Wuhan

Wuhan, meaning 'Valiant Chinese' (a contraction of the names of the three cities of which it is a conglomerate: Wuchang, Hankou, and Hanyang), is the provincial capital of Hubei Province and the fifth largest city of China. Wuhan is in central China, is a major industrial complex and inland port at the confluence of the Han and Yangtze rivers. The port is accessible to oceangoing vessels. Wuhan was formed in 1950 when three cities--Wuchang, Hankou, and Hanyang--were combined into one administrative unit. The name is an abbreviation for the cities, which retained their individual identities. Hankou, the commercial center and largest of the three, occupies the northwestern quadrant, lying west of the Yangtze and north of the Han River. Hanyang, the smallest of the three and a manufacturing and residential section, lies west of the Yangtze and south of the Han River. Wuchang, the administrative and educational center and provincial capital, is on the eastern bank of the Yangtze. Wuhan is China's traditional base of manufacture industry, is also one of the origins of China's modern industry.

Geographical Features

Wuhan is situated in the middle of Hubei Province of China, the east of Jianghan Plain, and the intersection of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and Hanshui River. The Yangtze River and Hanshui River divide Wuhan into three parts: Hankou, Hanyang and Wuchang, which were generally known as Wuhan's Three Towns. Wuhan occupies a land of 8467.11 sq km, most of which is plain and supplemented by hills with a great number of lakes and pools. Wuhan's climate belongs to subtropical zone monsoon climate with abundant rainfall and clear four seasons. The Yangtse River penetrates the city, while the Han Jiang divides Wuhan vertically from the north to the south, so that the whole city is divided geographically into the 'Three Wuhan Towns' -- Wuchang, Hankou, and Hanyang. Wuhan is naturally very charming. There are more than 100 lakes and mountain ranges. Because of its hot summer weather, Wuhan is known as one of the 'Three Furnaces' of China, along with Nanjing and Chongqing. Wuhan is by far the hottest of the Three Furnaces; the average temperature in July is 37.2 Co, and the maximum often exceeds 40 Co. The coldest months are January and February with temperature as low as 5 Co, while the hottest months are July and August with temperature as high as 42 Co, and the annual precipitation - 1,200 millimeters (mainly from February to May). The four seasons in Wuhan are clearly marked with extreme temperatures dominating both summer and winter here. The summer here is almost unbearable. The heat also fells like it will last for eternity, with spells lasting for weeks on end and little difference in temperature between day and night. Although rainfall is fairly high at this time, it provides little respite from the city heat. The best time to visit this 'furnace' is autumn, when temperatures are much more manageable and there is less rainfall than at other times of the year.

Hankou

The area was built on an alluvial plain on the left banks of both the Han and Chang rivers. It is the largest city in the conurbation and contains its port, a major facility handling oceangoing vessels. The city has many industries. Hankou owes much of its development to the Beijing-Guangzhou RR, which crosses the Chang at Hankou. The city was opened as a treaty port in 1862, held (1938¨C45) by the Japanese, and in 1949 passed to the Chinese Communists.

Hanyang

It is on the right bank of the Han River at its junction with the Chang. It is a heavy industrial center. Hanyang was founded during the Sui dynasty (A.D. 581¨C618). It is linked by bridge with Hankou.

Wuchang

It is on the right bank of the Chang River at the mouth of the Han. It is an administrative and cultural center, with diverse industries. The oldest of the three Wuhan cities, it dates from the Han dynasty (200 B.C.¨CA.D. 200). The first outbreak of the Revolution of 1911, which led to the formation of the Chinese republic, occurred there on Oct. 10. The day is celebrated as the Double Tenth, the tenth day of the tenth month. The city's numerous institutions of higher learning include Wuhan Univ.

People

Wuhan is the largest city in Central China with a population of 7,565,000 with a majority of Han nationality. Wuhan natives speak a dialect of Southwestern Mandarin Chinese. The major religion is Buddhism.

History

With a 3,500-year history, modern Wuhan has been hotbed of sedition. The first shot of the 1911 Revolution was fired here, and Mao taught Communist theory at the local Central Peasant Movement Institute. In 1861, Hankou was opened to trade with foreign powers. In 1927, National Government announced that Hankou, Wuchang and Hanyang were integrated to Jingzhao Region and named Wuhan, whose administrative system was first unified. Wuhan was liberated on May 16, 1949, and was the city governed directly by Central Government by June 1954, afterwards, governed by Hubei Provincial Government. The three cities that make up Wuhan had separate histories until recently. Wuchang was founded by the 1st century AD, and was established as a regional capital under the Yuan dynasty (1279-1368). Hankou was known since the Song dynasty (960-1279) as one of China's leading commercial centers. It was opened to foreign trade as a treaty port in 1861, becoming the center of the booming tea trade. The British, Russian, French, German, and Japanese all had Foreign Concessions here, and foreign nations enjoyed an imported lifestyle similar to that of foreigners in Shanghai. In the 1911 revolution that overthrew the Qing dynasty, Hankou was burnt to the ground. In 1937-38 the Guomindang set up their capital in Hankou, before being pushed out by the Japanese in a bloody battle. At the initiative of a Qing dynasty official, the village of Hanyang became one of the first Chinese-developed factory towns in the 1890s. After suffering from the depression of the 1930s and the Japanese occupation of 1938-45, heavy industry declined and light industry has since prevailed in Hanyang. In 1911, the Republican Revolution broke out in the barracks at Wuchang, which led to the toppling of the last emperor of China. While helping slowly build the Communist movement in China, Mao Zedong ran a Peasant Movement Institute in Wuchang in the late 1920s. The Communist government conglomerated the three separate cities in 1950, and named the resulting city Wuhan. At the start of the Cultural Revolution, in 1966, the official Chinese press reported that Chairman Mao Zedong (then age 73) swam across the Yangzi River at Wuhan. The story was intended to quash rumors that Mao was either gravely ill or dead. In Dec. 1986, the State Council promulgated that Wuhan was China famous historical and cultural city.