Sights in Wǔhàn
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Yellow Crane Tower
Once a military observation post, the landmark five-storey Yellow Crane Tower first rose up during the Warring States period, although this is a Qing dynasty rebuild. The birds immortalised in Li Bai's snappy Tang-dynasty stanzas have long flown and the only cranes visible from here are the steel variety, wheeling slowly over construction sites citywide.
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Wuhan University
Wuhan University was founded in 1913. The university was the site of the 1967 'Wuhan Incident' - a protracted battle during the Cultural Revolution, where machine gun nests were built on top of the library and supply tunnels were dug through the hill.
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Former Hankou Railway Station
Wǔhàn's history of foreign influence has bequeathed a noble crop of heritage architecture dating from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, especially in Hànkǒu. Hànkǒu's concession-era streetscapes hint at Shànghǎi's Bund district, despite the neglected condition of many buildings. Walk down Jianghan Lu (with its echoes of Shànghǎi's Nanjing Lu) and Yanjiang Dadao, where Hànkǒu's Bund is located.
The imposing shell of the gutted, French-designed former Hankou Railway Station, at the north end of Chezhan Lu, dates from 1900 and remains decorated with green roofing, an eagle over its main door and a plaque that reads 'Hank'eou (Tatchemen)' (in modern pinyin p…
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B
Guīyuán Temple
Pass a large rectangular pond where turtles cling like shipwrecked survivors to two metal lotus flowers and examine the magnificently burnished cabinet housing Milefo in the first hall. Also seek out this 350-year-old Buddhist temple's collection of more than 500 statues of enlightened disciples in the Hall of Arhats (罗汉堂; Luóhàn Táng). Completed in 1890, after nine years in the making, they remain in pristine condition. In the Mahasattva Pavilion (大士阁; Dàshì Gé), the 2m-high Tang-dynasty tablet carved with an image of Guanyin holding a willow branch is impressive and a jade Buddha can be found in the Cángjīng Pavilion (藏经阁; Cángjīng Gé). Bus 401 (Y2) …
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Húběi Provincial Museum
The centrepiece of this fabulous museum is the exhibition of the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng, which includes one of the world's largest musical instruments, a remarkable 5-tonne set of 64 double-tone bronze bells. The museum is beside the enormous East Lake (东湖; Dōng Hú), a pleasant area for cycling. Take bus 402 or 411.
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Chángchūn Temple
This charming Taoist temple dates back to the Han dynasty. The Hall of Supreme Purity (Tàiqīng Diàn), containing a white-bearded statue of Laotzu, is the centrepiece. Other halls lead up the steep steps behind it. There's a good vegetarian restaurant next door. Buses 411, 401 and 402 all go here.
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Minsheng Bank Building
Though there are scores of reminders of its past, Wǔhàn, like China at large, has at all times one eye - and usually two - firmly fixed on the present. Currently the world's 18th-tallest building, the stunning 331m-high Minsheng Bank Building generated controversy with experts warning that the soft geology of Wuhan was unsuited to such a towering edifice.
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Former Headquarters of the Wuchang Uprising
Near the Yellow Crane Tower is the colonial-style red brick Former Headquarters of the Wuchang Uprising, source of the final collapse of the Qing dynasty. Get in the mood by donning full a Republican officer's uniform (around Y10) and brandishing a sword for a photo-op.
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Yokohama Syokin Bank
The former Yokohama Syokin Bank (dating from 1921) on the corner of Nanjing Lu is one of the monumental old-world buildings - epitaphs to an increasingly distant age - that push up against Yanjiang Dadao.
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The National City Bank of New York building
The National City Bank of New York building is one of the monumental old-world buildings - epitaphs to an increasingly distant age - that push up against Yanjiang Dadao.
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Russian Orthodox Church
The Russian Orthodox Church was built in 1881. Newly restored, the church sits alongside a café -its crypt now serving as a nightclub!
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The Mao Zedong Villa
The Mao Zedong Villa was one of the Chairman's boltholes and is a tourist fixture for Mao-ophiles.
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