Wuhan

Best time to visit

1. Jan
2. Feb
3. Mar
4. Apr
5. May
6. Jun
7. Jul
8. Aug
9. Sep
10. Oct
11. Nov
12. Dec

From the airport or station to the city

Where you land, the ways into the city centre, how long each takes and what it costs.

Getting around

Wuhan is three old towns split by the Yangtze and Han rivers: Hankou (shopping, colonial riverfront), Wuchang (Yellow Crane Tower, museum, East Lake) and Hanyang. Check which station your train uses. The metro is large and cheap (from ¥2; Alipay and WeChat transit codes work); Lines 2, 4 and 5 cross the Yangtze. Summers are very hot and humid.

Book these before you fly

These sights need a reservation with your passport. Walk-ups are usually turned away.

• Hubei Provincial MuseumFree real-name booking up to 5 days ahead on the museum’s official website or WeChat reservation system; new days are released at 17:18 China time. Passports are listed as valid ID, but online booking has not always accepted them: if it fails, take your passport to the staffed window at the entrance.
• Guqin TerraceReserve on the 古琴台 WeChat account (menu 心向往之 → 游览预约) or the Wuhan culture-and-tourism code (武汉文旅码).
• Qingchuan PavilionFree day booking on the 武汉晴川阁大禹文化博物馆 WeChat account or via Trip.com; the evening tour is sold on the 夜游晴川阁 WeChat account.
• Jianghan Customs House MuseumFree booking of a morning or afternoon slot on the 江汉关博物馆 WeChat account (网上预约).

Top sights

黄鹤楼Yellow Crane TowerA five-storey tower on Snake Hill, rebuilt in 1985 after a famous Tang poem; the top floor looks over the Yangtze and its first bridge.Booking recommended1.5–2 hours湖北省博物馆Hubei Provincial MuseumHome of the 2,400-year-old bronze chime bells of Marquis Yi of Zeng and the sword of King Goujian of Yue, still sharp.Booking required2–3 hours东湖East LakeOne of China’s largest city lakes, with a long greenway for cycling and walking and Moshan Hill’s gardens and cherry blossoms.Half a day户部巷Hubu AlleyWuhan’s famous breakfast lane below the Yellow Crane Tower: hot dry noodles, doupi and dozens of other snacks.1 hour武汉长江大桥Wuhan Yangtze River BridgeThe first bridge across the Yangtze, opened in 1957, with road above and rail below; you can walk across on its footpaths.1 hour to walk across (about 1.7 km)汉口江滩Hankou Bund and riverside parkA long Yangtze riverside park backed by early-20th-century bank and consulate buildings from Hankou’s concession era.1–2 hours江汉路步行街Jianghan Road pedestrian streetHankou’s main shopping street, lined with European-style buildings from the 1910s–30s, leading down to the river.1–2 hours归元寺Guiyuan TempleA 17th-century Buddhist temple in Hanyang, known for its hall of 500 life-size arhat statues.Booking recommended1 hour辛亥革命博物院（武昌起义纪念馆）Wuchang Uprising Memorial (Red House) and 1911 Revolution MuseumThe red-brick building below Snake Hill where the 1911 Wuchang Uprising set up its military government, the start of the revolution that ended China’s last dynasty; a modern museum stands across the square.Booking recommended1.5–2 hours古琴台Guqin TerraceA small walled garden by Moon Lake in Hanyang, built where the zither player Yu Boya is said to have found his one true listener, the origin of the Chinese word for a soulmate.Booking required45 minutes–1 hour昙华林历史文化街区Tanhualin Historic QuarterA lane of old Wuchang with about 50 historic buildings, from early-20th-century churches and mission schools to courtyard homes, now filled with cafés, small museums and galleries.1.5–2 hours武汉博物馆Wuhan MuseumThe city museum in Hankou, with the story of Wuhan from Bronze Age Panlongcheng to the treaty-port era, plus galleries of porcelain, jade and calligraphy.1.5–2 hours木兰山Mulan MountainA day trip about 60 km north of the centre in Huangpi: a 582-metre hill linked to the Hua Mulan legend, with Taoist and Buddhist temples along a stone path to the summit.Booking recommendedFull day武汉轮渡（武汉关—中华路）Yangtze Ferry (Wuhan Guan to Zhonghua Road)The ¥1.5 commuter ferry across the Yangtze between Hankou and Wuchang, the cheapest way to see the river, both skylines and the first Yangtze bridge.30 minutes晴川阁Qingchuan PavilionA riverside pavilion on Turtle Hill in Hanyang facing the Yellow Crane Tower across the Yangtze, with a hall to Yu the Great, the legendary tamer of floods.Booking required1 hour中国科学院武汉植物园Wuhan Botanical Garden (Chinese Academy of Sciences)One of China’s three main scientific botanical gardens, by East Lake’s Moshan Hill, known for its kiwifruit collection, aquatic plants, lotus ponds and seasonal flower shows.Booking recommended2–3 hours江汉关博物馆Jianghan Customs House MuseumThe 1924 clock-tower customs house at the end of Jianghan Road, a Hankou landmark, now a free museum on the city’s treaty-port and trading history.Booking required1–1.5 hours黎黄陂路Lihuangpi RoadA 600-metre tree-lined street in the former Russian concession with 17 historic European buildings, cafés and galleries, known as an open-air “street museum”.1–2 hours宝通禅寺Baotong TempleOne of Wuhan’s four great Buddhist monasteries, climbing the slope of Hongshan Hill in Wuchang to a brick Song-era pagoda, with a history of about 1,500 years.1 hour

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