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| Huanghelou (Yellow Crane Tower) |
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Huanghelou (Yellow Crane Tower), located near the southern end of
the Yangtze River Bridge in Wuhan, is one of China's most famous towers.
The tower inspired many ancient poets and artists. Following is one
example, written by Li Bai of the Tang Dynasty:
My old friend
Bids farewell to me
In the west at Yellow Crane Tower.
Amid April's mist and flowers
He goes down to Yang-jou.
The distant image
Of his lonely sail
Disappears in blue emptiness,
And all I see
Is the Long River
Flowing to the edge of the sky.
The existing tower was rebuilt in 1981 and opened to the public
in June, 1985. It is a symbol of the Wuhan City, often mentioned
together with white clouds.
Lying on Mt. Snake in Wuchang in the southern bank of the Yangtze
River, near the Southern end of the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge,
the Yellow Crane Tower is one of the three most famous towers along
the Yangtze River. It was first built in 223 A. D. during the Three
Kingdoms periods and carries a history of 1700 years. It used to
be a gathering place for celebrities and poets to drink and compose.
There were around 300 poems about the tower handed down through
the history.
It was first built in 223 AD, a Since ancient times, it has retained
its fame being the "first tower in China". The legend
has it that the owner of a wine shop used to give free wine to an
old man who drew a picture of a yellow crane on the wall in gratitude.
After the old man left, the crane came to life and danced for the
customers, and the owner became rich. When the old man returned
decades later, he mounted the crane and flew off into the sky.
Destroyed many times in later dynasties, the tower was rebuilt
again and again until 100 years ago when it turned into ashes for
the last time. The present tower is the result of a construction
lasted for four years beginning in 1981. Modeling the destroyed
one in Qing Dynasty, this 51.4 meter high and five-stored tower
are decorated with glazed tiles, crimson pillars, overlapping ridges
and interlocking flying eaves, making it even more magnificent than
old one. There is a white pagoda in the front and some corridors
and pavilions behind the Tower, forming a harmonious compound. The
top of the tower is the best place to viewing the surrounding scenery
and the mighty Yangtze River.
The whole park consists of the Yellow Crane Tower, side pavilions,
corridors, memorials archways, corridors of tablets with poem inscriptions
and business streets of ancient style. |
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