Wuhan Details, Meaning Wuhan Article and Explanation Guide

Wuhan Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description

Wǔhàn (Traditional Chinese: 武漢, Simplified Chinese: 武汉) is the capital of Hubei province, and is the most populated city in central China. It lies at the confluence of the Chang Jiang (Yangtze) and Han Rivers. It has a population of approximately 7,000,000 people.

Table of contents

1 Geography
2 History
3 Tourist sites
4 Economy
5 Colleges and Universities
6 Popular Foods
7 External links

Geography

The metropolitan area contains three cities - Wǔchāng; (武昌), Hànkǒu; (汉口), and Hànyáng (汉阳) which face each other across the rivers and are linked by bridges, including one of the first modern bridges in China, known as the First Bridge. It is simple in geographical structure - low and flat in the middle and hilly in the south, with the Chang Jiang and Han rivers winding through the city.

History

The area was first settled more than 3,000 years ago. During the Han Dynasty, Hanyang became a fairly busy port. In the 3rd centuries AD, walls were built to protect Hanyang (AD 206) and Wuchang (AD 223). The latter event marks the foundation of Wuhan. In AD 223, the Yellow Crane Tower (黄鹤楼) was constructed on the Wuchang side of the Yangtze River. Cuī Hào; (崔颢), a celebrated poet of Tang Dynasty, visited the building in the early 8th Century; his poem made the building the most celebrated building in southern China. Under the Mongol ruler (Yuan Dynasty), Wuchang was promoted to the status of provincial capital. By approximately 300 years ago, Hankou had become one of the country's top four trading towns.

In the late 1800's railroads were extended on a north-south axis through this city, which then became an important transhipment point between rail and river traffic. At this time foreign powers extracted concessions, with the riverfront of Hankow being divided up into various foreign controlled merchant districts.

In 1911, Sun Yat-sen's followers launched the Wuchang Uprising that led to the collapse of the Qing Dynasty and the establishment of the Republic of China. Wuhan was the capital of a leftist Kuomintang government led by Wang Jingwei in opposition to Chiang Kai-shek during the 1920s.

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The First Bridge at Wuhan was built over the Chang Jiang (Yangtze) river in 1957, carrying the railroad directly across the river between Snake Hill (on the left in the picture above) and Turtle Hill. Before this bridge was built it could take up to an entire day to barge railcars across. Including its approaches, it is 5,511 feet long, and it accommodates both a double-track railway on a lower deck and a four lane roadway above.

The Yellow Crane Tower, which had been destroyed and reconstructed numerous times, was burned again in 1884. Reconstruction took place in 1981. The reconststruction utilized modern materials and even includes an elevator, yet in outward appearance and detail is true in spirit to the traditional design of the tower through the centuries

The city has been subject to numerous devastating floods, expected to be controlled by the Three Gorges Dam, recently completed.

Tourist sites

The Hubei provincial museum and especially its excavated tomb artifacts which include a magnificent and unique concert bell set. A dance and orchestral show is given here, using reproductions of the original instruments.

The Yellow Crane Tower, modern in structure, ancient in lore and legend.

The Rock and "Bonsai" museum includes a magnificent mounted platybelodon skeleton, many unique and finely figured rocks, a giant quartz crystal (as large as an automobile) and an outdoor garden with miniature trees in the Chinese style.
Some luxury Riverboat tours begin here after a flight from Beijing or Shanghai, with several days of flatland cruising and then climbing through the Three Gorges with passage upstream past the Gezhouba and Three Gorges dams to the metropolis of Chongqing. With the completion of the dam a number of cruises now start from the upstream side and continue east, with tourists traveling by motor coach from Wuhan. Although there is no longer the excitement of fast water cruising through the three gorges, and some of the historic wall carvings are now underwater, much of the drama of the high cliffs and narrow passages remains.