Experience the best of Wuhan

Wuhan stands where the Han River joins the Yangtze in central China, and the two rivers divide it into three districts, Wuchang, Hankou and Hanyang, which began as separate towns. Wuchang has the Yellow Crane Tower, a many-storeyed pavilion on Snake Hill that has been rebuilt many times and was celebrated in Tang-dynasty poetry. In 1911 the Wuchang Uprising, which began the fall of the Qing dynasty, started here.

East Lake, one of the largest city lakes in China, has lakeside paths and gardens, and cherry blossom draws crowds to the Wuhan University campus in spring. The Hubei Provincial Museum holds a set of bronze chime bells from the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng, more than 2,400 years old, and the sword of King Goujian of Yue. Guiyuan Temple in Hanyang is a Buddhist monastery known for its hall of arhat statues, and the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge, opened in 1957, was the first bridge across the Yangtze.

Breakfast in Wuhan means hot dry noodles coated in sesame paste, followed at other meals by Wuchang fish, soup of lotus root and pork ribs, and fried bean-curd skin. Hubu Alley in Wuchang is a street of snack stalls. Summers are among the hottest in China, and late March, with the cherry trees in flower, is a lovely moment.