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Guides for the Business Traveler
Wuhan (2007)
4 hours in Wuhan (2007)
2007 Business Traveler 4-Hour Guide Sponsored by Korean Air. Gary Bowerman discovers Wuhan’s collections of Buddhist scriptures and statues, and ancient musical instruments.
 | Colonial Architecture The capital of Central China's Hubei province, Wuhan is one of China's fastest-growing commercial cities. However, it played a pivotal role in the development of the modern Chinese state. Today's city is an aggregation (hence its name) of three settlements, Wuchang, Hanyang and Hankou, clustered around the convergence of the Yangtze River and its largest tributary, the Han River. Located at a mid-point along the Yangtze between the two mega-cities of Shanghai and Chongqing, it was recognized by the British as a key strategic inland treaty port. Today, the city's concession-era legacy is well preserved, with some fine mansions, office quarters and commercial buildings dotted around Jiefang Dadao and Qingnian Lu. The city has, like Shanghai, a dominant Customs Building and a Bund (now known as Yanjiang Dadao)—a riverfront embankment lined with grand new-classical buildings. Also like Shanghai, Wuhan once had a horse racetrack, which has been converted into the nearby Zhongshan Park. For history buffs, events in Wuhan precipitated the 1911 overthrow of the Qing Dynasty and its imperial system. A mistakenly exploded bomb at the headquarters of a revolutionary faction resulted in the execution of those responsible by imperial guards. This sparked a revolt against the Manchu Qing overlords that spread nationwide, and ended, in 1911, with the installation of a nationalist government based in Nanjing, headed by "the father of modern China," Sun Yat-sen. |  | Yellow Crane Tower The people of Wuhan are very proud of the Yellow Crane Tower (entry RMB4.50), one of the city's most recognizable landmarks. Take a cab across the Great Changjiang Bridge spanning the Yangtze River to Wuchang district to discover why. Designed as a military lookout tower, and originally built in 223 A.D. during the Three Kingdoms Period, it has since been destroyed and rebuilt several times. It is this durability, as well as its hilltop perch, that most pleases the locals. Today's five-story, 561-foot-high incarnation sits proudly atop She Shan (Snake Hill), and was totally renovated in Qing style in 1985. The views across the river and three founding settlements show how the geography of this ambitious-yet-complex city knits together. Do bring a hat and water and wear sunscreen, though, especially during the summer months, as Wuhan is rightfully recognized—along with Chongqing and Nanjing—as one of China's self-explanatory "Furnace Cities." On the south slope, housed in a red-brick mansion, is the rather sternly titled Memorial Hall of the 1911 Wuchang Uprising. Look for a signature bronze statue of Sun Yat-sen in the courtyard. |  | Hubei Provincial Museum Take another cab headed east to Donghu Lu and the impressive Hubei Provincial Museum. The agricultural plains of Hubei Province were once self-contained within the independent Chu state, and this story is well told here. The museum contains thousands of artifacts from the multi-layered tomb of Marquis Yi (Zenghouyi), which dates back to 433 B.C. When excavated in 1978 near the city of Suzhou, thousands of bronze and wooden treasures were discovered. One highlight is the collection of 64 bronze bells, which, along with the more than 100 other musical instruments on display here, is presented as evidence of diverse musical leanings in ancient China. Entry RMB34 |  | Dong Hu The lakeside scenic spot behind the Provincial Museum is a peaceful and relaxing place to wander. There are several well-signposted pavilions and gardens—notably Billow Listening House and Poem Reciting House and the Nine Heroines Tomb, dedicated to nine women who perished during the anti-Qing Taiping Uprising of 1851–64. If you are lucky enough to visit in late March/early April, the flowering Cherry Blossom Gardens are extremely beautiful, and a highlight of the natural and cultural calendar in Wuhan. |  | Guiyan Temple Cross back over the river by cab to the district of Hanyang, in the southwest of modern Wuhan. The working Buddhist monastery Guiyan Temple possesses a fine and widely revered scripture collection and is a pleasant, incense-scented spot to finish a short tour of the city. The main attraction is the collection of 500 Arhats, statues of Buddhist saints, each one displaying a unique pose and facial expression. |
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