An important port on the Yangzi River (Changjiang River), Hubei’s capital is an amalgamation of three older cities. Wuchang, capital of the Wu State (770 - 221 BC), and Hanyang, founded in the Sui era (AD 581-618), are ancient settlements, while Hankou was founded in 1861 when it became a treaty port for foreign trade. As a result the city was a center for early Chinese industrialization, when iron and steel works were built here in the 19th century. It was also the site of the first uprising of the 1911 Revolution that led to the fall of the Qing Dynasty and the formation of Republican China.

Yellow Crane Pavilion

The Yellow Crane Pavilion on She Shan, south of the Yangzi in Wuchang district, is a reconstruction of a 3rd century edifice that burned down in 1884. According to legend, it was built to honor one of the Daoist Eight Immortals, who paid his tavern bills by drawing cranes on the walls, which would fly down to entertain the other guests. The 50 m high pavilion is a handsome Qing style building. It can be climbed for fine views across the city. On the eastern part of the hill is Changchun Guan, a Daoist temple with a pharmacy, where a doctor dispenses locally collected herbs. To the south is Hong Ge, a red-brick building that housed the Former Headquarters of the Hubei Military Government (Hong Lou) during the 1911 uprising. Provoked by Sun Yat Sen, the uprising led to the fall of the last Qing government. Sun Yat Sen’s statue stands in front of the building.

Yangzi River Bridge

This impressive 110 m long bridge was built in 1957. Before its construction, all road and rail traffic crossed the river by ferry. A second bridge was built a short way downriver in 1995.

Guiyuan Si

This Buddhist temple in western Hanyang was founded in the early Qing era (1644 - 62), although the current buildings are late Qing. It has a few ancient relics including a Northern Wei Buddha statue, but is most famous for its hall of 500 statues sculpted in the 1820s. The main hall has a statue of Buddha carved from a single piece of jade.