Two of the many splendid views one can see from the bus as one approaches and then enters Wuhan.

THE CITY OF WUHAN (part one)

Wuhan is the Capital of Hubei Province, within which Hong Hu is located. Whatever may be its physical and cultural attractions, for this foreigner, it is refuge from the frustrations or just plain busyness of my life, to which I can escape from time to time when possible.

It lies three hours to the north by bus and I now rate as a 'frequent flyer' in the eyes of the bus company employees.

Some of the most frequent questions put to me by people in Hong Hu are: "Don't you feel lonely in Hong Hu?"  and "What do you do in your spare time?"

The truth is, that prior to December 2003 my brother was my neighbour, and from June 2003 until September 2004, I had at various times up to four boarders living in my apartment. Since September 2004, I have been totally on my own and loving it and since the arrival of the foreign teacher at No 5 School, I have enjoyed many hours in the company of a westerner who can speak decent English at normal speed. (More on her in a couple of weeks - and don't go jumping to conclusions!!!)

So firstly, "No! I have never felt lonely!"

The Qin Chuan Pavilion located beside the Qin Chuan Hotel in HanYang Wuhan.

As for spare time, the frustrations of dealing with a school that had no program, planning or idea of 'how' to teach or achieve progress in Oral English, meant that for a very long period I was constantly working in my spare time trying to come up with ways to motivate the students, as well as devoting every evening to holding 'English Corner' for those students wanting to practice.

From February 2004 until I hit Summer Camp my spare time was taken up with writing a 'Teacher's Manual' for the school, stories for Magic City News, two newsletters per week for my own website, constant research in Biblical Chronology, and contributions to Yahoo Religion Forum and the feedback column at the Courier Mail Newspaper at home.

And let's not forget that horrendous month when for 2 hours 5 nights a week I taught 20 Primary school students in my living room.

And of course there is that one inescapable curse of life, the student 'free weekend'.

A period of 27 hours in which they are free to do nothing, while I cop 27 hours of being unable to do anything as they come 'banging' (not knocking - banging) on my door for visits, even as late as 10 pm at night.

The main bus station in HanKou (not the other Hankou bus station in Xin Hua Lu). Bottom: The Qing Chuan pavillion tower over the roadway. The hotel is to the left.

So ... 'Free Time?' - What's that? Sometimes, I just need to escape, and my refuge is the Qin Chuan Holiday Riverside Inn in HanYang Wuhan!

The bus from Hong Hu arrives at the Wuhan Qi Che Ke Yun Zhong Zhan (Wuhan Bus Station near main railway station), just a block away from the Oriental Hotel (Big red sculpture outside on the roundabout). Taxi fare to the Qin Chuan is only 15 RMB but YOU will pay up to 40 RMB. (803 then 531 Bus and it is only 2 RMB to the front door.)

The Qin Chuan is located on the banks of the Yangtze and directly behind it on the river is the Dock for the huge passenger liners that take rich tourists for 5 day cruises on the river. Looking directly at the hotel from the front, the red coloured Qin Chuan bridge is to your left, the Qin Chuan pavilion is to the right, and if you go down the side street behind you, you will not only see the cave dwellers, but at the bottom of the road there is a lovely lake and temple.

The Pavilion Gateway over the road leads up into the mountain park and is a must. Be prepared, it is quite a hike.

Wuhan is divided into three cities, HanKou where the main bus and railway station are located, HanYang where the cruise ships dock and where the hotel is, and WuChang where the big lakes are.

Cruise Ship docked behind the hotel. Offloading guests are welcomed with loud drums and dance troupe.

The bridge from HanYang to WuChang (200 metres to the right of the ship in this photo), is called the Chang Jiang No. 1 Bridge. At the first bus stop on the other side of the bridge is Yellow Crane Tower, (Huang He Lou) www.kingscalendar.com/cgi-bin/index.cgi?action=viewnews&id=133 a magnificent building that is all lit up at night (if you can see it through the fog). Further on is HongShan Park, and other Temple areas. MoShan park lies on the East lake in WuChang.

HanYang has it's own little lake and temple located at the end of the side street that runs the length of the mountain. The following photo which was taken from my hotel room, shows the guard tower over the road to the left and just above it the HanYang end of the No 1 bridge. You can also see the mountain park with TV tower and the side road that leads down to the main road to the lake.

Buses from HanYang and WuChang converge at this end of the mountain before crossing over the bridge to HanKou.

The Mountain park with TV tower. At the top (amongst other things) there is a very long avenue of statues of famous Chinese Characters.

The Temple and lake in HanYang at that point between the No 1 bridge and the bridge to Hankou - where all the buses converge.

Two shots of the Mountain. The first is taken from within the park of the fort, and the other one is taken from the banks of the river.

Two features found within the mountain park beside the Qin Chuan Hotel.

Despite all forebodings of the hotel staff (who know I am a crazy foreigner), rather than take taxis, I always prefer to travel around town by bus. There are many advantages to this, not the least of which is that during peak times, the taxi is not likely to arrive at any destination on a bus route much sooner the bus.

I usually walk down the side street past the mountain, to the the lake area, where I can catch any bus I like, and the walk down there, apart from being good for me, affords me the opportunity of taking in the scenery, which includes the 'cave dwellers'. All along the side of the mountain there are caves in which people live. This next photo offers just one view.

To the left of the Hotel (as you face it) there is a very large park. One could in fact go out the back door of the hotel and follow the river pathway down to the far end of the park where it meets another river. Following it around the bend you can walk all the way down to the lake. If you wished to, you could also walk across the red Qin Chuan bridge over to Hankou.

In the right hand frame of the next photo, you can see brick paving leading up to the bridge. On the other side of the bridge in the evenings one can usually find karaoke stalls and various entertainment stalls such as shooting galleries. It is a very pleasant area.

Two shots taken from the same spot on the HanJiang riverbank but in different directions. To the Right of the Bridge is the Yangtze. Locals love to fish and swim here during the summer, and despite Chinese modesty, it is nothing to see hordes of young men and boys running around in their wet underwear.

Like all cities I suppose, Wuhan has it's poorer areas, but generally unlike western cities, the poorer places sit next to the richer places. One can see beautiful shops located beside or over the road from the dirt poor. In Hong Hu where there is a lot of reconstruction going on, it seems that all the main streets are being westernised, to hide the poverty that lies behind them.

In this next shot which was taken in the main street in the shopping area on the other side of the Red Qin Chuan bridge, one can see the dilapidated shops in the main street, behind which sits a very modern brick building. Over all however, Wuhan is a very beautiful city, undergoing rapid change.

Wuhan is a mix of both modern and old, and these buildings are just a few blocks away (on the main road) from the modern department stores.

Wuhan has many beautiful gardens and parks, and there is a lot of landscaping being done along the roads leading into town

The Private school where Eunice teaches English. It is in WuChang but way out in the sticks and only accessible by dirt roads. This setting is in stark contrast to the poverty approaching it.

I think for those of you interested in architecture, Wuhan would prove to be a very interesting city. Unlike ShenZhen where individually exquisite buildings sit side by side and so lose some of their lustre, the buildings in Wuhan are spread out and interspersed with both the more mundane and the downright shabby.

Top view is of the Oriental Hotel a block from the Bus Station. The bottom is an example of some of the more exotic architecture to be found in Wuhan.

In Part two of this article which will appear online next week, I will take you to some of the parks in Wuhan. For the moment however, I will just leave you with a few additional photos.

If you would like to know a little more about Wuhan, you can check it out at: www.travelchinaguide.com/cityguides/wuhan.htm

ADDITIONAL PHOTOGRAPHS

Two entrances to HongShan Park in WuChang Wuhan

Tower in HongShan Park and a gold statue within one of the Temples. This is an enhanced photo taken from outside as photographs are not permitted within the shrines and temples.

I was 'posing' for this photograph and didn't see the monk approaching. He had a good belly laugh.

The top view is of some buildings just 100 metres from the private school where Eunice Works.

Top photo taken from the window of my hotel toward HanKou. Bottom view taken from a front room of the hotel and shows the Red Qin Chuan bridge. The vacant land is now a lush park

Three views of Wuhan taken from the bus as it passed over the No.1 bridge. Top view of HanYang. Middle view of the river with HanYang to the left and WuChang to the right, and Bottom view of the WuChang side of the river.

Taken from the Cable Car ride across the river from HanYang to HanKou. The Cable car entrance is on top of the Mountain with TV tower.

Entrance to one of the many temple areas just over the WuChang side of the Chang Jian No 1 bridge

Looking over the Yangtze to the Yellow Crane Tower, and a closer view of the tower

This is the fortress by the lake inside MoShan Park and offers wonderful views.

MoShan Park Gift shop and car rally demonstration.

R.P.Bendedek

Email: rpbendedek@hotmail.com

Note: This file was amended August 2007.
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R.P.BenDedek is the pseudonym of the Author of 'The King's Calendar: The Secret of Qumran' (www.kingscalendar.com), and he is a guest columnist at Magic City Morning Star News. An Australian, he currently teaches Conversational English in China. Other Stories can be found at:  http://www.kingscalendar.com/cgi-bin/index.cgi?action=viewnews&id=128