June 22, 2009
Wuhan is the capital and in the central part of Hubei province of China
After arriving in Macau for only two days, my parents and I went to Zhuhai and then flew over to Wuhan on June 22nd. Bobo, Elizabeth’s friend, picked us up at the airport in Wuhan and took us to an apartment that has been arranged for us.
The apartment was only a few blocks away from downtown, which saved us a lot of timewhen we went out for shopping and dining, because there was a lot of traffic. We left the apartment and started checking out the city right after unpacking our luggage.
The city contained a mixture of old and new buildings. Construction and renovation were everywhere. As the fifth most populous city in China, Wuhan’s streets and roads were always crowded with people, bikes, and cars all hours of the day. However, people never follow the rules of the road, so crossing the streets in the city was extremely terrifying. If you are going to Wuhan, never ever assume that you are safe to cross the road, even when the green pedestrian light is on!
Wuhan is known as one of the Three Furnaces of China because of its oppressively humid and hot weather. In the summer, its temperature always exceeds 40°C , which is 104°F . During noon time, I could barely walk on the street without wearing my lightest outfit and using a sun umbrella. I even had to put my favorite sport shoes aside and wear sandals during the whole trip, because the weather was so hot.
The good news is that the cost of living in Wuhan is very inexpensive. We ate like a celebrity, went shopping and had foot massages almost every day. Transportation is very low in price too. In order to hide from the heat, we took a taxi to everywhere we went. The taxi ride was usually RMB 3.00 – 12.00, which is around USD 0.38 – 1.50, depending on the duration of each trip. But cab drivers don’t like dealing with short rides; a few of them gave us a bad attitude.
On the second day, we headed off to the Wuhan University to take graduation pictures for Elizabeth. I was impressed by how big and beautiful the university was. The campus was featured with hills, lakes, trees, flowers and historical buildings, which date back to the 80’s.
Student residential building
Doggie glyphs on the roof
The university’s famous blue roof tiles
The university’s library
We spent another two days exploring the Wuhan city and then headed to Shanghai via high-speed railway.
Stay tuned for our next stop - Shanghai.
Seattle – Honolulu – Hong Kong – Macau – Zhuhai – Wuhan
seems that u love the trip so much:) keekeee
looking forward to read ur trip in shanghai
Bring me to China next time