The Hanjiang, a large river, joins China's great Yangtze in Hubei Province creating a river-crossed fertile land known as Jianghan Plain. Situated on the Plain, Wuhan, the capital city of Hubei Province, is the biggest hub city in Central China. Divided by the Yangtze, Wuhan has come to be known as the Three Towns of Wuhan with Hankou and Hanyang on the west bank, and Wuchang on the east. Wuhan is a city with both an ancient history and a thriving present. Historic relics excavated from ancient tombs tell the city's long history dating back 3,500 years. In the period of Pre-Qin (770 B.C. - 221 B.C.), this was the land of the State of Chu (one of the seven warring states before Qin, in China's first feudal dynasty) and was the cradle of the brilliant Chu Civilization. Starting here, merchants followed the great Yangtze River and lake network to expand businesses throughout the entire country. In the Qing Dynasty, Hankou became one of the four best-known towns in the country. For centuries, this city has been the center of trade and transportation in central China.
Yellow Crane Tower
The first tower over China’s mountains and rivers, Yellow Crane Tower is the symbol of Wuhan. At the sight of the beautiful scene, guests from home and abroad exclaim it with “wonderful”, “No. One”. Yellow Crane Tower is reputed with its long history and splendid culture all over the world. The net height of the main building of the tower is 51.4 meters. It has five stories, of which each emphatically displayed poems and essays by poets and writers, fairy tales, and legends. On the evenings of public holidays, the splendid and wonderful scenery of the tower illuminated by bright and colorful lights constitutes a superb sight of the whole Riverside City. It is not only an important scenic spot, but also a symbol of "piping times of peace" in people's minds. Scholars in the past dynasties wrote hundreds of poems and scores of writings in praise of the magnificent Yellow Crane Tower. The legend about the tower has become a bright pearl of the Chinese literature. Rebuilt in 1985, the Yellow Crane Tower Park occupies a hilly area and consists of towers, pavilions and corridors, forming an architecture complex and a garden complex of man--made and natural scenery.
Guiyuan Temple
The first Zenist Temple in Hubei Province. First built in 1658, the name of the temple originated from a Buddhist short verse. Now there exist three main buildings: the Precious Hall of the Great Hero, the Depositary of Buddhist Texts. The most famous and featured is the five hundred golden arhats. Situated on Cuiwei Street, is one of the four biggest temples for Buddhist meditation in Hubei as well as an important Buddhist temple in China. It was first built in the early Qing dynasty (1644-1911) by two monks - Baiguang and Zhufeng. Guiyuan Temple has survived more than 300 hundred years of repeated cycles of prosperity and decline, and is the leading temple in Wuhan with prosperous public worship, flourishing Buddhist ceremony and many pilgrims. Guiyuan Temple is famous not only for spreading Buddhism throughout the whole country, but also for its perfect architecture, excellent sculpture and rich collection of Buddhist doctrine among the Buddhist temples. In 1956 Guiyuan Temple was listed as a preserved antiques unit of Hubei province and in 1983, it was appointed as one of the key Buddhist temple of Han nationality district in China by the State Council.
East Lake
The East Lake is the pride and joy of the people of Wuhan. Millions of residents here get a lot of fun out of going for a walk along the lakeside in spring, swimming in summer, appreciating sweet laurel in autumn and admiring plum in winter. The lake covers 33 square kilometers and stretches far into the distance. Ancient pagodas and temples scattered in 34 verdant hills around the lake make the scenic spot more historic and imposing. All the six areas of the East Lake have in common green hills, clear waters, and an abundance of woods and typical style of Chu Culture. Perhaps you'll enjoy yourself most in two of them----Tingtao Pavilion and Moshan Hill. Willows dance gracefully and water lilies sleep deeply around Tingtao Pavilion, a three-storey palace building, in front of which the grand and lifelike statue of Qu Yuan is looking up at the sky and sighing sadly at the subjugation of Chu. On the east side of the lake towers aloft Moshan Hill, where the city of Chu has been set up according to the legend that Zhaolie, King of the Chu State laid an altar and worshiped Heaven there. The imposing Chutian Tower symbolizes the power and prosperity of the ancient State of Chu.
Yangtze River Bridge
For hundreds of years, it was nothing but a dream to cross the natural moat of the Yangtze River.
In 1913, Zhan Tianyou, one of China's well-known railway engineers, visited Wuhan and studied the possibility of the construction of the Yangtze River Bridge. It was decided that the bridge was to be built between the Tortoise Hill in Hanyang and the Snake Hill in Wuchang. Unfortunately, his dream could not come true. Again, six years later, Dr. Sun Yat-sen put forward a proposal to build a Yangtze River Bridge in Wuhan. Then Nanjing Government invited American experts and made a draft plan. Mao Yisheng, a bridge expert, organized for two designs and the construction was about to begin. But because of war and lack of money, no one was able to have the bridge built. After the founding of New China, the central government decided to build the Yangtze River Bridge in Wuhan in 1950. Five years later, news came that the construction would soon begin and it became the focus of world attention.
Three Kingdoms Castle
Located in the north of Hanyang district, to the east of the Yangtze River, and facing the Snake Hill across the river, the Castle is a strategic point in the Three Kingdoms Period (220-280) and a reputed place of historical interest. Currently, tourists can pay a visit to Lu Su’s Tomb, round Dings (a kind of ancient cooking vessel). On the 900?Cmeter-long ridge road, there are one hundred twenty Statues of Heroes in the Three Kingdoms Period, “Three Kingdoms’ Stratagem Hall” and a newly constructed Chibi Battlefield Panoramic Art Gallery, in which the over-1,800-year-ago fierce battle is revivified. The panoramic drawing is eighteen meter high and thirty-five meter long, which is a great masterpiece in the present world art circle. Some entertainment projects, such as the eight hundred eighty eight meter long cableway across the Han River, the risky and stimulating high platform Bunji jumping and sliding cable soaring to the sky, etc., may provide a new flavor for the ancient castle.
Wuhan Botanical Garden
Wuhan Botanical Garden, one of the several principal gardens in China, covers an area of about 70 hectares. More than ten landscapes including special gardens and beautiful horticulture spots have been formed these years. They are Aquatic Plant Garden, Rare Endangered Plant Garden, Chinese Gooseberry Garden, Ornamental Garden, Tree Garden, Pine and Cypress Garden, Bamboo Garden and so on. There are always so many kinds of flowers blooming almost around the whole year, and we can see various interesting strange and rare species growing vigorously in the large greenhouse, also a pleasant green overflowing around the Center Lawn. Moreover, many sorts of tourism facilities are available here. Up to present about 4,000 species have been introduced or cultivated. Since spring and fall coming, some magnificent exhibitions of famous flowers would be regularly held in the garden. You can say here has been getting into a real plant kingdom in which herbs and bushes and arbors flourish harmoniously with birds frolicking. WBG has gradually developed into the biggest germ plasma reservation center of Central China and bio-diversity protection base of north subtropical flora in China.
Wuhan Zoo
Located at the bank of Moshuihu Lake, covering an area of 48 hectares, it is one of the eight largest zoos in China. With a beautiful natural environment and prominent features, it has more than three hundred various species wild rare animals. Although it is technically a zoo, there is more to this zoo than just animals. The zoo contains a small area of amusement park rides, and a beautiful bonsai garden. Of course, those who are interested in seeing the animals will not be disappointed, as the zoo features a Giant Panda (be aware that they occasionally take the panda out to travel to other parts of the country), red pandas, hippos, wolves, zebras, and many other popular zoo animals. No visit to this zoo would be complete without seeing one of the daily shows! Well-trained animals performing unbelievable stunts, from puppies doing tricks to bicycling bears.
Hubei Provincial Museum
Hubei Provincial Museum, located in the Wuchang District of Wuhan, Hubei Province, is the only provincial comprehensive museum in the province. The museum collects, protects, and exhibits the cultural relics discovered in the province. Since 1953, the museum has collected over 200,000 cultural relics, including pottery, porcelains, jade, bronze vessels, ancient weapons, and ancient musical instruments. Among these cultural relics, 812 are listed as first-class relics of China, and 16 are considered national treasures. This museum is divided into three parts: the Chime Bells Exhibition Hall, the Chu (a state in the Spring and Autumn Period (770BC-476BC)) Culture Exhibition Hall, and the Comprehensive Exhibition Building. The Comprehensive Exhibition is still under construction at the present time. The Chime Bells Exhibition Hall contains two parts: the Exhibition Hall and the Music Hall. In the Exhibition Hall, you can see many cultural relics that have been unearthed from the tomb of Yi (the king of the Zeng Sate in the Warring States Period (476 BC - 221 BC), such as the exquisite bronze vessel known as 'Crane Standing on the Antler', ancient halberds, triangle-shaped swords called Shu, and the bamboo slips that were used for writing on in ancient times. The most famous treasure is the Chime Bells, which is the largest bronze musical instrument ever discovered.
Chairman Mao Zedong’s Villa
The famous villa of Chairman Mao Zedong in Wuhan is strategically located at the scenic bank of East Lake of Wuchang, which consists of Meiling Buildings One, Two and Three. It was once a retreat house for Chairman Mao and other privileged ruling members of the Politburo. During the Chinese Cultural Revolution, Mao in a letter nicknamed it 'Home of the White Clouds and Yellow Cranes' where he enjoyed the quiet ambiance and great relief it offered. The attractive scenery of tree-lined footpath, dense grove, flying songbirds, and Chairman Mao's favourite pines, bamboo trees and plums seen everywhere can undoubtedly, make one reluctant to leave. Meiling was Mao's summer villa where he lived for a long time and often visited many times besides Zhongnanhai. He came here once a year up to three times a year, at the most, and stayed for one month to as long as six months. Meiling was open to the public in the early 1993, and has received numerous travellers, both local tourists and foreigners. It is now a very hot tourist spot where many could recall Chairman Mao's experiences of his late years and get glimpses of the great leader's historical and colorful life.