Wuhan：Brand New Version of the City With Profound

Wuhan， a main large scale city in the central part of China and the capital city of Hubei Province. Hubei Province has long been considered as the thoroughfare that connecting nine provinces， it is outstandingly true if we have a whole vision on the location of Wuhan. Used to be an inland river port-mouth known as “golden river traffic zone”， Wuhan has prosperous old days. During the revolution years period， this city has served as the birth place of “democracy and freedom” and later on when the ROC was successfully built， Wuhan officially became the capital of ROC government.

Besides all the glowing past， Wuhan maintains its leading role in another way till now. As the most important university hub in China， there are around 85 universities and colleges with over 1.19 million students in total. Wuhan has been the largest population of university student in the whole world！ The high-tech industrial zone“Optics Valley”， Chinese version of silicon valley cannot be successfully built without the help and contribution from the graduates in these universities and colleges.

In spite of the historical items about Wuhan， how about switch our concentration to the beautiful scenery there. Hubei Province is the crucial corp producing base in China， that is to say the climate there is temperate and suitable for living. Wuhan is surrounded by the branch of Yangtze River called Han River and within this city， there used to have countless lakes. But when it comes to the household name lake in Wuhan ， it must be East Lake without any doubt.

East Lake

Wuhan residents are always pround of having east lake as a representative of this city. Thousands of people there will walk along the lakeside in spring， swimming in summer， appreciating sweet laurel in autumn and admiring plum blossom in winter.

This lake covers 33 square kilometers and stretches far into the distance. Ancient pagodas and temples scattered in 34 verdant hills around the lake make the scenic spot more historic and impressive. All six areas of the East Lake have green hills in common， clear waters together with an abundance of woods. This is typical style of Chu Culture. Perhaps youll enjoy yourself most in two of them：Tingtao Pavilion and Moshan Hill.

Willows dance gracefully and water lily sleeps deeply around Tingtao Pavilion， a threestorey palace building， in front of which the grandstatue of Qu Yuan is looking up towards the sky and sighing sadly at the subjugation of Chu. On the east side of the lake towers aloft Moshan Hill， where the city of Chu has been set up according to the legend that Zhaolie， King of the Chu State laid an altar and worshiped Heaven there. The imposing Chutian Tower symbolizes the power and prosperity of the ancient State of Chu.

Cherry Blossom Pavilion is the famous scenic spot in this district. Around Cherry Blossom Pavilion by the lake side are growing 78 Japanese cherry trees. In 1979， Mrs. Deng Yingchao， wife of Chinas famous former premier Zhou Enlai paid a visit to Japan. In order to express his respect to Zhou Enlai， Premier of Japan presented 78 cherry trees to Mrs. Deng Yingchao. Mrs. Deng Yingchao asked to plant these trees in a place where Premier Zhou ever worked and lived.The East Lake was just the place. The figure 78 stands for two meanings. Firstly it symbolizes the age of Premier Zhou. Secondly， it symbolized the time when China and Japan signed the Peace and Friendship Treaty in 1978.

Among all kinds of flowers， plum， lotus and cassia are of great reputation. The National Plum and Lotus Research Center is set up here. The East Lake used to be a private farm several decades ago. In 1950 the farm was turned into a scenic spot. The government provided an enormous financial support to start. In 1982 the East Lake was rated by the State Council as one of the first group of national key resorts. It receives more than two millions tourists a year.

First Bridge overthe Yangtze River. For hundreds of years， it had been a dream to cross the natural moat of the Yangtze River.

In 1913， Zhan Tianyou， one of Chinas well known railway engineers， visited Wuhan and studied the possibility of the construction of the Yangtze River Bridge. The bridge was decided to be built between the Tortoise Hill in Hanyang and the Snake Hill in Wuchang. Unfortunately， his dream could not come true. Again， six years later， Dr. Sun Yat-sen put forward a proposal to build a Yangtze River Bridge in Wuhan. Then Nanjing Government invited American experts to made a draft plan. Mao Yisheng， a bridge expert， organized for two designs and the construction was about to begin. But because of war and lack of money， no one was able to have the bridge built. After the founding of New China， the central government decided to build the Yangtze River Bridge in Wuhan in 1950. Five years later， news came that the construction would soon begin and it became the focus of world attention. However， more overseas people were half believing and half doubting. Within two years， the Chinese engineers， technicians and workers， with the help of the Soviet experts， completed a double deck bridge for the dual use of automobiles and trains. The wish of “turning a deep chasm into a thoroughfare” was fulfilled.

On October 15， 1957， thousands of people in Wuhan were overexcited. Cheering sound could be heard on and under the bridge. Trains， automobiles and pedestrians safely crossed the bridge. More than 30 years have passed. The Wuhan Bridge Bureau of the Railway Ministry has built other ten bridges over the Yangtze River in Nanjing， Chongqing， Zhijiang and Jiujiang. Another highway bridge 2.5 kilometers down to “the First Bridge” will be finished and put into use at the beginning of 1995

Yellow Crane Tower

Yellow Crane Tower is another interesting places in Wuhan.

This Tower is an important pagoda close to the Yangtze River. Located on top of the Sheshan Hill in Wuhan City， the Yellow Crane Tower was built 1，700 years ago （223 AD） during the Three Kingdoms Period. It is the most famous tower among the three well known towers （the Yellow Crane Tower， Yueyang Tower and Tenwang Pavilion） in south of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River.

At first it was a wine shop run by Mrs. Xin. A Taoist priest wanted to thank Mrs. Xin for her favor of free wines of thousand cups， so he drew a magic crane on the wall and told it to dance to live things up before he left. After that this wine shop was always full of guests and the business is booming. The Taoist priest revisited the wine shop after ten years. This time he played the flute and then rode on the crane to fly op to the sky. Therefore Mrs. Xin built a tower named Yellow Crane Tower after she got rich.

Celebrities such as the Zhang Juzhen， Cui Hao， and the 1st Chairman of China， Mao Zedong etc. have come here and composed famous poetry about it. Cui Haos poet “Yellow Crane Tower” has become so well known that so many Chinese can recite a few lines of it. This poet has made a lot of people to remember Yellow Crane Tower.

There are amounts of touching stories about this tower， one of which goes as follows： A man named Fei Wei practice austerities to be an immortal in Yellow Crane Hill， and then he go to heaven riding on a yellow crane. Cui Haos poet was concerned with legend. The Yellow Crane Tower has been crowned with unrivaled scenery under heaven.

The Tower used to be completely wood structure that was damaged many times by fire and flood. The tower we can visit today was rebuilt version after renovated for several times. The overall renovation of this tower began in 1981， and was completed and open to public in 1985. The design of the new tower was modeled on its last design that can be dating back to the Qing Dynasty.

The old Yellow Crane Tower was a three storey building， which was 9 zhangs and 9 chis high （with 7 chis high bronze top）. The new tower looks very magnificent with five storeies， which is 51.4 meters high in all（with 5 meters high gourd shape top） and 20 meters than the old one. The ground floor of the old tower is 15 meters wide in each side and the new ones ground floor is 20 meters wide. Therefore we can say that Yellow Crane Tower has been reconstructed instead of being renowated.

The new tower was designed according to the needs of modern society and varying aesthetic conceptions， and at the same time it has kept some characteristics of the old one. Coming down is the poet written by the found of PRC Chairman. Mao：

YELLOW CRANE TOWER

by Mao Zedong in Spring 1927

Wide， wide flow the nine streams through the land，

Dark， dark threads the line from south to north.

Blurred in the thick haze of the misty rain

Tortoise and Snake hold the great river locked.

The yellow crane is gone， who knows whither？

Only this tower remains a haunt for visitors.

I pledge my wine to the surging torrent， The tide of my heart swells with the waves.

Local Cuisine： Re Gan Mian

As the best know local traditional dish， the special name for it means hot noodles without soup in Chinese. Just as suggested， Re Gan Mian is different from the other Chinese style noodles and a little bit like the Chinese version Italian pasta. It will not be served without the impressive sauce that consisit of sesame， the cover of shrimp and radish dices. In addition， once noodles are boiled， they should be cooled in a container without any water. Before the noodles are served in a bowl， it will be boiled for a little while to expire virus. Since the sauce is far too thick， you may not know whether this can be easily digested by your stomach？ Fine， the touchstone to solve this problem is to eat with the diluted vinegar. Nowadays， Re Gan Mian has become the nickname of Wuhan city in China.

Re Gan Mian has enjoyed a long history within Chinese food culture， it is the cultural heritage in Yangtze River district and has been spanning for around 80 years. Reganmian restaurants can be found everywhere in Wuhan as it is really popular in almost every season of the year. Residents here may eat Re Gan Mian for breakfast， lunch， and dinner and even as a snack.

UNESCO added South Koreas”Kimjang： Making and Sharing Kimchi”to its World Intangible Cultural Heritage list recently. This inspired Chinese people to pay much more attention to their rich food culture. It is said that Wuhan government has prepared to do more propaganda and make Re Gan Mian step onto the international arena.