The Wuhan reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Jul-2004
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Wuhan

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Modern and ancientEnlarge

Modern and ancient

Wǔhàn (Traditional Chinese: 武漢, Simplified Chinese: 武汉) is the capital of Hubei province, the most populated city in central China, lies at the confluence of the 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 Most Popular Food
7 External links

Geography

View from the Yellow Crane TowerEnlarge

View from the Yellow Crane Tower

The city comprises three towns - Wǔchāng (武昌), Hànkǒu (汉口), and Hànyáng (汉阳) which face each other across the rivers and are linked by three bridges. It is simple in geographical structure - low and flat in the middle and hilly in the south, with the Chang Jiang (Yangtze) 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 (206 AD) and Wuchang (223 AD). The latter event marks the foundation of Wuhan. In 223 AD, 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. 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 city has been subject to numerous devastating floods, expected to be controlled by the Three Gorges Dam, recently completed.

Tourist sites

Bronze concert bells in background, stone bells at rightEnlarge

Bronze concert bells in background, stone bells at right

Yellow Crane TowerEnlarge

Yellow Crane Tower

Economy

It is a sub-provincial city. The GDP per capita was RMB16,206 (ca. US$1,960) in 2003, ranked no. 114 among 659 Chinese cities.

Colleges and Universities

[National]

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

Most Popular Food

Rè Gān Miàn (热干面)is a kind of noodle which is very popular in this city.

Ya Bo Zi (鸭脖子) is a local version of this popular chinese dish, made of duck necks and spices.

External links