Neon nights and daytime delights

Culture vultures and night owls swooping through Hunan Province would find Changsha the perfect roosting spot for birds of their feather.

The central government listed the city as among the first 24 designated "Culturally Important Cities", and in 1998, it was declared the "Chinese Outstanding Tourist City".

It was also among the first cities open to foreign tourists, and today, historical and entertainment offerings abound in the provincial capital.

History hounds would find the Hunan Provincial Museum warehouses a treasure trove of historical relics. The crown jewel of this collection is an exhibition showcasing artifacts from three Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220) tombs excavated in Changsha from 1972 to 1974. This hall displays 284 of the more than 3,000 cultural relics unearthed from the burial sites, including the nested coffins and mysteriously well-preserved mummy of Xin Zhui.

Xin was the wife of the ruler of the imperial fiefdom of Dai and is believed to have died around the age of 50, between 178 BC and 145 BC.

Her incredible state of preservation leaves most Egyptian mummies for dead, and many researchers contend that "Lady Dai" is the best-preserved ancient cadaver discovered to date.

Nearly two millennia after her burial, her skin remains supple, her organs are intact, and her veins are still full of Type A blood. But scientists remain mystified at exactly how her embalmers so successfully prepared her body to withstand the ages.

The plethora of luxury goods packed in Xin's casket indicates she enjoyed the finer things in life and hoped to continue to do so after death. Visitors can view the lavish lacquer ware, superb silks and musical instruments that bear testimony to her affluence.

Halls on the second floor showcase collections of calligraphic works and paintings from the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368-1911), and bronze ware from the Shang and Zhou dynasties (c.16th century-256 BC).

The 400-square-meter Exhibition of Ten New Major Archaeological Discoveries in Hunan displays 133 artifacts from the most recently unearthed sites in the province. All of the discoveries shown in this hall were made within the last decade, and displayed artifacts range from the Paleolithic age to the time of the Three Kingdoms (AD 220-280).

Lovers of literature should visit Dufujiange, which is a three-storey traditional-style structure built to eulogize Du Fu (AD 712-770), one of China's most beloved purveyors of prose.

Located on the banks of the Xiangjiang River, the building also warehouses a teahouse, and the pavilion outside is frequented by elderly people playing xiangqi (Chinese military chess) and performing folk songs.

Changsha is known as a great place to live it up in the dead of night, and plenty of places are packed with crowds who thumb their noses at the sandman.

The city has more than 100 nightspots, most of which are clustered along neon-lit bar streets of West Jiefang Road and near the train station on Wuyi Avenue. KTV makes up the bulk of the nightlife offerings, but there is also a number of discos, such as Soho Bar, 9 Cool Barn and Club, and Coco, heaving with hundreds of patrons, even in the wee hours of weeknights.

And the provincial government currently plans to expand the capital's nightlife offerings, says deputy director of the Hunan Provincial Tourism Bureau Gong Tiejun.

Hunan's cutting-edge entertainment industry is nationally renowned for showing up those of other provinces, and the vaudeville A Beautiful Night has taken center stage among the province's music hall offerings.

Since the Great Tianhan Theater opened in 2002, nearly all of the show's 500 annual performances have sold out. That's good news for its financiers, as it took a 300 million yuan ($3.98 million) investment to raise the curtain on the production, according to president of the Red Sound and Performance Group Jiang Yun.

The variety show borrows bits from the stages of Broadway and Las Vegas, and reworks them to fit a uniquely Hunanese performance paradigm.

"Changsha has a unique culture in which, after dinner and a shower, people go out for a snack and enjoy the nightlife entertainment," Jiang explains. "This show is uniquely Hunanese; it grew out of this musical hall culture."

And culture is crucial to the zeal of Changsha's appeal as a day-tripper's delight.

(China Daily 10/17/2007 page23)