PRC CITY BRIEF CH'ANG-SHA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP86T00608R000600130012-0
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 12
• Document Creation Date: November 11, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 3, 1999
• Sequence Number: 12
• Publication Date: July 1, 1975
• Content Type: BRIEF

 Approved For Release 1999/09/26 : CIA-RDP86T00608R000600130012-0
CSA /~Gc/1- /e''
CIA/OGCR/GD
PN 61.26 44/
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 Approved For Release 1999/09/26 : CIA-RDP86T00608R000600130012-0
JUL 1975
CH'ANG-SHA (Changsha)
(pronounced chang sha)
Chinese romanized system
of spelling:
Meaning in Chinese:
Changsha
long sand
Location:
28?11'N 112?59'E
(approx. latitude of
Orlando, Florida)
Elevation:
Population:
195 feet above sea level
1,500,000 in municipality;
800,000 in built-up area
(total municipality comprises
1,800 square miles)
Climate:
Jan
April
July
Oct
Mean daily maximum
temperature (?F)
45
70
94
75
Mean daily minimum
temperature (?F)
35
56
78
59
Mean number of days
with precipitation
12
16
8
10
Mean monthly
1.9
5.7
4
4
3
0
precipitation (inches)
.
.
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CII'AI G-SHA
General
Ch'ang-sha is the provincial capital and foremost cultural and
educational center of Hunan Province. Although relatively undis-
tinguished in terms of either scenic or historic attractions, the
city is representative of the urban expansion that has occurred in
China over the past 2 decades: typically, a mix of new offices,
stores, and factories served by wide, often tree-lined streets
that radiate from an older, traditional Chinese city. Located
on the lower reaches of the Hsiang Chiang (river), a major
tr' butary of the Yantze, the city is an important port and it
haE served as a leading trade center for more than 2,000 years.
Tho arrival of foreign concessionaries in 1904 and the later linking
(1618) of the city by rail to Hin-k'ou (Hankow) and Peking to the
no,?th reinforced Ch'ang-sha's ' ole as a center for trade and spurred
d modest development of mode rr, light industry, particularly in
food processing and textiles. Although partial destruction of the
city occurred during the Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945), and the
ensuing Civil War prevented a return to peaceful conditions until
1949, the Communists, once in control, quickly reconstructed and
rehabilitated the city; by 1952 its economy was again expanding.
The post-1952 expansion of Ch'ang-sha, lasting until the 1960s,
was based almost exclusively on the productivity of its agricultural
hinterland. The intensively cultivated alluvial lowlands surrounding
Ch'ang-sha are some of the most productive in China, and Hunan,
traditionally a surplus food-producing province, annually furnishes
about 15 percent of the country's total rice crop. Ch'ang-sha,
located in the center of this granary, boasts at least a dozen
large rice mills and is one of the country's principal rice
markets. Unprocessed rice accounts for approximately 40 percent
of the total cargo unloaded at Ch'ang-sha, and rice milling is
the largest single industry in the city.
Although the city's economy remains strongly tied to its
agricultural hinterland, the relative importance of food process-
ing and handling has declined over the past few years as Ch'ang-sha
has entered a third expansionary phase. Currently, its economy
is being diversified and augmented by the establishment of small-
to medium-sized machinery, chemical, electronic, and metalworking
plants.
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Ch'ang-sha has a humid subtropical climate, somewhat similar
to that of the southeastern United States. Autumn normally is
the most pleasant time of year with warm temperatures, bearable
humidities, and frequent periods of clear, dry weather. The
weather probably is least pleasant during spring. Skies are often
overcast, rain ??- frequently drizzle -- persists for days at a
time, and slightly more than half the total annual precipitation
(52 inches) is recorded from March through June. From April on-
wards, the constant dampness is accompanied by higher temperatures
and humidities; and, at this time, Ch'ang-sha with its hinterland
of irrigated ri cefiel ds rightfully earns its title as one of
China's more humid regions. During the summer months, rain is
less frequent and cloudy days fewer; temperatures, however,
commonly rise to the low 90's (occasionally over 100?F) and at
night rarely drop below 75?F. Winters are cold for this latitude,
and January and February temperatures usually range from the mid-
30's to the mid- and upper-40's; occasional cold waves may lower
the temperatures into the 20's. A little snow may fall during
midwinter but accumulations are slight and short-lived.
Chang-sha Today
The Hsiang Chiang separates Ch'ang-sha's approximately 25
square miles of built-up area into two unequal parts. Four-fifths
of the city is on the east bank, and here are located most of
Ch'ang-sha's industry, all of its railroad facilities, and the
provincial government offices. The smaller built-up area on the
west bank is devoted almost entirely to education and has functioned
as Hunan's literary and cultural center since the tenth century.
The principal educational institutes are clustered around the base
of picturesque Yueh-lu Shan (hill) and include Hunan University,
Hunan Teachers College, and the Central-South Institute of
Metallurgy. A recently opened highway bridge, the construction
of which involved much part-time labor by h'ang-sha residents
from all walks of life, connects this district with the major
part of the city.
Ch'ang-sha now occupies an area several times larger than
it did a decade ago, and as a consequence the older section of
the city has shrunk in size relative to the entire urbanized area.
A visit to the old town, located in the area between the Hsiang
Chiang and the westernmost branch of the Peking-Canton Railroad,
is interesting for its distinctive Chinese environment; physically,
this area probably differs little from that which prevailed prior
to 1949. The focus of the old city is the riverfront, and old
warehouses, small boatyards, and turn-of-the-century processing
plants line the river. Although Ch'ang-sha is the largest port
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on the river, its riverfront has changed little during the last
quarter century; no modern docking and cargo-handling facilities
have been built and almost all activities are confined to the few
landing areas. Most of the cargo that is off-loaded at Ch'ang-sha --
food grains, construction materials, coal and timber accounting
for about 70 percent of the total volume -- arrives either in long,
graceful, flat-sailed cargo boats or low-riding, utilitarian
barges. Away from the riverfront the old city is a homogeneous
blend of closely spaced residences, businesses, and small factories,
many of which produce textiles, porcelains, and the famous Hunan
embroideries and eiderdowns. Gray, two-storied wooden buildings
with gray tile roofs predominate, creating a monochromatic city-
scape that is only occasionally brightened by buildings roofed
with reddish-orange tiles.
Modern Ch'ang-sha fully comprises three-fourths of the built-up
area and has completely encapsuled the old city east of the Hsi ;'q
Chiang. Most of the new buildings are large, sturdily built an&
are completely -'tilitarian in appearance. The formerly undesirable
low-lying land north of the old city has been drained and diked
and is now used almost exclusively for industrial storage. Major
government buildings and schools are located to the northeast.
A well-landscaped park -- frequently on the itinerary of foreign
visitors -- is also in this part of the city. The nine-storied
Hunan Guest House, Ch'ang-sha's tallest building and probably
possessing the best tourist accommodations, is located in the park.
A steel plant, associated industries, and workers apartments
dominate the central portions of modern Ch'ang-sha. Here are
found Ch'ang-sha's showcase factories that often are shown to
foreign visitors. To the south of the old city are the newest
and fastest growing sections of Ch'ang-sha. A mix of light
industries and workers apartments are spreading over once-productive
ricefields, although many small fields remain and impart a rural
flavor to much of the area. Large and modern heavy industry
complexes have recently been built south and southeast of the rail
line. The city's principal military installations are also located
here. The municipal airport lies approximately 8 miles south of
this rapidly growing area.
Ch'ang-sha is a relatively new addition to the itinerary of
visiting foreigners and is not yet a common tourist stop even
though it is on the Peking-Canton Railroad. With the possible
exception of a recently exhumed and widely publicize! 2,000-year-
old female corpse, there are no unique displays of Chinese antiquity
or similar cultural attractions. Rather, this is Mao Tse-tung
country, and almost all Ch'ang-sha's tourist attractions are
associated with the Chairman's early revolutionary activities.
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Mao resided in the city as a student from 1912 to 1918, and here
his conversion to Communism began. In the course of these 6 years,
Mao, according to the tour guides, matured politically from a
naive, country schoolboy who had never read a newspaper to a
questioning student, progressive teacher, and local political
organizer-agitator-thinker who came to edit the Hsiang_B_iyer.Review,
a regional political journal. Many of the sites associated with
these activities have been preserved or restored, and the tourist
likely will be obliged to visit many of them -- if not all.
A more interesting attraction is a Mao-inspired event th:.t
takes place every June 24th -- the anniversary of one of Mao's
now-famous swims. During his student days in Chang-sha, Mao
became an ardent physical culturalist, frequently swimming the
Hsiang from the southern tip of Chieh-tzu Chou (Orange Island).
He repeated the feat on a return visit. to the city on June 24,
1959 -- an event now yearly commemorated by a mass swim of
Ch'ang-sha's residents across the river.
Ch'ang-sha is the point from which visits of Shao-shan, Mao
Tse-tung's birthplace, commonly originate. Particularly since
the beginning of the Cultural Revolution in 1966, Shao-shan has
become the tourist mecca of the Peoples Republic of China. During
the Cultural Revolution, hundreds of thousands of young people
made the pilgrimage. The distance to Shao-shan is slightly more
than 50 miles from Ch'ang-sha, and the trip takes approximately
2 hours by bus. The tremendous increase in travel to Shao-shan
initiated during the Red Guard phase of the Cultural Revolution
led to the building of a branch rail line to Shao-shan, but its
use apparently is reserved for Chinese. In addition to the Mao
family home, visitors are taken through a modern building housing
a museum (opened in 1966), where memorabilia of Mao are on
exhibit.
A side attraction of the trip enroute to Shao-shan is the view
of a relatively prosperous countryside. Rice occupies 90 percent
of the lowland areas; tea is the major crop found on the higher
ground and the terraced slopes of numerous low hills.
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