Wuhan by Ferry

Postcard CN-1520549 from China shows people taking ferries to cross the Yangtze River in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. Wuhan (武汉), the capital of Hubei province and the most populous city in Central China, is located at the intersection of the middle reaches of the Yangtze and Han rivers, consisting of the conglomeration of three cities, Wuchang, Hankou, and Hanyang.

Those three cities face each other across the rivers and are now linked by bridges, including one of the first modern bridges in China. Ferries were the only transportation to cross the rivers before the Wuhan Yangtze Great Bridge opened in 1957. Even after the Metro Line 2, the first Metro line crossing through Yangtze River, opened on December 28, 2012, ferries remain a best choice for going directly across the Yangtze River since it's inexpensive and quick, and you can take your bicycle to the ferry for a nominal fee.

In addition, it's a scenic ride to see the rivers and skylines of the three cities. Many ferry terminals for the more than dozen ferry lines are located by the Snake Hill in Wuchang where the Yellow Crane Tower (黄鹤楼), a historic tower first built in 223 A.D., overlooking the Yangtze River.

Yellow Crane Tower

Postcard CN-988823 from China shows a night view of the Yellow Crane Tower (黄鹤楼), a historic tower first built in 223 A.D., overlooking the Yangtze River from the Snake Hill in Wuhan, Hubei, China.

Hubei (湖北), a province in the easternmost part of central China, covers the territory of the ancient state Chu (楚) during the Warring States period of the Zhou Dynasty, where its minister and poet Qu Yuan (circa 340–278 B.C.) called home. Once served in high offices, Qu Yuan was banished for his opposition to the alliance with the powerful state of Qin, and accused of treason. Qu Yuan was very productive and wrote a lot of poetry during his exile. Twenty-eight years later since his exile, Qin captured Ying (郢), the capitol of Chu. With his early prediction validated, Qu Yuan threw himself into the Miluo River (汨罗江), a branch to the Dongting Lake in the Yangtze River watershed, in protest by suicide.

The legend says that local people, who admired him, raced out in their boats to save him, which became the origin of dragon boat races. In despair, they also dropped sticky rice balls into the river to distract fish so that those fish would not bite Qu Yuan's flesh. Those rice balls thus became the origin of zongzi. The date of his death has been commemorated as Duanwu Fesitival or Dragon Boat Festival to celebrate Qu Yuan's patriotism, which occurs on the 5th day of the 5th month of the traditional lunar calendar. The date varies from year to year on the Gregorian calendar. In 2014, it falls on June 2.

First Bridge of the Yangtze, Wuhan, China

Postcard US-2293208 to Belarus shows the Wuhan Yangtze Great Bridge ( 武汉长江大桥) in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China with a photo taken on October 1, 2007. The double-deck road and rail bridge was the first bridge across the Yangtze River, the longest river in Asia and the third-longest in the world. It opened to public traffic fifty six years ago on October 15, 1957.

The Wuhan metropolis is an amalgamation of three cities located at the confluence of the Yangtze River and one of its branches: the Han River: Wuchang is located on the southern bank of the Yangtze; Hanyang is on the northern bank of the Yangtze and the west bank of the Han; and Hankou sits on the northern bank of the Yangtze and the eastern bank of the Han. Wuhan lies in the heart of Central China and has been a transportation hub between Beijing, the political and culture center in the north and the trading ports of Guangzhou and Hong Kong in the south. The Beijing-Wuhan railway line went into full service in 1906, followed in 1936 by the Wuhan-Guangzhou railway line. Before the bridge was built, train cars travelling between northern and southern China had to be ferried on barges over the Yangtze River, a laborious and time-consuming practice. Plans for the bridge's construction were first made in 1910; and four exploratory surveys were made between 1913 and 1948 for site selection. However, the construction did not start until 1955 due to economic constrains and the combination of World War II and the Chinese Civil War. The construction lasted for two years and was assisted by a 28-person delegation of engineers from the then Soviet Union.

The bridge extends 1.6 kilometers or 1 mile from Turtle Hill in Hanyang, on the northern bank of the Yangtze River, to Snake Hill in Wuchang, on the southern bank of the Yangtze River. The upper level of the bridge has four lanes for two-way automobile traffic while the lower level is a double-track railway on the Beijing-Guangzhou railway line.

Since then, there have been 60 bridges and 3 tunnels built by September 2013 over the 2,884 km or1,792 m main stretch of the Yangtze River, representing a broad array of bridge designs and significant achievements in modern bridge design and engineering.