What Is Wuhan?
This is a city best viewed in landscape mode
(Please view horizontally, with the Han River on the left and the Yangtze River on the right, photographer @ Jiang Ke)
(Please view horizontally, East Lake in Wuhan, photographer @ Tao Jin)
(Please view horizontally, photographer @ Tao Jin)
(Please view horizontally, Wuhan EMU Depot has the capacity to maintain 400 EMU sets, making it the world's largest EMU maintenance base, handling about 40% of China's total EMU maintenance tasks, photographer @ Yang Wenzhong)
It is China's transportation hub for land, water, and air
Across this 8,569-square-kilometer land
Highways, railways, aviation, and inland waterway shipping
(Wuhan's land-water-air transportation hub, map by @ Gong Xiangjie & Zheng Borong/Planet Research Institute)
It is China's largest major city by water area
(Satellite image of Wuhan, map by @ Gong Xiangjie & Zheng Borong/Planet Research Institute)
In the fierce competition among cities
(Changes in Wuhan's comprehensive economic competitiveness, based on the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' "17th Report on China's Urban Competitiveness," map by @ Zheng Borong/Planet Research Institute)
In terms of future-oriented scientific research capabilities
(2018 Global Scientific Research City Rankings, published by Nature, map by @ Gong Xiangjie & Zheng Borong/Planet Research Institute)
What kind of city is it exactly?
The Wushan Mountains between Chongqing and Hubei
(The Three Gorges of the Yangtze River, image from @ VCG; academic debates persist on the timing of the Three Gorges' formation, with estimates ranging from tens of millions to hundreds of thousands of years ago—here we present one of the views)
Swinging left and right along with other water systems
(Terrain of the Jianghan Plain and surrounding areas, map by @ Gong Xiangjie & Zheng Borong/Planet Research Institute)
The originally located mountains and hills here
have turned into low residual hills
such as Tortoise Hill, Snake Hill, Luojia Mountain, and Mo Mountain
(Mo Mountain, located by East Lake, with an elevation of 116.3 meters, features the retro-style Chutian Tower showcasing Chu culture; photographer: Lai Wei)
Rivers like Daoshui, Jushui, Jinshui, and Xunsi River
over 160 rivers longer than 5 kilometers
the Han River, stretching over 1,500 kilometers
(Please view horizontally, the confluence of the Han River and Yangtze River at Nan'an Zui, left: Han River, right: Yangtze River; photographer: Jiang Ke)
including Tiebanzhou, Baishazhou, and Tianxingzhou
resembling a string of pearls linked by the river
(Sandbars form through various processes; this is just one example; below is Tiebanzhou; photographer: Liu Bin)
Wuhan still retains 166 lakes of varying sizes
(Please view horizontally, East Lake; photographer: Wanshetang)
East Lake is not the largest lake
(Please view horizontally, Tangxun Lake; photographer: Liu Bin)
but Liangzi Lake, jointly managed with Ezhou and other areas
with Wuhan administering an area of 210 square kilometers
(Please view horizontally, Liangzi Lake, known for its Wuchang fish; photographer: Liu Bin)
forming a vibrant aquatic world
granting Wuhan 6 national wetland parks
is the most numerous among China's major cities
(Distribution map of Wuhan's water systems and wetland parks, map by Gong Xiangjie & Zheng Borong/Planet Research Institute)
including Chinese sturgeon, Yangtze sturgeon, and Chinese sucker
(Chinese sturgeon, with a body length of up to 5 meters and weighing over 500 kilograms, one of the world's largest freshwater fish, image source @VCG)
"A stretch of misty waves spans sixty miles, where flocks of winter gulls and their young gather"
(From Yuan Shuoyou's "Visiting Wuchang East Lake" in the Song Dynasty; the image below shows a bird flock at Fuhe Wetland Park, photographer @Hu Jinhua)
The cetacean mammal finless porpoise swims freely in the river
with a body length of 1.2 to 1.6 meters
(Finless porpoise, image source @VCG; however, another cetacean mammal in the Yangtze River, the baiji dolphin, is functionally extinct)
but a hub connecting the world
It can link Sichuan to the west and Wu-Yue to the east
further connecting via Dongting Lake, Xiang River, Poyang Lake, and Gan River
It also bridges Hunan and Jiangxi
forming a vast network of rivers and lakes
(Diagram of Wuhan's external water routes, map by Gong Xiangjie & Zheng Borong/Planet Research Institute)
Panlongcheng was responsible for transporting copper and tin ores for the Shang king
Sturdy walls protected the palaces within the city
with a 41-cm-long bronze battle-axe (yuè)
and a 94-cm-long large jade dagger-axe
showcasing formidable military power and authority
(The large bronze Yue axe unearthed from Panlongcheng, image courtesy of Panlongcheng Site Museum, collection of Hubei Provincial Museum)
Abundant copper and tin mineral resources in the areas surrounding Wuhan
Supported the brilliant bronze casting of the Shang Dynasty
This marks the beginning of Wuhan's urban history
(Panlongcheng site, image courtesy of Esri Image Map)
Wuhan's port capacity grew increasingly stronger
People from all directions traveled north and south via waterways
Wuhan became their convergence point
Confucius came to the State of Chu to promote his political ideas
"Pointing out the ford" (Zhidian mijin) originated from this event
(The exact location of Confucius' inquiry remains disputed; below is the Wenjin Academy built to commemorate the story, photographer @Xiaotu Wuhan)
Musician Boya and Zhong Ziqi met in Wuhan
(Recorded in "Liezi" and "Lüshi Chunqiu"; below is the ancient Guqin Terrace in Hanyang built to honor their friendship, photographer @Yaochen Shi)
Wang Wei "Bidding Farewell to Prefect Kang" in Wuhan
Wen Tingyun "Seeing Off a Friend Traveling East" in Wuhan
Wang Changling "Seeing Off a Friend Returning to Jiangxia" in Wuhan
Cen Shen "Seeing Off Feizi Returning to Wuchang" in Wuhan
Du Mu "Seeing Off Imperial Censor Wang to Xiakou" in Wuhan
Liu Changqing "Seeing Off Qu Tu on His Mission to Hunan" in Wuhan
The remarkably high frequency of arrivals and departures in Wuhan
(Tiemenguan, an ancient traffic pass in Wuhan, photographer @ Ou Changhong)
He welcomed and bid farewell to guests in Wuhan no less than ten times
"Accompanying Governor Song at a Night Banquet in Wuchang and Reflecting on the Past," and so on
Dubbed the "Little Prince of Socializing in Wuhan"
(Fangying Terrace at East Lake, where legend says Li Bai once released an eagle, photographer @ Li Qiong)
A striking building by the Yangtze River
Sun Quan of Eastern Wu built a watchtower in Wuhan
(The eye-catching Yellow Crane Tower, relocated to Snake Hill during its 20th-century reconstruction, facing Turtle Hill where the TV tower stands—the two hills "lock" the great river, photographer @ Yang Wenzhong)
Cui Hao from Kaifeng became a jinshi at just 19
His depiction of the Yellow Crane Tower was majestic and vast
Hailed by later generations as the finest regulated verse of the Tang Dynasty
The sage on yellow crane was gone amid clouds white, To what avail is the Yellow Crane Tower left here? Once the yellow crane left it would never return, For thousands of years the clouds vainly float in the air. By sunlit river trees can be count'd one by one, On Parrot Islet sweet green grass grows fast and thick. Where is my native land beyond the setting sun? The mist-veiled waves of River Han make me homesick.
(Qingchuan Pavilion, built by later generations based on Cui Hao's poem, photographer @ Li Qiong)
Legend says Li Bai refrained from writing after reading this poem
"Before my eyes lie scenes I cannot describe, For Cui Hao has already written the finest lines."
But how could the Poet Immortal admit defeat?
At 29, Li Bai specially invited his friend Meng Haoran
A graceful farewell poem has since been passed down
(Li Bai's "Seeing Meng Haoran off at Yellow Crane Tower")
My friend has left the west where the Yellow Crane towers, For River Town veiled in green willows and red flowers.
The lone sail's distant shadow vanishes in the azure void, Only the Yangtze River flows to the horizon.
(Mural inside the Yellow Crane Tower, photographer @Lu Wen)
Li Bai, nearing 60 years old, was weathered by life's hardships.
When he reunited with his old friend at the Yellow Crane Tower again,
(Li Bai's "Listening to the Flute at Yellow Crane Tower with Shi Langzhong Qin," Jiangcheng is another name for Wuhan)
Banished as an exile to Changsha, Gazing west to Chang'an but seeing no home.
In Yellow Crane Tower, jade flutes play, In Jiangcheng's May, plum blossoms fall.
Yet the state of his heart was no longer as it once was.
(Yellow Crane Tower under moonlight, photographer @Hu Han)
All had passed through Wuhan or settled there long-term,
Preserved forever in the scrolls of Tang and Song poetry.
(Yellow Crane Tower, photographer @Dennis)
The Han River shifted north of Guishan to merge with the Yangtze.
(Please view horizontally. From left to right: Wuchang, Yangtze River, Hanyang, Han River, Hankou, photographer @Huang Lei)
Bamboo, timber, grain, cloth, silk,
Furs, salt, medicinal herbs, ironware,
Hankou swiftly became China's largest inland port.
(Ming Dynasty painting "Panorama of Jianghan," with Yellow Crane Tower in the upper left, now housed at @Wuhan Museum)
Hankou even ranked alongside Beijing, Suzhou, and Foshan,
A commerce-renowned street called Hanzheng Street.
Become the population, residences, and vehicles/vessels of this city
And drive the comprehensive prosperity of industries such as opera
(Minzu Road in the Hanzheng Street area, photographer @Wanshetang)
Wuhan's port advantage also caught the attention of Western powers
To this day, it still preserves over a hundred modern buildings of diverse styles
(The Xintai Building constructed by British tea merchants, now the Hubei Reserve Materials Management, photographer @Wanshetang)
Foreign factories, banks, and goods rushed to establish a presence
Wuhan's foreign trade import and export volume ranked second only to Shanghai
Hence, it was并列 with "Great Shanghai"
(Jianghan Customs Building, photographer @Xianyu)
Unable to bring sustained development to Wuhan
Wuhan's port also reached a moment for upgrading
Zhang Zhidong, an official of the Westernization Movement, proposed to the Qing court
To build a railway connecting Beijing and Wuhan
Zhang Zhidong was even transferred as the Governor-General of Huguang
(Current Hankou Railway Station, whose architectural form draws inspiration from the design features of the old Dazhimen Railway Station of the Jinghan Railway, photographer @Eterlaine Zhang Wei)
The Yuehan Railway connecting Wuhan and Guangzhou was also completed
Wuhan's Qing troops were dispatched to suppress the "Railway Protection Movement"
The course of Chinese history was altered
(Former site of the Hubei Military Government, the first provincial-level revolutionary regime established after the Wuchang Uprising, also known as the "Red Building," photographer @Wang Zhaoyu)
But there was another impact on Wuhan itself
namely, the Jinghan and Yuehan railways together formed
the first trunk line in Chinese railway history that traversed the heartland
(Current route map of the Beijing-Guangzhou Railway, mapped by Gong Xiangjie & Zheng Borong/Planet Research Institute)
If "rivers and lakes" were Wuhan's natural endowment
then railways represented its next-level upgrade
Wuhan connects east and west, links north and south
and became the center of China's economic geography
Hankou's total commodity circulation volume rapidly increased by over one-fourth
For example, the Hanyang Iron Works, Yangzi Machinery Plant, and others were successively established
(Part of Hanyang Iron Works was later merged into Wuhan Iron and Steel, pictured below is WISCO's Red Steel Town, photographer @Wanshetang)
Due to reasons like warfare and insufficient funding
no railway bridge across the Yangtze River was built
Trains could only be ferried across the river
As one of the key cities for national construction
Wuhan immediately began designing its railway bridge
This became the first combined railway-highway bridge spanning the Yangtze
Hailed as "the First Bridge over the Thousand-Mile Yangtze"
(Please view horizontally, Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge, photographer @Eterlaine Zhang Wei)
"A bridge flies across north and south, turning a chasm into a thoroughfare"
Crossing the Yangtze River, crossing the Han River, crossing the lakes
The sheer number makes Wuhan the "City of Bridges"
(Distribution of major bridges in Wuhan, mapped by Gong Xiangjie & Zheng Borong/Planet Labs)
(Light show on Wuhan Yangtze River Second Bridge, photographer: Eterlaine Zhang Wei)
(Wuhan Erqi Yangtze River Bridge, photographer: Wang Linsen)
(Yingwuzhou Yangtze River Bridge, photographer: Jiang Ke)
(Please view horizontally, the most prominent structure in the image is the under-construction Yangsigang Yangtze River Bridge, photographer: Jiang Ke)
It is precisely this formidable bridge-building capability
That enables Wuhan to undertake many of the world's top road and bridge projects
Including over 60% of the design and construction of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge
As a UNESCO-designated "City of Design"
(Gutian Bridge, photographer: Dennis)
10,000-ton ocean vessels can sail directly from Shanghai to Wuhan
(Wuhan New Port container terminal area, image source: Changjiang Daily)
4-5 hours south to Hong Kong, north to Beijing
(High-speed rail crossing paths with Wuhan Metro Line 1 and elevated highway bridges, photographer: Vincent Lau)
With over 300 civil aviation routes
A 2-hour flight can cover all major cities nationwide
While a second airport is already in the site selection phase
(Wuhan Tianhe International Airport, image source: Changjiang Daily)
At a pace of opening 1-2 new lines per year
The subway operating mileage ranks fifth in the country
(Wuhan Business District Subway Station, photographer: Wanshetang)
Wuhan has established a fairly complete industrial system
Including optoelectronic information, automobiles and parts
Biopharmaceuticals and medical devices, green environmental protection, etc.
(Tencent Wuhan R&D Center, photographer: Ningbo)
It is China's strongest research base in the field of optical communication
With up to 70 patent applications filed daily
Accounting for 66% of China's and 25% of the world's total
(Optics Valley Future Technology City, photographer: Tian Chunyu)
There was also a world-class comprehensive sports event
Nearly 10,000 athletes from over 100 countries gathered in Jiangcheng
Forming three unique scenes of Wuhan people
The dietary habit known as "Zaoguo" (morning meal)
Merchants, artisans, dockworkers, and railway workers
Wuhan became a city of immigrants
(From "Hankou Bamboo Branch Songs" by Ye Diaoyuan of the Qing Dynasty)
"This place never had indigenous people, nine parts merchants and one part commoners"
Merchants would hit the streets early to do business
Workers also arrived early at the docks to load and unload cargo.
People frequently ate high-calorie breakfasts outdoors.
This habit has persisted to this day.
(Breakfast shops preparing hot dry noodles, photographer: Liu Chenpu)
(Using stools as dining tables, photographer: Ningbo)
Keeping people engaged in this breakfast lifestyle.
Wuhan offers over a hundred varieties of breakfast.
Hot dry noodles, thick soup noodles, beef noodles, beef rice noodles.
Doupi (bean skin), mianwo (fried dough rings), shaomianwo (sweet potato dough rings).
Qishui baba (steamed rice cakes), fried buns, sticky rice chicken, huanxi tuo (glutinous rice balls).
Youxiang (fried cakes), shaomai (steamed dumplings), sticky rice wrapped around fried dough sticks, soup dumplings.
Enough to eat for a month without repetition.
(Hot dry noodles, doupi, shaomai, photographer: Ningbo)
Even today, an ordinary bowl of hot dry noodles in Wuhan.
This is completely unimaginable in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, or Shenzhen.
(Doupi, photographer: Ningbo)
Residential areas are built adjacent to rivers and lakes.
This makes Wuhan one of China's easiest major cities to achieve.
Owning lake-view or river-view homes.
(Please view horizontally, Jinyin Lake Wetland Park and surrounding residences, image source: Changjiang Daily)
Various public buildings and office spaces are also constructed along the water
Such as the Hubei Provincial Museum adjacent to East Lake
The commercial street by the Chu River between Sand Lake and East Lake
Wuhan's tallest skyscraper along the Yangtze River
(Hubei Provincial Museum adjacent to East Lake, photographer: Dennis)
As the city with the largest number of university students in the world
Many university campuses are also built near water
Greatly enhancing the experience for over a million enrolled students
(Wuhan University with blooming cherry blossoms, located by East Lake, photographer: Eterlaine Zhang Wei)
Wuhan residents actively strengthen this water-friendly advantage
They extensively plant flowers and trees along the lakes and rivers
Two 100-kilometer-long boulevards on the left and right banks of the Yangtze
A 100-kilometer-long East Lake Greenway
(East Lake Greenway, photographer: Wanshetang)
Cherry blossoms, lotus flowers, plum blossoms, tulips
Various flowers complement the water scenery
(East Lake Cherry Blossom Garden, photographer: Lu Xiaomo)
Wuhan also utilizes the two rivers and four banks of the Yangtze and Han Rivers
To form a 13.2-kilometer-long riverside "giant screen"
Creating breathtaking light shows
(Please view horizontally, Wuhan light show, photographer @Eterlaine Zhang Wei)
A remarkably high proportion of Wuhan residents are swimming enthusiasts
They even turned lakes into open "swimming pools"
Citizens frolic and swim in rivers and lakes
(East Lake Lingbo Gate, a young man on a BMX bike jumps into the lake, photographer @Ningbo)
(A swimmer leaping into the water, photographer @Ningbo)
(Heavy rain on June 25, 2011, raised the water level of East Lake, submerging the boardwalk outside Wuhan University's Lingbo Gate, attracting visitors and becoming a scenic sight, image source @VCG)
(Water flyboard performer, photographer @Ningbo)
(Wuhan University and Huazhong University of Science and Technology students rowing in a competition on East Lake, image source @Changjiang Daily)
The most famous is the annual Cross-Yangtze River Festival
Chairman Mao twice swam across the Yangtze River in Wuhan
It then became the city's most popular event
Thousands of participants from different countries join each year
(Cross-Yangtze River Festival, image source @Changjiang Daily)
Making Wuhan residents equally skilled in other sports
Some say Wuhan people only need a pair of running shoes
(Wuhan Marathon framed with Yellow Crane Tower, Yangtze River Bridge, and high-speed rail, photographer @Chen Zhuo)
The marathon soon adopted a "more Wuhan" style
(Wuhan Water Marathon, held in East Lake with a 10km swim, photographer @Chen Danni)
The life of Wuhan people has never been separated from rivers and lakes
(The Zhiyin Cruise, where Wuhan locals have brought their century-old river and lake stories aboard this vintage steamer, creating a drifting theater on water. Photographer: Wanshetang)
(Wuhan Erqi Yangtze River Bridge. Photographer: Yan Benhong)
And the carefree life above the rivers and lakes
(From Huanghelou Couplet by Fu Bingzhong, Qing Dynasty)
Fresh air from the west sweeps away the mists, dispelling heaven and earth's regrets
The great river flows east, its waves washing clean the sorrows of past and present
Reviewers: Yunwu Kongcheng, Lushumao, Wang Zhaoyang
Cover photographer: Dennis, taken at Erqi Yangtze River Bridge
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2. Wuhan Local Chronicles Compilation Committee, Wuhan City Records, Wuhan University Press, 1998
3. Yu Zhiguang, Research on Wuhan Urban Space Construction, China Architecture & Building Press, 2010
4. Zhang Xinbao et al., Formation, Evolution and Connection Time of the Yellow River and Yangtze River, Mountain Research, 2018
5. Zheng Hongbo et al., The Past and Present of the Yangtze River, Science China, 2017
6. Wuhan Water Authority, Wuhan Lakes Records, Hubei Fine Arts Publishing House, 2014
7. Chen Xianyi et al., Illustrated Panlongcheng, Wuhan Publishing House, 2017
8. Wuhan Water Authority, Wuhan Water Resources Bulletin 2018, 2019
9. Zheng Jingtao, Study on Sediment Movement in Curved Braided River Reaches, Chongqing Jiaotong University, 2008
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