Hu'nan Province is located in the middle-by-south part of China along the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, called “Xiang” for short. Since most of it lies to the south of the Dongting Lake, it is therefore called Hu'nan.
    In the Spring and Autumn Period and Warring States Period, it belonged to the Chu Kingdom, but in the Qin Dynasty it was divided into two shires that were subordinate to Jingzhou in the Han Dynasty afterward; in the Tang Dynasty they became two Daos with the name Hu'nan appearing for the first time; in the Song Dynasty the title Dao was changed to Lu; in the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, the Administrative Province-Huguang Xingsheng had been set up; finally the emperor of the Qing Dynasty made it Hu'nan Province.
    The Northern part of Hu'nan backs on the Yangtze River and opposites Hubei Province, water transportation is convenient. It is within the opening up and developing zone in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River; Southern Hu'nan borders Guangdong and Guangxi province, being adjacent to the coastal opening up zone, Hongkong and Macau, and a through container truck can reach Hongkong at the same day; Hu'nan connects with Jiangxi in the east, with Chongqing and Guizhou in the west. so basically Hu'nan is positioned between the coastal opening up zone in Southern China and Yangtze Valley which adds to its geographical advantage.
    With the area of 210,000 kilometers, Hu'nan Province is divided into 13 provincially administered municipalities and 1autonomy, its capital is Changsha City, with 66,977,000 populations at present, among which 23,776,800 in city and town and 43,200,200 in countryside.
    Hu'nan Province has a long history and a beautiful landscape, and is particularly rich in tourism resources. As one of the cradles of Chinese revolution. Abundant in natural resources and products, Hu'nan Province is acclaimed as “land of fish and rice”. Furthermore, Hu'nan Embroidery is one of “the Four Famous Embroideries” in China, and its cuisine is one of “the Eight Major Chinese Cuisines”.