Changde Overview

Basic Information

• Chinese Name: 常德
• Administrative Category: Prefecture-level City
• Location: Central China
• Area: 18,189.8 square kilometers
• Population: 5,827,000(2018)

Administrative Division

Changde City has jurisdiction over 6 counties and 2 districts, manages 1 county-level city and 5 management areas. There are 129 townships (towns) and 3,228 administrative villages in Changde.

• 6 Counties: Anxiang County(安乡县), Hanshou County(汉寿县), Taoyuan County(桃源县), Linli County(临澧县), Shimen County(石门县), Li County(澧县)
• 2 Districts: Wuling District(武陵区), Dingcheng District(鼎城区)
• 1 County-level City: Jinshi City(津市市)
• 5 Management Area: Liuye Lake Resort Area(柳叶湖旅游度假区), Xihu Management Area(西湖管理区), West Dongting Management Area(西洞庭管理区), Taohuayuan Tourism Management Area(Planned), Changde Economic and Technological Development Area(常德经济技术开发区)

Geography

Located on the Yuan River upstream from its junction with the Lake Dongting system, Changde is a natural center of the northwest Hunan plain. The city was historically situated on the north bank of the Yuan River, and has since expanded development south of the river. The Chinese phrase "三山三水" (literally "Three mountains and three rivers") is often used in reference to the general physical geography of the city. Around the city are three nearby mountains- Taiyang Mountain (太阳山) to the north, Mount De (德山) to the south, and Mount Hefu (河洑山) in the west. In addition to the Yuan River, the city has plentiful water resources with the Chuanzi and Xin Rivers both flowing through Wuling urban district. The other major geographic feature of the area is Liuye Lake (柳叶湖), to the northeast of the city center. There are also numerous lakes, ponds, and streams in the city although many have been diverted or buried.

Climate

Changde City is a transition zone from the mid-subtropical humid monsoon climate to the northern subtropical humid monsoon climate. The climate in Changde is warm with four distinct seasons, short spring and autumn, and long summer and winter.

Best Time to Go

The best time of year to visit Changde for general outdoor tourist activities is from mid September to mid October. The best time to visit Changde for hot-weather activities is from early to mid June and from early August to mid September. In a word, spring and autumn are the best time to visit Changde. In spring, visitors can see the peach blossom all over the mountains, especially in Taohuayuan Scenic Area, which holds a peach flower festival in late March.

Transportation

As one of China's excellent cities and a model city in traffic management, Changde has quite convenient transportation in air, railway, bus and waterway.

Festivals

Changde, a place with many ethnic minorities, has many unique folk festivals and the strong customs, which have become the major scenery line of Hunan Tourism. Although there are many traditional festivals in China, the most exciting is undoubtedly unique festivals for tourism. The main festivals are as follows:

What to Do in Changde

Characterized by spectacular landscapes, charming natural scenery and diverse ethnic customs, Changde is an impressive region to visit.  Taohuayuan Scenic Area, also known as Peach Blossom Land, is located in Taoyuan County, Changde City.  In a word, it has mysterious cultural sights, rich natural sights, delicate inside sceneries and grand outer sceneries. Liuye Lake gathers city, lake, mountain and island. Liuye Lake is 2.5 kilometers from downtown. It has a programming total area of 44.96 square kilometers, among which the water area is 21.8 square kilometers, three times as big as West Lake. Changde Poem Wall is a 3-kilometer-long anti-flood dyke alongside the Yuanjiang River, which is engraved with poems, calligraphy and painting. It is difficult to list all attractions in Changde one by one. If you want to know detailed information about attractions in Changde, you can see the introduction of attractions in the following. Of course, you can contact us for more detailed information. Therefore, come here, we can always find the right attractions for you according to your requirements. In fact, when you choose to go to Hunan, what you meet will be a dreamy trip.

History of Changde

Changde has a long history. So far, more than 50 sites of the Old Stone Age have been discovered. At the site of the Yaner Cave, at the Yangquan Village of Shimen County, archaeologists have discovered the fossils of the right femur, molar and metatarsal bones of ancient people named the People of Shimen. Over 540 sites of the New Stone Age have been discovered here. The typical representative among them is the site of Pengtou Hill, which has a history of about 9000 years and is named as the Culture of the Pengtou Hill. The carvings and symbols have been translated by linguists and are considered as the source of Chinese and even universal characters.