Yuelu Academy in Changsha

Earlier this month I spent a weekend in Changsha (长沙), the capital city of Hunan province (south-central China), to attend a friend’s wedding. Changsha is typical of every other second-tier city in China – sprawling, grey, and heavily polluted with nothing much going on other than the relentless development of high-rise buildings and endless roads. This is not somewhere you would visit for a holiday but I did manage to find one small gem in the rough…

Hobbit Hole

A short distance outside the city centre can be found Hunan University (湖南大学), one of the oldest national universities in China, with a history dating back over 1000 years to the Song Dynasty. There are some nice older red brick buildings on its leafy campus and even a couple of Hobbit holes!

Temple Lion

Within the grounds can also be found the restored remains of the original Yuelu Academy (岳麓书院), which was established in 976 for scholars to prepare for civil examinations, and eventually evolved into the university that exists now.

Confucius Temple

Today the academy is a museum and centre for language research that is open to the public. Since it’s not aimed at foreign tourists there is no English information available but it’s still nice to walk around and soak up the scholarly atmosphere.

Confucian Butterfly
Leafy Staircase
Uniform Accession

Above the acceding rooftops of the Confucian temple within the compound lies Yuelu Mountain (岳麓山) on the west bank of the Xiang River.

Green Overhang
Bamboo Buttress

There’s nothing like the sound of bamboo rustling in the breeze to calm the mind…

…or invigorate the soul!

Green Courtyard

The renowned Confucian scholar’s Zhu Xi (朱熹) and Zhang Shi (张栻) both lectured at the academy.

Lollipop

By the looks of it, today’s young scholars have other things on their minds than arguing about the Doctrine of the Mean.

Solitary SMS

Sadly finding a moment away from the constant distractions of the everyday world is hard to find.

Green Window

But here you might come close.

Untitled
Yuelu Academy Pond
Yuelu Academy Buildings
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Yuelu Academy Rooftops
Downtime

Apart from the odd rampaging tour group, Yuelu Academy was a welcome break from Changsha city centre and a nice place to relax after the sheer chaos of attending a Chinese wedding the day before (more on that another time)!

Jia Jia Mein

Changsha, like Szechuan, is known for spicy food, but without the additional numbing effects of certain spices and pepper. For my final meal in Changsha, I choose something a little more ordinary (mince beef noodles).

Changsha Noodles

So there you have it – where to go if you find yourself stuck in Changsha for the weekend!

David avatar

6 responses

  1. Richard avatar
    Richard

    Great photos – great find -it looks a real oasis.

  2. Simon avatar
    Simon

    How about a post about the differences between Chinese and western weddings?!

    1. In the works 🙂

  3. This is my hometown. I got my Ph.D degree from Central South University, another national university that located around Yuelu mountain.

    It is happy to read something about the place where I grew up on your blog. The pictures are great. Thanks.

    1. Hey Gang – thanks for your comment, it must have been very nice to study around there 🙂

  4. Stuck in Changsha? Some of live in Hunan you know!
    Well, not exactly true, I live outside of Chenzhou, in the south, teaching English. Much better for your health.

    But like yourself, Hong Kong is my aim very soon!

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