In Changsa Surface travel can be described as  controlled chaos (not very different I have to say  from Indonesia).    Constant masses of cars, motorbikes, and people on bicycles are moving in all directions, coming and going with abandon.    In the cities, all this occurs surprisingly smoothly, with very little traffic control (stoplights, signs, etc.) and virtually no crashes or accidents.    Construction zones on the immaculate cross-country expressways ("interstates") are just simple lane closures with an absolute minimum of any warnings or barricades, and function remarkably.

The cities where cleanly modern and modern and magnificent buildings stand up out of the surrounding older dull gray concrete tenements. Yards  are open 24 hrs a day and work is going on without any stop also during the night hours with the support of lamps.

Out of the capital the Hunan countryside is characterized by terraced rice patties, brick, two-story, open-faced buildings, and the quintessential farmers and laborers carrying the wooden pole across their shoulders with two baskets or buckets on each end.   The weather itself was no the best. Very warm (36-37 Celsius degrees), very humid and no wind...... If you can avoid July and  August for traveling in Hunan is better; may or October are the best months (they told us).

  But, stop with  travelers impressions.    What about minerals, the mineral  market in Changsha and Guilin , and the mines?

In Changsa, there's a small side street and a square in downtown so called:   "The Hunan Mineral Market" . This area  is comprised of  store-front shops with people and dealers  selling minerals and jade jewelry.    This place is where most of the familiar Chinese dealers seen at American and European mineral shows met. We can walk from door to door and see examples of essentially all the minerals for which China is famous.    No  price tags are available, and  quality can vary widely .    The Changsa mineral market  is the source, however, of most minerals seen on the western and American market.   

We saw vast quantities of things such as the hematite/quartz specimens from Nanningshan, the Spessartine/smoky quartz aggregates from Tongbei, the green fluorites from Xianghualin/Xianghuapu, the Antimonites from Wunin, few Kermesites from Lengshuijiang,  beautiful Insesite from Fengjiashan, beautiful orpiments from Shimen (few realgar), and remarkable material from Yagoanxiang Mine. Among this Scheelite on Quartz, Ferberite, Fluorite and Stannite. We were also  shown first a fresh antimonites on xlsed calcite which had just recently been collected from the Lengshuijiang  mine. Beautiful material but difficult to transport due to its fragility.