Wuhan a brief history.

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Wuhan or 武汉 in the Chinese characters is the capital of Hubei province in central China. Wuhan is situated in the middle of Hubei Province, 113°41′-115°05′ East, 29°58′-31°22′ North, It lies at the east of Jianghan Plain, and the intersection of the middle reaches of the Yangtze and Han River..Arising out of the conglomeration of three boroughs, Wuchang, Hankou, and Hanyang, Wuhan is known as "the nine provinces' leading thoroughfare"; it is a major transportation hub, with dozens of railways, roads and expressways passing through the city. The city of Wuhan, first termed as such in 1927, has a population of approximately 9,100,000 people (2006), with about 6,100,000 residents in its urban area. Wuhan is recognized as the political, economic, financial, cultural, educational and transportation center of central China. The metropolitan area comprises three parts - Wuchang, Hankou, and Hanyang, commonly called the "Three Towns of Wuhan" (hence the name "Wuhan", combining "Wu" from the first city and "Han" from the other two). The consolidation of these three cities occurred in 1927 and Wuhan was thereby established. These three parts face each other across the rivers and are linked by bridges, including one of the first modern bridges in China, known as the "First Bridge". It is simple in geographical structure - low and flat in the middle and hilly in the south, with the Yangtze and Han rivers winding through the city. Wuhan occupies a land area of 8494.41 km2, most of which is plain and decorated with hills and a great number of lakes and pools.

In early October in 1938, Japanese aggressors moved east and north respectively upon outskirts of Wuhan. As a result, numerous companies and enterprises and large amounts people had to withdraw from Wuhan to the west of Hubei and Sichuan. The KMT navy undertook the responsibility of defending the Yangtze River on patrol and covering the withdrawal. On 24 October, when overseeing the waters of the Yangtze River near the town of Jinkou (Jiangxia District in Wuhan) in Wuchang, the KMT warship Zhongshan come up against six Japanese planes. The planes took turns to dive, strafe and bomb the ship. Though two planes were eventually shot down, the Zhongshan warship sank down due to serious damage with 25 casualties.

Tourist sites

Wuchang has the largest lake within a city in China, the East Lake, as well as the South Lake.
The Hubei Provincial Museum includes many artifacts excavated from ancient tombs, including a concert bell set (bianzhong). A dance and orchestral show is frequently performed here, using reproductions of the original instruments.
# The Rock and Bonsai Museum includes a mounted platybelodon skeleton, many unique stones, a quartz crystal the size of an automobile, and an outdoor garden with miniature trees in the penjing ("Chinese Bonsai") style.
The Yellow Crane Tower (Huanghelou) is presumed to have been first built in approximately 220 AD. The tower has been destroyed and reconstructed numerous times, was burned last according to some sources in 1884. The tower underwent complete reconstruction in 1981. The reconstruction utilized modern materials and added an elevator, while maintaining the traditional design in the tower's outward appearance.

Popular foods

* Hot and Dry Noodles, Re-gan mian (热干面) consists of long freshly boiled noodles mixed with sesame paste. The Chinese word re means hot and gan means dry. It is considered to be the most typical local food for breakfast.
* Duck's Neck or Ya Bozi (鸭脖子) is a local version of this popular Chinese dish, made of duck necks and spices.
* Bean Pan or Doupi (豆皮）is a popular local dish with a filling of egg, rice, beef, mushrooms and beans cooked between two large round soybean skins and cut into pieces, structurally like a stuffed pizza without enclosing edges.
* Soup dumpling or Xiaolongbao（小笼包）is a kind of dumpling with thin skin made of flour, steamed with very juicy meat inside, it is called Tang (soup) Bao (bun), because every time one takes a bite from it the soup inside spills out.
* Salty Doughnut or Mianwo (面窝) is a kind of doughnut with salty taste. It's much thinner than common doughnut, and is a typical Wuhan local food.

# Liu Yi Fei (Crystal Liu) who stars in the movie The Forbidden Kingdom alongside Jet Li and Jackie Chan is from wuhan

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