A 2-Day, 1-Night Date in Changsha for Her, a Single Woman

Linda, a post-90s 'old auntie' approaching 30, gets fewer calls, WeChat is just for payments, and messages only come from 10086. Life is becoming quieter and more grounded. However, her innate love for laughing, eating, having fun, and playing mahjong has never faded. As her girlfriends say, she's a noob who's addicted (accompanied by a meme: laughing out loud, sound pleasing to the ear).

Recently, her girlfriend became the weak link in the game team, constantly letting down even the dumbest teammates, and was ostracized by everyone within five miles. So Linda planned an escape from the big cities of Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou with her girlfriend. As a loyal fan of airline loyalty programs who knows how to snatch deals, she always picks the cheapest flight tickets, feeling smug and never failing. When her girlfriend opened her eyes, they had landed at Changsha's Huang...hua Airport (the game went cold, but her girlfriend's happy day couldn't be ruined)!

The first thing after landing was to drop off luggage. Luckily, clever Linda had booked a ride-hailing car early, straight to the hotel reserved by her super doting boyfriend: Meimo Pinzhi Hotel. She chose this hotel because of discounts for consecutive stays and the availability of a mahjong room. Still the same old habit of scrimping even after traveling thousands of kilometers. Plus, her girlfriend didn't want to stay in the bustling city center and wanted a place with convenient access to subway and buses.

It took less than half an hour by car to reach the hotel. Only half an hour—really convenient. At the hotel entrance, a handsome middle-aged man who seemed to be the hotel butler (shh, her girlfriend has a thing for older men) came to help with the luggage. Accustomed to flying everywhere, they didn't have much luggage, but the butler's gesture warmed her girlfriend's heart for a while.

After dropping off luggage, they put on a thoughtful makeup look, curled their lips, grabbed the small bottle of floral water the hotel had prepared, and started their happy 2-day, 1-night trip to Changsha.

Years ago, her girlfriend missed admission to 985-ranked Hunan University by just a few points—a narrow miss that changed everything. This was also a major reason for breaking up with her first love. The past is hard to recall, but now both have successful careers, which makes it all the more precious. So the first place her girlfriend wanted to visit was Yuelu Mountain. Near Yuelu Mountain, there are three famous universities: Central South University and Hunan University, both 985 institutions, and Hunan Normal University. Linda also wanted to visit these places to experience their charm, and also see all the nearby famous attractions without missing any.

Yuelu Mountain, with an altitude of 300.8 meters, is one of the 72 peaks of the Southern Heng Mountain. It is part of the national AAAAA (5A) scenic area Yuelu Mountain-Orange Island tourism area, a key national scenic spot. It's also one of China's top four maple-viewing destinations. The already-opened scenic areas include Lushan Scenic Area and Orange Island Scenic Area. Lushan Scenic Area is the core area, featuring Yuelu Academy, Aiwan Pavilion, Lushan Temple, Yunlu Palace, and the Xinmin Institute site.

The subway was fast, and soon they were at Hunan University subway station. Changsha truly has many handsome men and beautiful women, especially natural beauties without makeup. Combined with the cultural atmosphere, there's an innate elegance—just a glimpse from afar is enough. A few hundred meters' walk from Hunan University subway station brought them to Yuelu Academy, so they spent the whole morning there.

They wandered around the university town, tasting various local delicacies like Sexy Tea, sugar-oil rice cakes, stinky tofu, and lard-mixed rice noodles. They walked through Yuelu Academy, saw Aiwan Pavilion, passed through the university cafeteria, and the air felt sweet. It felt like they were back in their youthful college days. Her girlfriend was still grinning, showing her neat white teeth, not mentioning the past at all. That's the comfort and satisfaction of being just 30.

After lunch, they went to Orange Island. Coinciding with the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, they boated on the lake with the statue of Mao Zedong, feeling the happiness and beauty of the country.

Then they went from west to east to the most central business district of Changsha (Wuyi Square)—a place that is both the oldest and the most trendy—experiencing the thrill of Changsha's C-position and feeling the blend of education, history, culture, and fashion. Her girlfriend wanted to visit a chill bar in the evening, so they chose to come to Wuyi Square near dusk. Initially, they planned to have dinner at Tianbao Brothers, but it was too crowded to get a table. Instead, they went for a representative Hunan dish (stir-fried beef with chili), which was also very good.

Around 9 PM, her girlfriend picked Helen's Bar on Jiefang West Road. The atmosphere was great, with many young men and women. It seems popular among young people.

It's not recommended to stay out too late on the first day since traveling is tiring. Around 11 PM, they returned to the hotel, took a warm shower, removed makeup carefully, and the handsome butler specially brought a love night snack—a bowl of mung bean porridge, which made her girlfriend very happy.

The next morning, they woke up at 7 AM. The front desk lady recommended a nearby old Changsha rice noodle shop for breakfast. After breakfast, they took the subway to visit the Hunan Provincial Museum, and then went to the Mawangdui Han Tombs, not far from each other. They appreciated the essence of Chu and Hunan civilization, following historical fragments, walking and stopping.

They didn't stay long at Mawangdui, then took the subway to Wanjiali Square, just one stop away, very convenient. It looked like a commercial complex; going up to the 7th or 8th floor, there was a Grand View Garden, with a guide lady patiently explaining. Then there was the helipad on the top floor! Full of stories and legends—really eye-opening. Although it was a bit sunny during the day (being on the top floor), it was said that dusk is the best time for her girlfriend to take photos—any shot is a masterpiece, haha.

They had lunch at Wanjiali, then took the subway straight to Window of the World in the afternoon, while also seeing the legendary entertainment capital (Hunan TV). Window of the World has many attractions; since they went on a non-holiday, there weren't too many people, so they enjoyed themselves. They did it all—the haunted house, super mixer, interstellar battlefield, big pendulum—all thrilling.