The mist glides across hundreds of towering, sandstone pillars topped by trees before plunging down into the green-swathed ravines below. A verbose description of Zhangjiajie's scenery will never quite do the place justice, perhaps this is why the area is such a popular filming and tourist destination. Lying on the border of Hunan, the main draw is the Wulingyuan Scenic Area, which was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1992 and is made up of the Zhangjiajie National Forest Park, Suoxi Valley, Tianzishan mountain ranges and Baofeng Hu. Avid hikers and nature lovers flock to Zhangjiajie explore the mountains, caves and forests of the area, enjoying one of China's most famed landscapes.  While Zhangjiajie is most known for its unusual sandstone pillars, its caves with their numerous stalactites, underground cataracts and rock formations are also impressive: Huang... more >>

Changsha (literally Long Sand), surrounded by fertile lands and bisected by the slow flowing waters the the Xiang River, is Hunan province's capital. Populated by some six million souls, Changsha is a lively town well known for its food culture, military tradition and being one of Mao Zedong's haunts prior to launching his political career. The city is likely to attract two kinds of people, those interested in tracing the origins and journeys of Chairman Mao, and those interested in joining in the "renao" (literally hot and noise—two things the Chinese associate with having a good time) that sweeps over the city during the night time hours.  Hunan cuisine is infamous for being some of the spiciest in the land and is perhaps second only to Sichuan on China's spice-o-meter. Something to bear in mind if you're sampling street-side barbecue or noodles. more >>