Top 5 places to visit in
HubeiTop 5 products in
HubeiTALK OF THE TOWNTEA
Over 300 years ago, Wuhan was the heart of China’s tea trade.
Loaded with compressed bricks of tea, camel caravans would plod
north on long journeys to Russian cities like Moscow. With an ideal
climate for tea storage, this remains one of Hubei’s top exports.YELLOW CR ANE TOWER^1
As its name suggests, this tower’s five roofs resemble the wings of
a great crane about to take flight. The current pagoda is a replica
of an older tower one kilometre away from its original site, where it
had been destroyed and rebuilt seven times throughout its history.
What Yellow Crane Tower offers is not just a bird’s eye view of
Wuhan, but also a beautiful garden surrounding its base.1WUCHANG FISH
Dwelling in silty depths of the Yangtze, this fish is a type of bream
popular in Hubei cuisine. Most commonly steamed or braised,
it has gained fans from all backgrounds from the city dweller in
Wuhan to even Mao Zedong himself. In one of his poems, Mao
wrote about savouring a delectable meal of Wuchang fish.2JADE
Valued at prices even higher than gold, the importance of jade is
deeply embedded in Chinese culture. Apart from being a status
symbol and representation of wisdom, the word’s character bears
close resemblance to the Chinese character for “king”. Jade is
often sold in the form of pendants and bracelets.FEATHER FANS
Unlike other traditional paper Chinese fans, these ones found in
Honghu are made of feathers. The popularity of this hand accessory
stems from its use by the legendary Zhuge Liang character in the
Romance of the Three Kingdoms epic.LACQUERWARE
With varnish harvested from the sap of lacquer trees, craftsmen
would carefully decorate vessels and other items with intrinsic
designs to create beautiful wares. This art has been practiced as
early as 1600 BC, and was especially popular in Hubei province
because it had an environment where lacquer trees could thrive.345HUBU ALLEY
If food adventures are right up your alley, this will be your haven.
Hubu Alley provides a heavy dose of local culture through unusual
street food such as barbequed frogs, pig’s blood balls, duck
neck and fried snails. A must-try is the hot dry noodles, a staple
breakfast for locals.THREE GORGES DAM PROJECT
A man-made structure so colossal it is visible from space with the
naked eye, the Three Gorges Dam is our planet’s largest power
station. Regardless of its controversy for harm, it has brought to its
surroundings benefits like flood control and clean energy. The dam
is also a breathtaking sight to behold.WUDANG MOUNTAINS
For those interested in Chinese kungfu, this is one of the places
to put on your bucket list. A counterpart to the Shaolin Temple,
Wudang Mountains is the birthplace of tai chi. The 700-year-old
buildings and paths are still intact and well-preserved, making a
visit to these mountains a travel back in time.ENSHI GR AND CANYON
This canyon bears little semblance to its American counterpart of
the same name. Its karst landscape carpeted with lush greenery
reminds one of the majestic Zhangjiajie that inspired the Avatar’s
Hallelujah Mountains. Apart from stairs, there are cable cars and
escalators to assist climbers, making hikes up the towering spires
manageable for people of all ages.2
3
4
(^5) Yunnan Zhang/Flickr