Yellow Crane Tower

A tower has stood on or near this site since 223, destroyed by fire and war and rebuilt about a dozen times; the present one dates from 1985 and stands a kilometre from the original position, in reinforced concrete with five levels and yellow tiles. Its importance is literary. Cui Hao's eighth-century poem about the tower, in which the yellow crane has flown and will not return, is among the most famous in the language, and Li Bai is said to have declined to write about the tower after reading it. Wuhan's residents treat it as the city's emblem, and the view takes in the Yangtze, the 1957 bridge and the modern skyline.

History

After Sun Quan, founder of Eastern Wu, built the fort of Xiakou in 223, a tower was put up on the Yellow Crane Jetty west of it, which gave it its name. Under the Ming and Qing it was destroyed twelve times by war and fire and repaired ten times; the last tower on the original site was built in 1868 and destroyed in 1884, one pier of the 1957 Yangtze bridge now stands on that site, and between 1981 and 1985 the city built the present 51.4-metre tower about a kilometre away on Snake Hill (Wikipedia, Yellow Crane Tower).

What's there

• The 1985 tower - the current reconstruction in concrete and yellow tile.
• The poem tradition - Cui Hao's verse and the calligraphy displayed inside.
• The Yangtze view - the river, the first bridge and the Wuhan skyline.
• The park - gardens, bells and pavilions on Snake Hill around the tower.

When to go

March to May and September to November; Wuhan summers are among the hottest in China and winters damp and cold. Weekends and holidays bring crowds and queues for the upper levels.

Things to know

The building is a 1980s reconstruction in concrete, not a historic structure, which disappoints visitors expecting antiquity. Entry is charged and the interior is museum displays. Crowds on the stairs are heavy.

Nearby

The Yangtze bridge is below; East Lake lies east.

Key facts