 | | Group at the Hubei Provincial Museum (Leonard G) |
You may not realize that the relationship between Wuhan and Manchester. In October 1986, Wuhan and Manchester officially became sister cities. Both cities have carried out effective exchange and cooperation in many fields such as the economy, culture, science and technology, and education. Wuhan has over 3,500 years of recorded history, and is the capital city of Hubei Province. It is the biggest metropolis in central China occupying an area of over 8,000km2 and has a population of over 8 million people. Where is Wuhan?
 | | Wuhan's location in China |
Geographically, Wuhan is located in the centre of the country and serves as a communications hub for water-land-air transportation in China. If you take Wuhan as a central point and draw a circle with a radius of 1000km, you will find that Beijing is in the north, Xi’an in the northwest, Chongqing in the southwest, Guangzhou in the south and Shanghai in the east; all these cities are under two hours away by air. How’s the weather? Wuhan enjoys a comfortable subtropical monsoon climate with abundant precipitation, full sunshine and four distinct seasons. What’s Wuhan like?
 | | Wuhan's TV tower (pic: Leonard G) |
The metropolitan area of Wuhan consists of three parts - Wuchang, Hankou, and Hanyang, commonly called the "Three Towns of Wuhan". Each town has its own unique characteristics: Wuchang is well known for education, culture and lake scenery; Hankou is well known for business, finance and folk customs; Hanyang is well known for historical sites and industries. There are many scenic beauty spots scattered around the city: the ancient Panlong Town, the Yellow Crane Tower (or Huanghelou), the Lute Platform, the Guiyuan Temple and the East Lake. Known as a "Hundred–lake city", the water resources per capita of Wuhan are approximately 900,000m3, which is 37 times as much as the whole country’s average. The city abounds in water with lakes and rivers making up just over 25 per cent of its entire territory, the biggest share among all the major Chinese cities. The Yellow Crane Tower
 | | Yellow Crane Tower |
The Yellow Crane Tower is famous throughout China, thanks in part to two poems, one by Cui Hao from the eighth century and the other written by Mao Zedong in 1927: Yellow Crane Tower - Cui Hao Past person already gone yellow crane away
Here only remain yellow crane tower
Yellow crane once gone not return
White cloud 1000 years sky leisuredly
Clear river clear Hanyang tree
Fragrant grass parrot islet
Day dusk homeland pass what place be
Mist water river on become person sorrow
The yellow crane has long since gone away,
All that here remains is yellow crane tower.
The yellow crane once gone does not return,
White clouds drift slowly for a thousand years.
The river is clear in Hanyang by the trees,
And fragrant grass grows thick on parrot isle.
In this dusk, I don't know where my homeland lies,
The river's mist-covered waters bring me sorrow.Ìý Yellow Crane Tower - Mao Zedong Wide, wide flow the nine streams through the land,
Dark, dark threads the line from south to north.
Blurred in the thick haze of the misty rain
Tortoise and Snake hold the great river locked. The yellow crane is gone, who knows whither?
Only this tower remains a haunt for visitors.
I pledge my wine to the surging torrent,
The tide of my heart swells with the waves.
 | | Yangtze River from Yellow Crane Tower (Leonard G) |
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