3rd December: Wuhan, China

Music out of the window caught our attention this morning and it turned out to be a musical dust-suppression water sprayer, just like the one we saw in Wushan a few weeks ago! Today was noticeably chillier than yesterday, although still sunny, and a smog hung in the air. We left on foot, walking down a lovely non-touristy pedestrian street. The only issue was the usual incessant noises from loudspeakers outside every shop repeating the same sentence every couple of seconds. After the ongoing action on air pollution, unnecessary noise should surely be the next target here! As two people who suffer with intermittent noise sensitivity, this can really be a bit of an issue for us.

Hankou, on the north bank of the Yangtze and Han rivers was another place in China where foreign nations had a foothold through concessions. This time it was the UK, Germany, France, Japan, and Russia. This at least explains the number of Russian shops and products we’ve seen for sale here. From the bank, the Yangtze looked very low currently, but vast banks and dikes hinted at its dangerous potential. During the 1931 floods, water levels peaked at 16 metres higher than the mean in Hankou and led to catastrophe. Estimates vary, but as many as 4 million people may have died in the flooding and humanitarian crisis that followed in the midst of the civil war (and Japanese invasion further north). Water control has long been important in China, both culturally and practically, and this has been exaggerated exponentially by engineering advancements. A few hundred kilometres upstream of here lies the Three Gorges Dam, something we hope to find out more about soon.

Kaja had noticed there was a ferry across the Yangtze, which was obviously something we couldn’t resist! As luck would have it, we arrived a few minutes before the half hourly departure. Our phones let us tap in and pay the 14p fare and we raced down the long gangways to the boat. The metal gate was slammed behind us and in front of everyone we overtook. We were the last ones on! Views were muted given the smog, but the thrill of crossing the great river on a boat was undiminished. Despite the low water level, the river here is still more than a kilometre wide.

From the south bank, now in Wuchang, we watched on agog as more than 20 swimmers were visible in the water. They dodged cargo ships and quickly drifted downstream before disappearing from view as they attempted to cross to Hankou. Famously, this is where Mao Zedong undertook the many swims which came to symbolise his ambition to tame nature, as well as showcasing his enduring health and power to kickstart the Cultural Revolution. Now, Socialism with Chinese Characteristics in its most recent guise under Xi Jinping has come to envelope the technological conquering of these forces, as symbolised most of all by the infrastructure visible across the nation. They are no longer “crossing the river by touching the stones” as epitomised by Deng Xiaoping, but instead by confidently bridging straight across such obstacles toward global leadership.

As a late lunch, Kaja found us a restaurant in a temple complex around the back of the beautiful Yellow Crane Tower. The seven sleeping staff seemed a little perturbed to be awoken but soon busied themselves unnecessarily over us before returning to snoring (literally) in the corner. We tried three dishes, which turned out to be far too much food! The veggie sausage balls with wood ear mushrooms in spicy tomato sauce was average and a little too salty. The fried gluten with green and red peppers was delicious and the slightly spicy and sour sauce went perfectly with rice. My favourite though was some sort of homemade vegetarian bacon, with pak choi, on a huge bed of dried and marinated fermented beans. We’re not sure of the variety but the beans were simultaneously grassy like tea and slightly woody, whilst having enough freshness to be moreish.

Back out into the golden afternoon light, we walked through the nearby park. The foliage was a mixture of sub-tropical lushness and temperate trees with orange and red autumnal leaves. This turned out to be the memorial area to the Wuchang uprising. In a country (and city) which packs in more history than most, this event is perhaps the most significant. On 10^th October 1911, an armed rebellion began here against the Qing Dynasty. This marked the beginning of the Xinhai Revolution, led by Sun Yat-sen, which within four months had ended over 2,000 years of imperial rule and opened a new chapter in Chinese history.

On our way back to the hotel, an open-backed trucked stacked with oranges was parked at a junction. An elderly woman stood beside it, selling her produce to those on their homeward commutes. Nearby, another with apples did the same.