Yellow Crane Tower Park

"The First Tower of the Rivers and Mountains under Heaven" (a military watchtower built by Sun Quan in 223, the second year of Huangwu of Eastern Wu in the Three Kingdoms period; repeatedly destroyed and rebuilt—burned down in 1884, rebuilt on Snake Hill in 1985), main tower 51.4m with five tiers of flying eaves (golden gourd finial), layered with inscribed verses from Cui Hao's "The man of old has ridden away on a yellow crane" and Li Bai's "My old friend bids farewell at Yellow Crane Tower"; Mao Zedong ci-poem pavilion / Baiyun Pavilion / Millennium Auspicious Bell. In 223 (the second year of Huangwu of Eastern Wu in the Three Kingdoms period), Sun Quan built a military watchtower on Snake Hill when raising the city of Xiakou; through wars and fires the tower was destroyed and rebuilt again and again, the last Qing-era tower burned down in 1884, and in 1985 it was rebuilt in Qing style atop Snake Hill; the 51.4m main tower rises with five tiers of eaves converging upward, its golden gourd finial gleaming in the sun. Cui Hao's "The man of old has ridden away on a yellow crane; only Yellow Crane Tower remains on this spot" made Li Bai set down his brush in admiration, and "My old friend bids farewell west of Yellow Crane Tower, sailing down through misty March to Yangzhou" turned it into a landmark of Chinese poetry; from the top you gaze out over the Yangtze River Bridge and the skyline of the three towns, while the Mao Zedong ci-poem pavilion, Baiyun Pavilion and Millennium Auspicious Bell are scattered through the park—a well-deserved emblem of the city of Wuhan.

Getting there: Metro Line 5, Simenkou Huanghelou Station