue Index: 1. Foreword; 2. Clothing; 3. Food; 4. Accommodation; 5. Transportation; 6. Wuyi Square; 7. IFS Center; 8. Hunan Provincial Museum; 9. Orange Island; 10. Yuelu Mountain; 11. Final Words.

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