Xiangtan, referred to as Tan, is a prefecture-level city in Hunan Province. It is nicknamed "Lotus City", also known as "Tan City", because of its rich Hunan lotus. It has jurisdiction over Xiangtan County, Shaoshan City, Xiangxiang City, Yuhu District and Yuetang District. Xiangtan covers a total area of 5006 square kilometers, of which the urban area is 168.21 square kilometers and the built-up area is 79.2 square kilometers. According to the seventh census, Xiangtan has a permanent population of 2,726,181. In 2020, Xiangtan achieved a GDP of 234.31 billion yuan.

Xiangtan County has been built since the Southern Dynasty, more than 1,500 years ago. It is an important birthplace of Huxiang culture and the cradle of Chinese red culture. It has the reputation of "Little Nanjing" and "Jinxiangtan".

Xiangtan is a member of the urban agglomeration in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and the central city of the "Two-oriented Society" comprehensive reform pilot zone of the National Changzhu-Xiangtan Urban Agglomeration. It has won the honors of China Excellent Tourism City, National Garden City and National Civilized City. On December 7, 2016, Xiangtan was listed as the third batch of national comprehensive pilot areas for new urbanization. In November 2018, it was listed in the top 100 of China's Comprehensive Well-off Urban Index. On January 29, 2021, it was selected into the list of regions with remarkable achievements in 2020 published by Hunan Provincial People's Government.

On February 24, 2022, the National Development and Reform Commission issued the Reply Letter of the National Development and Reform Commission on the approval of the Development Plan of Changzhutan Metropolitan Area and the Reply to the Reform Plan, which officially approved the Development Plan of Changzhutan Metropolitan Area.