Why go
Few buildings anywhere carry as much literary freight. The poet Cui Hao climbed a tower here in the 8th century, watched a departing sail vanish into the mist, and wrote a poem so good that legend says Li Bai himself read it and gave up writing about the tower entirely. Yellow Crane Tower has been China's definitive riverside view ever since.
The current structure — five tiers of upturned yellow-tile eaves, 51 metres tall — dates from 1985, and purists grumble that it is concrete with an elevator and even air conditioning. They miss the point: towers on this site have always burned and been rebuilt, and what you visit is the continuity, not the timbers.
- The view from the fifth floor: the Yangtze, the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge, and the confluence with the Han River
- Cui Hao's Tang poem 'Yellow Crane Tower' — inscribed on the first floor, memorised by every Chinese student
- There is a lift — ride up, take the stairs down past the murals and poems
- Night illumination shows light the tower and its park in shifting colour
What to see
Work upward floor by floor: the ground level holds a monumental ceramic mural of clouds and cranes, mid-levels display the poem inscriptions and tower history, and the fifth floor opens onto the balcony view — the Yangtze sweeping east, the 1957 bridge carrying trains across it, and the three cities of Wuhan stacked to the horizon. The surrounding Snake Hill park is free and pleasant, dotted with pavilions and a giant bell you can ring for a fee.
Pairing it with the city
The tower sits in Wuchang, minutes from the riverfront levee walk and the Hankou-era architecture across the river. The classic Wuhan day: hot dry noodles at a street stall for breakfast, Yellow Crane Tower in the morning, the Yangtze bridge promenade at lunch, and the Hubei Provincial Museum's bells in the afternoon. In the evening, the riverside light show reflects off the water in both directions.
Getting there
- Metro Line 4 or 5 to Wutai Tree (武昌司门口黄鹤楼) station, 10 minutes' walk
- First built
- 223 CE (Three Kingdoms); current tower 1985
- Height
- 51.4 m, five tiers
- Fame
- Cui Hao's Tang-dynasty poem
