Changde City is a transport hub, an energy-production base, and cultural center in the northwest of the province. Its large enterprises include the Changde Tobacco Plant and the Jinjian Rice Processing Plant. Aquatic products from Dongting Lake are also economically important.

　　With good infrastructure facilities, Changde has railways, an expressway, airport, water transportation, customs and commercial inspection facilities. It is also one of the major central cities receiving special attention from the provincial government.

　　Changde has more than 300 places of tourism interest. The Peach Blossom Source is said to be the Chinese Shangri la or the ideal paradise of the ancient people in China. The Chengtoushan ruins in Lixian County date back 8,000 years. Jiashan Temple at Shimen is a 1,000-year-old Buddhist center and said to be the source of the Japanese tea ceremony. The tomb of Monk Fentianyu next to the temple has been ascertained by scholars of the history of the Ming Dynasty as the tomb of Li Zicheng, leader of a peasant uprising, who lived a secluded life as amonk after his failure to overthrow the dynasty. The 2,500 m long wall of poems in Changde set a Guinness record as the world’s longest tablet inscribed with poems. The UN Natural Wetland Protection Zone of west Dongting lake and the Mount Huping National Nature Reserve both have natural charms.