{"id":16915,"date":"2020-04-19T02:00:55","date_gmt":"2020-04-19T01:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saporedicina.com\/english\/?p=16915"},"modified":"2022-02-10T12:14:05","modified_gmt":"2022-02-10T11:14:05","slug":"travel-to-hubei","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saporedicina.com\/english\/travel-to-hubei\/","title":{"rendered":"Traveling to Hubei, Province of the Three Gorges Dam"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Traveling\"Creative<\/a> Lesser Three Gorges Boat Trip032<\/a> by Paul B Doherty<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

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Traveling to Hubei – Index<\/h3>\n
    \n
  1. Why visit Hubei Province?<\/a><\/li>\n
  2. When to visit Hubei?<\/a><\/li>\n
  3. Wuhan \u2013 what\u2019s there to see?<\/a><\/li>\n
  4. The city of Jingzhou and Mount Wudang<\/a><\/li>\n
  5. Shennong Jia National Park<\/a><\/li>\n
  6. The city of Yichang<\/a><\/li>\n
  7. Frequently asked questions<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n

    <\/p>\n

    The capital of Hubei Province (\u6e56\u5317) is Wuhan (\u6b66\u6c49). The abbreviated name for Hubei Province is \u9102 (E), a character mostly used on car license plates. The presence of the character \u5317 (bei) \u201cnorth\u201d shouldn’t fool you, since Hubei is a province in central China. <\/p>\n

    The name comes from the fact that it’s located north of the large and deep Dongting Lake (\u6d1e\u5ead), just like Hunan (\u6e56\u5357) because, as opposed to Hubei, it’s located south of Dongting Lake. On one shore of Dongting Lake there’s the famous Yueyang Lou (\u5cb3\u9633\u697c), \u201cYueuang Tower\u201d. <\/p>\n

    Note too that the really ancient State of Chu (\u695a) is located in Hubei.<\/p>\n

    Why visit Hubei Province?<\/h2>\n

    Some time ago, the general image of China was a place full of lakes, rivers, mountains, forests, animals, Chinese with straw hats on board little boats, and so on.<\/p>\n

    Well, Hubei is certainly one of the most fertile and lush Chinese provinces, thanks to the countless rivers and lakes to be found there. The most important river that goes through Hubei is Changjiang (\u957f\u6c5f), the \u201cLong River\u201d, known in the West as the Yangzi or, Yangtze depending on the old phonetic transcription from Wade-Giles.<\/p>\n

    Although the literal translation of Changjiang is \u201cLong River\u201d, it’s conventionally called \u201cBlue River\u201d because there are clay-like substances present that allows it to reflect the blue of the sky like a mirror. The Changjiang is the longest river in Asia, and the third-longest in the world, surpassed only by the Amazon and Nile Rivers.<\/p>\n

    Although nature has an important role in Hubei, modernity has not failed to reach this wonderful province, with all the pros and cons that this brings.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Thanks to its central position – bordered by Henan (\u6cb3\u5357) to the north<\/a>, Hunan (\u6e56\u5357) to the south<\/a>, Anhui (\u5b89\u5fbd ) to the east, Chongqing (\u91cd\u5e86) to the west<\/a>, Jiangxi (\u6c5f\u897f) southeast<\/a> and Shaanxi (\u9655\u897f) to the northwest<\/a>, – Hubei is a strategic base for tourists to start exploring China and all its mysteries.<\/p>\n

    There’s something else that should be said: the Three Gorges start in Chongqing and end in Hubei. In fact, on May 20, 2006, in western Hubei \u2013 specifically in the city of Yichang (\u5b9c\u660c) \u2013 the famous Three Gorges Dam was completed, a dam for producing electric energy built on the Changjiang River (\u957f\u6c5f).<\/p>\n

    In any case, this geologic wonder of the Three Gorges is just a small wonderful introduction to the absolutely natural beauty of Hubei Province that, just to mention, boasts Wudang Shan (\u6b66\u5f53\u5c71), a small mountain chain rich in sacred mountains and pilgrimage sites for Taoists. <\/p>\n

    \"Traveling\"Creative<\/a> \u5f53\u592a\u9633\u544a\u522b\u6b66\u6c49<\/a> by Yunfan Zhang<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

    Keeping on the \u201cnature\u201d theme, in Hubei, there’s the large Shennongjia National Park (\u795e\u519c\u67b6), a UNESCO world heritage park, site of Shennongjia Linqu (\u795e\u519c\u67b6\u6797\u533a), or the \u201cShennongjia Forest District\u201d.<\/p>\n

    Going back to Hubei’s position, the central nature of this province has given it a very important role in Chinese history: around the ancient city of Jingzhou (\u8346\u5dde) there are many traces of the now-vanished Chu Kingdom, of which there’s lots to say, especially regarding the religious beliefs of 2000 years ago. <\/p>\n

    Moreover, in the famous novel of the Three Kingdoms, there are several references to the city of Jingzhou. Staying on the historic theme, you can’t forget about the capital of Hubei, Wuhan. The present city of Wuhan, which is now a good 6,600,000 inhabitants, was the place where the revolt led by supporters of Sun Yat-sen (better known in China as Sun Zhongshan, \u5b59\u4e2d\u5c71) began, which brought about the fall of the Qing Dynasty (\u6e05), in 1911, and the subsequent founding of the Republic of China, Zhonghua Minguo (\u4e2d\u534e\u6c11\u56fd).<\/p>\n

    Clearly, Wuhan offers a lot, and not just tourist attractions. To not get too far off of the Chinese language, not many know that at the University of Wuhan, Wuhan Daxue (\u6b66\u6c49\u5927\u5b66)<\/a>, there’s one of the best and well-known departments of classical Chinese language. <\/p>\n

    The residents of Hubei are generally called \u4e5d\u5934\u9e1f (jiu tou niao), or \u201cNine-headed birds\u201d: it’s rumored that the residents of Hubei like to twist the truth. But in my opinion, that’s a stereotype.<\/p>\n

    To conclude, besides the previously mentioned explanations, there’s a ton of reasons to visit Hubei. In this article, I’ll try to give as complete a picture possible of this marvelous place. <\/p>\n

    When to visit Hubei?<\/h2>\n

    I’ll begin by responding to a common question: when is a good time to visit Hubei?<\/p>\n

    From March to April the temperature is still cool. The only inconvenience would be the unexpected rain; from September to November, when the summer heat has passed. The period between November and March is the best time to visit the Wudang mountain chain with its snowy peaks. <\/p>\n

    Every season has its own appeal, I only recommend that you watch out for the heat, especially if you have a hard time dealing with it!<\/p>\n

    \"Visit\"Creative<\/a> Statue on the apex<\/a> by Yuxuan Wang<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

    Wuhan \u2013 what’s there to see?<\/h2>\n

    The capital of Hubei is the city of Wuhan, founded by the union of three cities: Wuchang (\u6b66\u660c), Hankou (\u6c49\u53e3), and Hanyang (\u6c49\u9633). Wuhan is also known as Jiusheng Tongqu (\u4e5d\u7701\u901a\u8862), or \u201cthe main road of the nine provinces\u201d but the reason behind this name isn’t clear. <\/p>\n

    There are two possible explanations: <\/p>\n