Wuhan

For the brand of cymbal, see Wuhan cymbals.

Location within China

Modern and ancient

Wuhan (help·info) (Simplified Chinese: 武汉; Traditional Chinese: 武漢; pinyin: Wǔhàn) is the capital of Hubei province, and is the most populous city in central China. It lies at the confluence of the Yangtze and Han River. It has a population of approximately 9,100,000 people (2006). In the 1920s, Wuhan was the capital of a leftist Chinese Nationalist government led by Wang Jingwei in opposition to Chiang Kai-shek.

Geography

The metropolitan area consists of three parts - Wuchang, Hankou, and Hanyang, commonly called the "Three Towns of Wuhan" (hence the name "Wuhan", combining "Wu" from the first city and "Han" from the other two). These three parts 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 Yangtze and Han rivers winding through the city.

History

View from the Yellow Crane Tower

The area was first settled more than 3,000 years ago. During the Han Dynasty, Hanyang became a fairly busy port. In the 3rd century 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. Cui Hao, 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. The city has long been renowned as a center for the arts (especially poetry) and for intellectual studies. 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.

Wuhan Custom House, opened in 1862

In the late 1800s 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 mercantile concessions, with the riverfront of Hankou being divided up into various foreign controlled merchant districts. These districts contained trading firm offices, warehouses, and docking facilities.

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.

In 1938, Wuhan and its proximities became the battlefield of the Battle of Wuhan, a major conflict in the Second Sino-Japanese War. After being taken by the Japanese in 1938, Wuhan became a major Japanese logistics center for operations in southern China. In December 1944, the city was largely destroyed in U.S. firebombing raids conducted by the 14th Army Air Force.

The city has been subject to numerous devastating floods, which are supposed to be controlled by the ambitious Three Gorges Dam. That project is set to be completed in 2009, but is plagued by environmental, technical, and social issues.

Transport

First bridge

The First Chang River Bridge at Wuhan was built over the Yangtze River (Chang Jiang) in 1957, carrying the railroad directly across the river between Snake Hill (on the left in the picture below) 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 (1680 m) long, and it accommodates both a double-track railway on a lower deck and a four lane roadway above.

The First Bridge at Wuhan. This view is upstream, toward the distant Three Gorges and Chongqing

The second bridge

The second bridge, a cable-stayed bridge, built of pre-stressed concrete, has a central span of 400 meters The Wuhan Second Changjiang Bridge is 4,678 meters in length (including 1,877 meters of the main bridge) and 26.5 to 33.5 meters in width. Its main bridgeheads are 90 meters high each, pulling 392 thick slanting cables together in the shape of double fans, so that the central span of the bridge is well poised on the piers and the bridge's stability and vibration resistance are ensured. With six lanes on the deck, the bridge is designed to handle 50,000 motor vehicles passing every day.

The third bridge

The Third Wuhan Changjiang Bridge was completed in September 2000. Located 8.6 kilometers southwest of the First Bridge, construction of Baishazhou Bridge started in 1997. With an investment of over 1.4 billion yuan (about 170 million U.S. dollars), the bridge, which is 3,586 meters long and 26.5 meters wide, has six lanes and has a capacity of 50,000 vehicles a day. The bridge is expected to serve as a major passage for the future Wuhan Ring Road, enormously easing the city's traffic and aiding local economic development.

Railway station

In 2006, construction was starting on a new railway station with 11 platforms.

Wuhan Metro

In September 2004, Wuhan became the sixth Chinese city with a metro (after Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen). The first 10.2km line (10 stations) is an elevated metro (and therefore called 'light rail' in Chinese terminology). It runs from Huangpu to Zongguan in the downtown area of the Hankou District, and it is the first one in the country to use a communication-based train control system, provided by [Alcatel]. The designed minimum interval is only 90 seconds between two trains and driverless operation.

Tourist sites

Replica instruments of ancient originals are played at the Hubei Provincial Museum. A spectacular replica set of bronze concert bells is in the background and a set of stone chimes is to the right

• At Wuchang you can find East Lake, the largest lake within a city in China.
• The Hubei Provincial Museum includes many artifacts excavated from ancient tombs, including a magnificent and unique concert bell set. A dance and orchestral show is given here, using reproductions of the original instruments.
• 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 penjing ("Chinese Bonsai ") 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 city 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 will soon be underwater, much of the drama of the high cliffs and narrow passages remains.

Ancient bronze concert bells at the Hubei Provincial Museum

• The Yellow Crane Tower (aka. Huanghelou), modern in structure, ancient in lore and legend. The original tower is presumed to have been first built in approximately 220 AD. The tower has been destroyed and reconstructed numerous times, was burned last in 1884. Complete reconstruction took place in 1981. The reconstruction 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.

• Jiqing Street(吉庆街), a street full of road side restaurants and street performers during the evening, well-known by Chinese due to a novel Live Show (生活秀) with stories of events on this street by Chi Li. It's a great place to know how locals live, eat, and to enjoy some local performance. Each song costs around 10 RMB, and you can order 3 songs with 20 RMB, provided you know those song names in Chinese. Performances include pop music, folk songs, rock'n'roll, stand-up comedy, and so on, mostly in Mandarin or local dialect.

Yellow Crane Tower

Economy

Wuhan is a sub-provincial city. Its GDP was RMB 223.8 billion and GDP per capita was approximately RMB 26,000 (US$3,245) in 2005.[1] In 2005, the city's average disposable income was 10,850 yuan, up 13.4% from a year earlier.[2]

Wuhan has currently attracted about 50 French invested companies, over one third of French investment in China, the most among Chinese cities.^[1]

Colleges and universities

There are eight national colleges and universities^[2], and fourteen public colleges and universities^[3] in Wuhan.

National

Public

Note: Institutions without full-time bachelor programs are not listed.

Language

Wuhan natives speak a dialect of Southwestern Mandarin Chinese. Because it also has a blend of southern Chinese elements, the Wuhan dialect was once promoted as the ideal basis for a standard Chinese dialect. Standard Chinese however is now based on the Beijing dialect.

Folklore

Because of its hot summer weather, Wuhan is known as one of the Four Furnaces of China, along with Nanjing, Nanchang and Chongqing. Wuhan is by far the hottest of the Four Furnaces; the average temperature in July is 37.2°C (99°F), and the maximum often exceeds 40°C (104°F).

The Lute Platform in Hanyang was where the legendary musician Yu Boya is said to have played. Yu Boya played for the last time over the grave of his friend Zhong Ziqi, then smashed his lute because the only person able to appreciate his music was dead.

Popular foods

• Hot and Dry Noodle, "Re gan mian" (热干面) is a kind of noodle which is very popular in this city. The Chinese word "Re" means hot and "gan" means dry. The most 'Wuhaneseful' food.
• Duck's Neck, "Ya Bo Zi" (鸭脖子) is a local version of this popular Chinese dish, made of duck necks and spices.
• Bead Pan, "Dou Pi" (豆皮）is a popular local dish with a soy skin containing egg, rice, beef, mushrooms and beans.
• Soup Bun, "Tang Bao"（汤包）is a kind of dumpling with thin skin made of flour, steamed with very juicy meat inside, it is called Tang(soup)Bao(bun) is this, because every time one takes a bite from it the soup inside spills out.
• Salty Doughnut, "Mian Wo"(面窝) is a kind of doughnut with salty taste. It's much thinner than common doughnut, and is a typical Wuhan local food.

Famous people

• Dong Bi Wu was the first Mayor of Wuhan after the founding of People's Republic of China. He founded the famous school Wuhan high school in 1920.
• Modern Writer Chi Li is from Wuhan.
• Tennis Players Li Na and Li Ting are from Wuhan and reside in Hankou.
• Olympic gold medal diver Fu Mingxia is from Wuhan and resided in Hankou.
• Famous table tennis player Qiao Hong is from Wuhan.
• Vice Premier and Minister Of Health of China Wu Yi, is a native of Wuhan. She was ranked the 2nd Most Powerful Woman in the World by Forbes.com
• Famous actress Xu Fan is from Wuhan.
• Olympic Games medal winner diver Hailiang Xiao is from Wuhan.

Astronomical phenomena

• The next total solar eclipse fully visible at Wuhan will be the Solar eclipse of 2009-Jul-22 to occur on July 22, 2009
• The last total solar eclipse fully visible at Wuhan was on September 21, 1941

Soccer

In May 2006 top Chinese soccer team Wuhan Huanghelou announced that they had formed a lucrative deal with top English team Bolton Wanderers which would see both coaching and commercial methods exchanged.

Sister Cities

• Arnhem, Netherlands, since June 1999
• Bordeaux, France, since June 18, 1998
• Cheongju, Republic of Korea, since October 29, 2000
• Christchurch, New Zealand, since April 4, 2006
• Duisburg, Germany, since October 8, 1982
• Galaţi, Romania, since August 12, 1987
• Győr, Hungary, since October 19, 1995
• Khartoum, Sudan, since September 27, 1995
• Kiev, Ukraine, since October 19, 1990
• Manchester, United Kingdom, since September 16, 1986
• Markham, Canada, since September 12, 2006
• Ōita, Japan, since September 7, 1979
• Pittsburgh, United States of America, since September 8, 1982
• Sankt Pölten, Austria, since December 20, 2005

See also

• List of cities in the People's Republic of China by population
• List of current and former capitals of subnational entities of China
• Wuhan Hospital for Children's Welfare

References

External links

• Official site, in English
• Wuhan city guide
• Google map centered on First Bridgel
• www.wh.gov.cn
• Experience Wuhan

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