Yellow Crane Tower
黄鹤楼
The foremost of the Three Great Towers of Southern China, immortalized in poems by Cui Hao and Li Bai. Climbing it for views of the Yangtze River Bridge and Wuhan's three towns is the top sight of the River City.
Yellow Crane Tower stands atop Snake Hill in Wuchang, on the south bank of the Yangtze River. It was first built in 223 CE, in the Eastern Wu period, and was repeatedly destroyed and rebuilt over the centuries. Famous poems such as Cui Hao's “Long ago, the sage rode off on a yellow crane and never returned” and Li Bai's “My old friend leaves the Yellow Crane Tower in the west” made it China's most celebrated tower. Together with Yueyang Tower and Tengwang Pavilion, it is known as the Three Great Towers of Southern China. The current tower was rebuilt in 1985 near the original site. It is 51.4 m tall, with five stories and a pyramid roof that looks the same from every direction, built with a reinforced-concrete imitation-wood structure. Highlights: each floor displays the tower's history, poetry from successive dynasties, calligraphy and paintings by famous figures, and models of the tower's design through the Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties. The fifth-floor gallery offers a 360-degree view of the Yangtze, the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge, Turtle Hill TV Tower, and the Hankou skyline, the best spot for photographing the bridge. Below the tower are the thousand-year-old “Goose” stone tablet, the wall inscribed with Cui Hao's poem, Baiyun Pavilion, the Mao Zedong poetry pavilion, Goose Pond, a corridor of poetry steles, and the ancient bronze roof (a Qing-dynasty relic from the original tower). Between the main tower and the south tower, Luomei Pavilion hosts bianzhong bell performances. Tickets cost 70 yuan and must be booked through the official WeChat account or mini-program with real-name registration. Visitors over 60 pay half price. From March to November, a night show, “Climbing the Yellow Crane Tower at Night,” is offered for about 150 yuan, purchased separately. Transport: about a 10-minute walk from Shouyi Road station on Metro Lines 4 and 5, or from Simenkou-Yellow Crane Tower station on Line 5. It is about a 15-minute walk up the hill from Hubu Lane. The best times to visit are morning or evening, for sunset and lights. Allow 1.5–2 hours. Leaving through the west gate, you can walk the pedestrian path across the Yangtze River Bridge to Hanyang. Notes: the tower has an elevator, but it serves only some floors, and there are many steps. It is crowded on holidays, so arrive when the park opens in the morning.
Opening hours
08:00–18:00 (separate times for night tours)
Nearby sights
- Wuchang Uprising Memorial (Red Building)
- Hubu Alley
- Xinhai Revolution Museum
- Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge
- Wuchang Riverside Park
- Former Site of the Central Peasant Movement Institute
- Liangdao Street
- Tanhualin