Wuhan 武汉

1

Breakfast alley: hot dry noodles, doupi and fried doughsticks.

2

The most-quoted tower in Chinese poetry, overlooking the Yangtze.

3

Six times the size of West Lake; greenways, cherry trees and lakeside cycling.

4

Home of the 2,400-year-old bells of Marquis Yi of Zeng.

5

"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), Cui Hao's verse "The man of old has ridden away on a yellow crane"…

6

Completed in 1957 as the "First Bridge over the Ten-Thousand-Li Yangtze" (Soviet-assisted design, road-rail dual use); "A flying bridge spans north and south, turning the natural moat into a thoroughfare" (Mao Zedong's ci poem)

7

"Scenic wonder of the Three Chu regions" (facing Yellow Crane Tower across the river, from Cui Hao's line "The sunlit river shows Hanyang's trees in clear view"); Yu-Ji Palace (commemorating Yu the Great's flood control) + Tiemen Pass (Three Kingdoms relic)

8

October 10, 1911 Wuchang Uprising of the Xinhai Revolution: former site of the Wuchang Uprising Military Government (the Red Building, "Military Government of the Republic of China, Hubei Military Governor's Office"), Uprising Gate (former Zhonghe Gate), Shouyi Culture Park

9

Four treasure highlights: Sword of Goujian, King of Yue (unearthed in 1965, still rust-free after a thousand years) / Bianzhong of Marquis Yi of Zeng (65 Warring States chime bells + complete set of ritual vessels) / Yunxian Man skull fossils (a million years old) / Yuan-dynasty blue-and-white “Four Loves” meiping vase

10

Geometric red building, “Foundation of the Republic” exhibition on the history of the 1911 Revolution

11

“China's most beautiful university” (Republic-era Old Study Halls “cherry blossom castle”), cherry blossom season (mid-to-late March, reservation required) with thousands of trees on Cherry Blossom Avenue

12

Built in 1877, “the most extraordinary temple of Chinese Buddhism” — Burmese Ananda style (a mix of Gothic pointed arches + Romanesque colonnades + Islamic domes, unique in China)

13

Built in 1651 (8th year of the Shunzhi reign, Qing dynasty), “a wondrous realm west of the Han River” (the custom of counting arhats — Hall of Five Hundred Arhats in a grid layout), calligraphy by Master Changming

14

Built by disciples of Qiu Chuji (Master Changchun) in the Yuan dynasty, Wuhan's great Quanzhen school Taoist monastery, with a Sutra Repository and Hall of the Seven Masters

15

"Wuhan's Museum of Twentieth-Century Architecture" (1600m century-old commercial street), old bank buildings (former Shanghai Bank / Daqing Bank sites) and the Zhongshan Avenue historic district

16

Asia's largest riverside park (1.6 million m² three-tier flood-control landscape), reed marshes (reed-flower season Nov-Dec), night cruise terminals for the two rivers

17

One of China's largest urban lakes (33km² of water), Tingtao area (Xingyin Pavilion commemorating Qu Yuan) / Moshan area (Chutian Tower chime-bell performances / Cherry Blossom Garden—one of the world's three great cherry blossom sites, March) / Luoyan area / Chuidi area

18

1978 Sino-Japanese friendship cherry grove (5 gardens, 3,000+ trees), illuminated night cherry blossoms

19

Republic-of-China-era style commercial street (built by Wanda, 1.5km along the Chu River), Madame Tussauds (Wuhan)

20

Drifting multi-dimensional experience show "Zhiyin" (Republic-era steamship, a 1920s Wuhan story; audiences can dress up and enter the play)

21

Central China's largest theme park (Extreme Rusher / Wooden Wings Double Dragon coasters), Maya Beach Water Park (summer)

22

The "Han Show" water dance show (a Wanda collaboration with Franco Dragone, 2,725-seat aquatic stage)

23

Site of the 2015 Garden Expo (116 exhibition gardens), Yangtze River Civilization Museum + Behring Great Rivers Life Museum (African animal specimen collection)

24

Mulan Mountain (General Mulan legend, Taoist Golden Summit) / Mulan Tianchi (ten waterfalls, thirteen pools) / Mulan Grassland (grassland scenery of Central China) / Mulan Yunwu Mountain (April azalea sea) — the "Four Mulan Scenes"

25

Tujia-Miao ethnic culture area (stilt houses + "Jinligou" live-action performance)

26

Hubei's second-largest freshwater lake ("Liangzi Lake crab", Sept-Oct), ferry to Liangzi Island in the lake's center

27

Site of the Three Kingdoms Battle of Red Cliffs (the two-character 'Red Cliff' cliff inscription is said to be by Zhou Yu), Baifeng Platform / Fengchu Temple

28

Home of filial-piety culture (legend of Dong Yong and the Seventh Fairy), Shuangfeng Mountain Forest Park

Alkaline noodles tossed in sesame paste, Wuhan's breakfast king.

Century-old hot dry noodle house.

One alley, one hundred breakfasts (guozao culture).