Why is Wuhan called the three towns?

Wuhan was formed from three separate towns divided by the Yangtze and the Han: Wuchang, Hankou and Hanyang. The name Wuhan combines Wu from Wuchang and Han from Hankou and Hanyang. They were merged in 1927.

What is Wuhan famous for?

The Yellow Crane Tower and its Tang poems, the Wuchang Uprising of 1911, the first bridge across the Yangtze, the chime bells of Marquis Yi in the provincial museum, East Lake, and hot dry noodles and its other breakfast foods.

Is the Yellow Crane Tower original?

No. The tower has been destroyed and rebuilt many times since the third century; the last traditional tower burnt in 1884. The present tower, completed in 1985, stands about a kilometre from the original site, which was taken by the approach to the Yangtze bridge.

Capital · Historic city · Industrial centre · Hubei

Wuhan

武汉 (Wǔhàn)

Three river towns at the meeting of the Yangtze and the Han

Wuhan is the capital of Hubei and the largest city of central China, formed from three towns — Wuchang, Hankou and Hanyang — where the Han River flows into the Yangtze. A crossroads of river and rail traffic for centuries, it is known for the Yellow Crane Tower, the Wuchang Uprising of 1911 that toppled the Qing dynasty, and its street breakfasts.

ProvinceHubei

Key facts

Province: Hubei (capital)
Administrative level: Sub-provincial city
Area: about 8,569 km²[1]
Resident population: 12.33 million(as of 2020 census)[2]
Merged as one city: 1927
Wuchang Uprising: 10 October 1911

Overview

The Yangtze and the Han divide Wuhan into three parts that were separate towns until the twentieth century. Wuchang, on the right bank of the Yangtze, was the old administrative and academic city; Hanyang, on the hill between the two rivers, the early industrial town; and Hankou, on the left bank of the Han, the commercial port and site of the foreign concessions. They were merged in 1927 and have formed one city since 1949.

The city is a sub-provincial centre of more than ten million people, with many universities, a large automobile industry, the optical-fibre and laser cluster of Optics Valley, and one of the busiest high-speed rail junctions in the country. Its many lakes, including East Lake, take up a large share of the urban area.

Names and nicknames

江城 (Jiāngchéng)
“River City”
A name used since Li Bai wrote of plum-blossom tunes played on a flute in the “river city” while at the Yellow Crane Tower.
九省通衢 (jiǔ shěng tōngqú)
“thoroughfare of nine provinces”
Old description of Wuhan's position at the centre of China's river and road network.
武汉三镇 (Wǔhàn sān zhèn)
“the three towns of Wuhan”
Wuchang on the south-east bank of the Yangtze, Hankou and Hanyang on either side of the Han.

History

Settlement goes back to the Shang town of Panlongcheng in the north of today's city. Wuchang grew from a fortress built by Sun Quan of Wu in 223, and the Yellow Crane Tower traces its origin to the same period. Hankou emerged after the Han River shifted its mouth in the fifteenth century and became one of the Four Great Towns of Ming and Qing China. It was opened as a treaty port in 1861. The viceroy Zhang Zhidong made the three towns a centre of modern industry and education, and the uprising of 10 October 1911 in Wuchang began the revolution that ended the empire.

c. 1500 BCE
Shang town at Panlongcheng
A walled settlement with bronze workshops in Huangpi district, the earliest known city in the Wuhan area.
223
Sun Quan builds the Xiakou fort
The fortress on Snake Hill is the origin of Wuchang; tradition dates the first Yellow Crane Tower, a watchtower, to the same year.
15th century
The Han River shifts its mouth
A change in the river's course in the Chenghua era created the site of Hankou, which grew into one of the Four Great Towns (四大名镇) of the Ming and Qing.
1861
Hankou becomes a treaty port
Five foreign concessions were laid out along the Yangtze; their bank and customs buildings still line the Hankou Bund.
1890s
Hanyang Iron Works and arsenal
Founded by Zhang Zhidong, the ironworks was one of the first modern steel plants in Asia; the Hanyang arsenal produced the rifles used across China for decades.
10 October 1911
Wuchang Uprising
The revolt of New Army units led to the formation of a military government in Wuchang and the secession of province after province from the Qing.
1927
The three towns merged as Wuhan
The left wing of the Nationalist government moved to the city and joined the towns into a single capital for several months.
1938
Wartime capital and Battle of Wuhan
After the fall of Nanjing the government operated from Wuhan until the city fell in October 1938.
1957
Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge
The first bridge across the Yangtze, built with Soviet assistance between Snake Hill and Turtle Hill.
2020
COVID-19 outbreak and lockdown
Wuhan was the site of the first recognised outbreak of COVID-19 and was sealed off from 23 January to 8 April 2020.

Landmarks

Historic site
Yellow Crane Tower
黄鹤楼 (Huánghè Lóu)
Five-storey tower on Snake Hill, rebuilt in 1985 in concrete a short distance from its old site; the upper floors look over the Yangtze and the first bridge.
Museum
Hubei Provincial Museum
湖北省博物馆 (Húběi Shěng Bówùguǎn)
Home of the chime bells of Marquis Yi of Zeng and the bronze sword of King Goujian of Yue, beside East Lake.
Nature
East Lake
东湖 (Dōng Hú)
Large urban lake with a long greenway, plum and cherry gardens, and Wuhan University on its south-western shore.
Temple or shrine
Guiyuan Temple
归元寺 (Guīyuán Sì)
Qing-dynasty Buddhist temple in Hanyang, known for its hall of five hundred arhats.
Park or garden
Guqin Terrace
古琴台 (Gǔqín Tái)
Commemorates the legend of the zither player Yu Boya and Zhong Ziqi, the friend who alone understood his music — the origin of the word 知音 for a kindred spirit.
Historic site
Wuchang Uprising Memorial
辛亥革命武昌起义纪念馆 (Xīnhài Gémìng Wǔchāng Qǐyì Jìniànguǎn)
The red-brick former assembly hall, known as the Red Mansion (红楼), where the revolutionary military government was set up in 1911.
Street or quarter
Hankou Bund
汉口江滩 (Hànkǒu Jiāngtān)
Riverside parkland in front of the former concession buildings along Yanjiang Avenue.
Street or quarter
Tanhualin
昙华林 (Tánhuālín)
Old street in Wuchang with former mission schools and hospitals, now home to studios and cafés.

Neighbourhoods

Hankou
汉口 (Hànkǒu)
The commercial town, with Jianghan Road and the former concession quarter.
Wuchang
武昌 (Wǔchāng)
The old walled city, with the Yellow Crane Tower, Shouyi Square and the universities towards East Lake.
Hanyang
汉阳 (Hànyáng)
Between the Han and the Yangtze, with Turtle Hill, Guiyuan Temple and the site of the old ironworks.
Optics Valley
光谷 (Guānggǔ)
High-tech district in the south-east with campuses, research institutes and new housing.

Food

Hot dry noodles
热干面 (règānmiàn)
Alkaline noodles with sesame paste, pickled radish and spring onion — eaten on the way to work.
Doupi
豆皮 (dòupí)
An egg-and-bean crust fried over sticky rice, mushrooms and meat, sliced in the pan.
Mianwo
面窝 (miànwō)
Deep-fried rings of rice and soybean batter, thick at the edge and thin in the middle.
Hutang fen
糊汤粉 (hútāngfěn)
Rice noodles in a thick fish soup, often eaten with fried dough sticks.
Spiced duck necks
鸭脖 (yābó)
Braised in a chilli and Sichuan-pepper marinade; a Wuhan snack sold across China.
Hubu Alley
户部巷 (Hùbù Xiàng)
Lane in Wuchang lined with breakfast and snack stalls.

Culture

Wuhan's people are known for directness, a loud and colourful dialect and a pride in their city's revolutionary past. Local life is shaped by the rivers: ferries between the banks, swimming across the Yangtze in summer, and evening crowds along the riverside parks. With more than eighty institutions of higher education, Wuhan has one of the largest student populations in the world; Wuhan University's campus on East Lake is famous for its cherry blossom in March.

故人西辞黄鹤楼，烟花三月下扬州。

Gùrén xī cí Huánghè Lóu, yānhuā sān yuè xià Yángzhōu.

“My old friend takes leave of the Yellow Crane Tower in the west, going down to Yangzhou among the mists and flowers of the third month.”

— Li Bai, “Seeing Meng Haoran off to Guangling at the Yellow Crane Tower” (黄鹤楼送孟浩然之广陵), c. 730

Getting around

The Wuhan Metro has lines that cross the Yangtze in tunnels and on bridges and links all three main railway stations and Tianhe International Airport.
Wuhan station (high-speed trains on the Beijing–Guangzhou line), Hankou station (lines to the north and west) and Wuchang station (conventional and some high-speed services) are the main railway stations.
Ferries cross the Yangtze between Wuchang and Hankou; the city has a dozen road and rail bridges over the Yangtze and the Han.

Day trips

Mulan Mountain
木兰山 (Mùlán Shān)
Hill with Daoist and Buddhist temples in Huangpi, north of the city, linked by local tradition to Hua Mulan.
Red Cliffs battlefield
赤壁古战场 (Chìbì gǔ zhànchǎng)
The traditional site of the Battle of Red Cliffs on the Yangtze near Chibi, south-west of Wuhan.
Panlongcheng
盘龙城遗址 (Pánlóngchéng yízhǐ)
Archaeological park and museum at the Shang-dynasty town site near the airport.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

Wuhan Municipal People's Government — Wuhan Municipal People's Government (retrieved 27 September 2026)
Seventh National Population Census communiqués — National Bureau of Statistics of China (retrieved 27 September 2026)
Wuhan — Encyclopaedia Britannica (retrieved 27 September 2026)

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