Towering inspiration

ICONIC TOWER

If Paris has the Eiffel, Dubai the Burj Khalifa, and Kuala Lumpur the Petronas Twin Tower, Wuhan’s iconic masterpiece is the Yellow Crane Tower.

Located on the summit of Snake Hill, it is one of the Four Great Towers of China and has been an inspiration to many poets, writers and artists, including Cui Hao, who wrote a beautiful piece about it.

Legend has it that there was once a wine shop run by a young man named

A must go, the Yellow Crane Tower. Xin. One day, a shabbily dressed priest came by and he was very thirsty. So, Xin gave him a free drink. The priest continued to stop by daily and Xin continued to serve him for almost half a year.

One day, the priest asked Xin if he could repay his kindness by drawing a crane which could dance at his request on the wall. From that day on, people flocked to the wine shop to see the magical crane and Xin’s business grew. To honour the priest, Xin built a tower and named it the Yellow Crane.

As much as I love the beauty of the legend, the

Enjoy the sakura in East Lake.

tower was actually constructed back in AD 223 by Sun Quan (the Emperor of Wu during the Three Kingdom period) as a watch tower for his army.

The five-storey tower, which stands at 51.4m, is not the original structure. It has been destroyed and reconstructed numerous times.

It was previously located on the Yellow Crane Jetty on the banks of Yangtze River, which is about one kilometre from its present location. The present structure was rebuilt in 1981.

I am dazzled by the beauty of the architecture, especially the golden glazed tiles roofs and eaves, which look the same regardless of the direction and which resembles yellow cranes spreading their wings to fly .

Wanting to see more, I head inside.

The vibrant temple of Guiyuan. But before I climb up to the fifth floor, I’m awestruck by a massive ceramic mural on the wall.

It is definitely worth the while to stop at every floor as each has a different and interesting display such as poem inscriptions, paintings and cultural relics.

On reaching the top level, you’ll be blessed with the marvellous panoramic view of the city and the Yangtze River from four directions. Do check out the music performance at the theatre.

Find out the schedule before you start your tour so that you don’t miss it.

VIBRANT TEMPLE

Another exquisite building in Wuhan is the first Zen Buddha temple built in Hubei Province, the Guiyuan Temple. Psst... this is where you can get plenty of Insta shots!