Wuhan
Wuhan Children's Welfare Institution
#1 Hua Yuan Shan
Yan Zhi Lu
Wuchang District, Wuhan, PR CHINA
430061
Half the Sky Children's Center #36 opened in September, 2007.
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Baby Sisters Infant Nurture Program since September, 2007 |
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Little Sisters Preschool Program since September, 2007 |
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Big Sisters Program since September, 2007 |
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Family Village #9 since September, 2007 |
WUHAN
The capital of Hubei province, Wuhan lies at the confluence of the Yangzte and Han Rivers, roughly midway between Beijing and Guangzhou.
Wuhan is known as the Chicago of China. Railroad lines and major rivers converge, making it the major commercial hub of central China.
The city encompasses three towns, Wuchang, Hankou and Hanyang, which face each other across the rivers and are linked by several bridges.
The area was first settled more than 3,000 years ago during the Han Dynasty, when Hanyang became a busy port. In the first and third centuries A.D., walls were built to protect Hanyang and Wuchang. About 300 years ago, Hankou became one of the country's top four trading towns.
In the early 20th century, Wuhan became a hot spot of revolutionary activities. In 1911, Dr. Sun Yat-Sen led a revolution that overthrew the Qing Dynasty. There are many memorial structures devoted to the revolutionaries of that era, such as the Red Building, which housed the National Revolutionary Army Government in the 1911 Movement, the Monument to the Martyrs of the February 7 Strike, and the Central Peasant Movement Institute.
Wuhan’s extreme heat and humidity in the summer has earned it the title of one of the four furnace cities in China. For visitors who brave the heat or don’t travel in the summer, the city has several attractions:
Yellow Crane Tower, located on Snake Hill in Wuchang is an imposing pagoda near the Yangzte River. The five-story, 51 meter (168 feet) high Yellow Crane Tower was originally built during the Three Kingdoms Period (220-280) for military purposes. Eventually it became a gathering place for artists, scholars, and poets, who used the Tower in their poetry. (Visitors can find poems about the Tower written in different dynasties on the third floor.) In the eighth century, Cui Hao made the Tower the most celebrated building in southern China with his poem “Yellow Crane Tower.”
One magical legend about the Tower is that there used to be a wine shop in Wuchang owned by a man named Old Xin. One day, a shabbily dressed Taoist priest asked for some wine. Old Xin paid no attention to him, but his son was very kind and gave the Taoist some wine without asking for money. Grateful for the free wine, the Taoist priest drew a magic crane on the wall of the shop and instructed it to dance whenever it heard clapping. So many people came to watch the spectacle of the dancing crane, the Xin family business boomed. Ten years later the Taoist priest revisited the wine shop. He played the flute and then rode on the crane into the sky. In memory of the priest, the Xin family built a tower and named it Yellow Crane Tower.
Over the centuries, the tower was destroyed and rebuilt many times. The current building, finished in the 1980s, is a faithful reproduction of the Qing Dynasty design, except for the addition of air conditioning and an elevator. The tower’s roof is covered with 100,000 yellow glazed tiles. Its yellow upturned eaves are meant to suggest a yellow crane spreading its wings to fly. On the top floor of the tower, visitors are treated to panoramic view of the Yangtze River, its bridges, and the city of Wuhan. Surrounding the tower is a multi-terraced park, with bronze yellow cranes, statues, pavilions, and a giant bell you can ring for good luck.
Reachable by an overnight train from Wuhan, the Wudang Mountains are a sacred Taoist site. The "Five Dragon Temple" was built 1,300 years ago during the Tang Dynasty. In the 15th century, the Ming court sent 300,000 soldiers and workers to Wudang to build 160 monasteries, temples, pavilions and other structures. It took more than 10 years to complete the complex, which became a major center of Taoism. Although many of the old structures deteriorated in the ensuing centuries, there are still many well-preserved temples. Taiji Boxing, which synthesizes various forms of martial art skills, including the thirty-two-movement Long Punch, was created by Wudang Taoist priest Zhang Sanfeng during the Ming Dynasty.
East Lake is vast, forested scenic area surrounded by green mountains. Visitors come to enjoy orchids in spring, water lilies in summer, sweet osmanthus blossoms in autumn, and plum blossoms in winter. Wuhan University, one of the most beautiful campuses in China, features fragrant gardens and some ancient-style architecture.
Re gan mian (“hot, dry noodles”) is typical breakfast fare of Wuhan. One of China’s “five famous” noodle dishes, re gan mian is made of hand-pulled, wheat-based noodles over which soy sauce, sesame paste, pickled vegetables, chopped chives and rice vinegar are added just before eating. . You can also try Bean Pan, “Dou Pi,” an egg, rice, beef, mushroom and bean dish with a soy skin. Or try “Mian Wo,” which are very thin, salty doughnuts.
If you adopted a child who was in a Wuhan Half the Sky program, we are happy to send you whatever progress reports and photographs we may have in our files, but only after you've brought your child home. Please download and fill out a progress report request form and follow the instructions for faxing or emailing to Half the Sky