Situated on the southern bank of the Yangtze River, Yellow Crane Tower is regarded as the symbol of Wuhan city.
Built in the year 223 during Three Kingdoms (220-280) period, the tower is one of the three most famous towers in south China. Equally famous are Tengwang Tower in Nanchang City of Jiangxi Province and Yueyang Tower in Yueyang City of Hunan Province.
Legend has it that in Wuchang, there used to be a wine shop opened by a young man named Xin. One day, a Taoist priest, in gratitude for free wine, drew a magic crane on the wall of the shop and instructed it to dance whenever it heard clapping. Thousands of people came to see the spectacle and the wine shop was always full of guests. After 10 years, the Taoist priest revisited the wine shop. He played the flute and then rode on the crane to the sky. In memory of the supernatural encounter and the priest, the Xins built a tower and named it Yellow Crane Tower.
After completion in 223 A.D., the tower served as a gathering place for celebrities and poets to party and compose poetry. It was estimated that up to the Tongzhi Reign of the Qing dynasty, as many as 300 poems about the tower had been found in historical literature. Cui Hao, a famous poet during the Tang dynasty (618-907), made the tower well known throughout China with his poem 'Yellow Crane Tower'.
Destroyed many times in successive dynasties, the tower was rebuilt time and again until 100 years ago when it was, for the last time, reduced to ashes. The present tower is a complete reconstruction and is the result of four years of work beginning in 1981. The tower, 51.4 meters high, is five-storied with yellow tiles and red pillars, overlapping ridges and interlocking eaves, more magnificent than the old one.
Yellow Crane Tower has been expanded into a park consisting of 60 scenic sites where the culture of ancient Chu state and modern civilization is well blended.
