Wuhan
Wuhan is the crossroads of China: every train passes through, and the river that made it is still the point. Come for the breakfast culture, the old concessions of Hankou, the East Lake greenway, and the ferry across the Yangtze at dusk.
- Region
- Hubei, South
- Best months
- Mar–Apr, Oct–Nov
- Airports
- WUH
- Suggested stay
- 2–3 days
Overview
Wuhan is three cities that grew together at the meeting of the Yangtze and the Han: Wuchang on the south bank with the universities and the lake, Hankou on the north with the old foreign concessions and the money, and Hanyang in between. The 1957 bridge joined them and you can still walk across it.
The city eats breakfast standing up. Guozao, passing the morning, is a ritual of hot dry noodles, doupi and fried dough bought from windows and eaten on the move. Do it on Liangdao Street in Wuchang rather than the tourist alley.
East Lake is six times the size of Hangzhou's West Lake, with a hundred kilometres of cycle paths and cherry blossom in March. Summer is brutal; Wuhan is one of the furnace cities. Spring and autumn are the seasons.
Getting there
Wuhan has three big stations. Wuhan station, in the east, is on the Beijing–Guangzhou line: Beijing four hours, Guangzhou four, Changsha an hour and a half. Hankou station serves Shanghai in about four hours and Chongqing in five to six. Both are on the metro. Tianhe (WUH) airport is on metro line 2, about an hour to the centre.
Rail tip. Your passport is your ticket. Book on 12306 or Trip.com, then go straight to the gate. See Getting around.
Where to stay
Wuchang and Tanhualin
武昌·昙华林Old streets, the university quarter, the lake close by. The relaxed side.
Around Tanhualin and Liangdao Street, between the Yellow Crane Tower and East Lake. Guesthouses in old houses, breakfast windows on every corner, metro lines 2 and 5.
Hankou concessions
汉口老租界Banks and villas from the treaty-port years, along the river. Grand, and central.
Between Jianghan Road and the riverfront. Hotels in old bank buildings, bars on Lihuangpi Road, the ferry pier at the bottom of the street.
Things to do
Yellow Crane Tower
黄鹤楼The tower every Tang poet wrote about, rebuilt in 1985 on the hill over the bridge.
Yangtze River Bridge and the ferry
武汉长江大桥·轮渡Walk across the 1957 bridge, then take the two-yuan ferry back at sunset.
East Lake Greenway
东湖绿道A hundred kilometres of car-free lakeside paths. Rent a bike and pick a section.
Hubei Provincial Museum
湖北省博物馆The bronze bells of Marquis Yi, 2,400 years old and still in tune. Free with a booking.
Hankou old concessions
汉口老租界Five foreign concessions' worth of banks, churches and villas, along the Yangtze.
Tanhualin
昙华林A hillside street of old mission buildings, studios and cafés in Wuchang.
Eat
Hot dry noodles (reganmian) with sesame paste and pickles, doupi (a crisp skin of egg and rice around sticky rice and pork), mianwo doughnuts and tangbao at Sijimei, all before nine. Later, Wuchang fish steamed, spicy duck necks from Zhou Hei Ya or Jiujiu, and lotus root soup, the Hubei comfort dish. Hubu Alley is the famous snack street; Liangdao Street is where locals go.
From travellers in Wuhan
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