Information AboutWuhan |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT WUHAN | |
| wuhan | |
| provincial capitals in chinawuhan | |
| provincial capitals in china | |
| prefecture-level divisions of hubei | |
| cities in hubei | |
| subprovincial cities | |
|
Wuhan () is the capital of Hubei province, and is the most populous city in central China . It lies at the confluence of the Yangtze and Han River . It has a population of approximately 8,310,000 people. In the 1920s , Wuhan was the capital of a leftist Chinese Nationalist government led by Wang Jingwei in opposition to Chiang Kai-shek . GEOGRAPHY The metropolitan area consists of three parts - Wuchang , Hankou , and Hanyang , commonly called the "Three Towns of Wuhan" (hence the name "Wuhan", combining "Wu" from the first city and "Han" from the other two). These three parts face each other across the rivers and are linked by bridges, including one of the first modern bridges in China, known as the ''First Bridge''. It is simple in geographical structure - low and flat in the middle and hilly in the south, with the Yangtze and Han rivers winding through the city. HISTORY The area was first settled more than 3,000 years ago. During the Han Dynasty , Hanyang became a fairly busy port. In the 3rd century AD, walls were built to protect Hanyang (AD 206 ) and Wuchang (AD 223 ). The latter event marks the foundation of Wuhan. In AD 223 , the Yellow Crane Tower (黄鹤楼) was constructed on the Wuchang side of the Yangtze River. Cui Hao , a celebrated poet of Tang Dynasty , visited the building in the early 8th Century; his poem made the building the most celebrated building in southern China. The city has long been renowned as a center for the arts (especially poetry) and for intellectual studies. Under the Mongol ruler ( Yuan Dynasty ), Wuchang was promoted to the status of provincial capital. By approximately 300 years ago, Hankou had become one of the country's top four trading towns. ]] In the late 1800s railroads were extended on a north-south axis through this city, which then became an important transhipment point between rail and river traffic. At this time foreign powers extracted mercantile concessions, with the riverfront of Hankou being divided up into various foreign controlled merchant districts. These districts contained trading firm offices, warehouses, and docking facilities. In 1911 , Sun Yat-sen 's followers launched the Wuchang Uprising that led to the collapse of the Qing Dynasty and the establishment of the Republic Of China . Wuhan was the capital of a leftist Kuomintang government led by Wang Jingwei in opposition to Chiang Kai-shek during the 1920s. The city has been subject to numerous devastating floods, which are supposed to be controlled by the ambitious Three Gorges Dam . That project is set to be completed in 2009, but is plagued by environmental, technical, and social issues. MAJOR BRIDGES First bridge The ''First Chang River Bridge'' at Wuhan was built over the Yangtze River (Chang Jiang) in 1957 , carrying the Railroad directly across the river between Snake Hill (on the left in the picture below) and Turtle Hill. Before this bridge was built it could take up to an entire day to barge railcars across. Including its approaches, it is 5,511 feet (1680 m) long, and it accommodates both a double-track railway on a lower deck and a four lane roadway above. and Chongqing ]] The second bridge The second bridge, a Cable-stayed bridge, built of pre-stressed concrete, has a central span of 400 meters The Wuhan Second Changjiang Bridge is 4,678 meters in length (including 1,877 meters of the main bridge) and 26.5 to 33.5 meters in width. Its main bridgeheads are 90 meters high each, pulling 392 thick slanting cables together in the shape of double fans, so that the central span of the bridge is well poised on the piers and the bridge's stability and vibration resistance are ensured. With six lanes on the deck, the bridge is designed to handle 50,000 motor vehicles passing every day. The third bridge The Third Wuhan Changjiang Bridge was completed in September 2000. Located 8.6 kilometers southwest of the First Bridge, constructions of Baishazhou Bridge started in 1997. With an investment of over 1.4 billion yuan (about 170 million U.S. dollars), the bridge, which is 3,586 meters long and 26.5 meters wide, has six lanes and has a capacity of 50,000 vehicles a day. The bridge is expected to serve as a major traffic hub for the future Wuhan Ring Road, greatly easing the city's traffic and aiding local economic development. TOURIST SITES
ECONOMY Wuhan is a Sub-provincial City . The GDP per capita was approximately 23,500 yuan (US$2,940 on Purchasing Power Parity basis) in 2004. In 2005, the city's average Disposable Income was 10,850 yuan, up 13.4% from a year earlier. {Link without Title} COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES There are eight national colleges and universities, and thirteen public colleges and universities in Wuhan. {Link without Title} {Link without Title} Note: Institutions without full-time bachelor programs are not listed. LANGUAGE Wuhan natives speak a dialect of Southwestern Mandarin Chinese . Because it also has a blend of southern Chinese elements, the Wuhan dialect was once promoted as the ideal basis for a standard Chinese dialect. Standard Chinese however is now based on the Beijing Dialect . FOLKLORE Because of its hot summer weather, Wuhan is known as one of the Four Furnaces of China, along with Nanjing , Nanchang and Chongqing . Wuhan is by far the hottest of the Three Furnaces; the average temperature in July is 37.2°C, and the maximum often exceeds 40°C. The Lute Platform in Hanyang was where the legendary musician Yu Boya is said to have played. Yu Boya played for the last time over the grave of his friend Zhong Ziqi , then smashed his lute because the only person able to appreciate his music was dead. POPULAR FOODS
FAMOUS PEOPLE
ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENA
TWIN CITIES
SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS |
|
|