Changshan, covering an area of 1,099 square kilometers, administers three sub-districts, 11 towns and 180 villages with a total population of about 344,000.

Changshan features a healthy natural environment, convenient transportation, a sound industrial foundation, long history, "three treasures", and ornamental stones.

It is an important ecological shelter zone for Zhejiang with good air and water quality. The 31-square-kilometer Changshan International Slow City, located in the outskirts of downtown, is the seventh International Slow City in China.

Changshan boasts a complete transportation system. Ten highways traverse the county, the Quzhou-Jiujiang Railway has opened to traffic, and it only takes half an hour to travel from downtown Changshan to the Quzhou airport and high-speed rail station.

Changshan is developing four industries worth 10 billion yuan ($1.41 billion) – bearing, agricultural machinery, new materials and biological medicine, as well as three towns focusing on the industries of agriculture, healthcare and calcium.

Changshan has been a county since the Eastern Han Dynasty (AD 25-220) and therefore, it houses numerous cultural relics and historic sites. The national intangible cultural heritage cheering ballad, Yue opera, and various other folk cultures in the county have been passed down for generations.

Changshan has what are known as its "three treasures": grapefruit, oil-tea camellia, and edible mushrooms. The cultivated area of grapefruit in Changshan is 100,000 mu (6,670 hectares) and has an annual output of 140,000 tons. The county also enjoys a long history of producing camellia oil and is the center of camellia oil trading, price guiding, and distribution in China. The hericium erinaceus, a kind of edible mushroom produced in Changshan, has won national recognition.

Changshan is the Chinese hometown of ornamental stones. The county houses the largest market for bluestones and marbles in East China. Its Ornamental Stone Town is the first special town in Zhejiang. The Sanqu Stone Forest in Changshan is a national geology park and a national 4A-level scenic spot in China, featuing an array of oddly-shaped stones.