Changde City, formerly known as Wuling and Langzhou, is a prefecture level city under the jurisdiction of Hunan Province. It is located in the northwest of Hunan Province, on the west side of Dongting Lake in the south of the Yangtze River, at the foot of Wuling Mountain. The basic terrain in the area is high in the north and south, low in the middle, with two mountains sandwiching one depression. It belongs to the subtropical humid monsoon climate, warm climate, distinct four seasons, short spring and autumn, long summer and winter, with a total area of 18200 square kilometers. As of April 2025, Changde City has jurisdiction over 2 municipal districts, 6 counties, and manages 1 county-level city. As of the end of 2024, the permanent population of Changde City was 5.169 million.
Changde City is an important node city in the Yangtze River Economic Belt and an important component of the Dongting Lake Ecological Economic Zone. The city name originates from Laozi, which states that it is a river under heaven and Changde is inseparable. The historical stories of Liu Hai chopping wood, Meng Jiangnu crying on the Great Wall, and Tao Yuanming's "Peach Blossom Spring" and other romantic sentiments run through the more than 2000 years of history of Changde City, creating Changde's unique culture of virtue. Taohuayuan, a national 5A level tourist attraction, is the prototype site of "The Peach Blossom Spring", and Liuye Lake, a national level tourist resort, is known as the "number one lake in Chinese cities". It has successively won titles such as National Civilized City, China Excellent Tourism City, National Health City, National Garden City, China's First Charm City, and International Wetland City.