Tours and holidays with added interest
Hubei
- Name in Chinese characters: 湖北
- Name in Pinyin: Húběi
- Status: Province
- Capital: Wuhan
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Location within China
General Overview
Hubei Province gets its name from its position to the north of the Dongting Lake. The capital, Wuhan, sits on the banks of the Yangtse holding a key position in river trade.
The Three Gorges Dam Project has focussed much attention on the Three Gorges river cruises between Yichang and Chongqing as well as on the area generally. This massive project has produced a huge resevoir to aid navigation and to generate much needed electricity. The water levels are also manipulated so as to control surges on the river that have caused devastating floods in the past.
The more remote parts of Hubei contains some delightful mountainous scenery inhabited by minority groups such as the Miao, Dong and Tujia.
Attractions For Visitors
The key reason for visiting Hubei in the last ten years has been the Three Gorges cruise from Yichang to Chongqing. Several large cruiseboats depart every day throughout the season taking large numbers of both domestic and foreign tourists along this picturesque route. Much of the enjoyment comes from the novelty of travelling by ship, a rare enough experience these days, and from the excursions en-route.
Shennongjia National Park can be reached conveniently from Yichang. It is best known for its flora, having some of the most diverse species for its climatic zone. At one stage it was also well known for sightings of a Big Foot wild-man type creature though there have been no reports recently.
For those interested in the martial arts or Taoism, the schools and temples on Wudang Shan will be of great interest. There is much rivalry between the Kung Fu styles across China and in the movies with Shaolin Temple as the good guys, those from Wudang Shan usually play the bad guys.
Wuhan is a useful gateway to Hubei, especially as flights in and out of Yichang are limited and the two cities are well-connected by an expressway. Wuhan is not very interesting in itself and few visitors bother stopping there of choice.
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Current Comments
4 comments so far (post your own)Hi Evan
From Yichang it is easy enough to book a tour package to the park, though this may limit your explorations to the key tourist sites. You might be better to opt for public transport to Mu Yu Zhen (one change required at Xingshan) so that you can stay as long as you feel it is worthwhile.
Try not to get your hopes up too much. Sightings are no more frequent than at home.
Posted by China Journeys on Wed 21 Mar, 2012
Big Foot - are you joking. I'm from Saskatchewan. I gotto go there. What's the best way
Posted by Evan Gardner on Wed 21 Mar, 2012
Hi Lily
Bear in mind that many travel forums are focused towards independent travel. Those using them therefore often have strong opinions against anything organised.
Yangtse Cruises remain popular with those doing tours. If they were not popular then they would have been removed from brochures and websites.
We believe that the river cruise is an experience worthy of the time and cost simply because there are few other inland cruises available worldwide, not of a distance requiring overnight accommodation. Add to that the scenery of the Three Gorges and you have something pretty special.
Posted by China Journeys on Fri 10 Feb, 2012
I really want to do a Yangtze cruise but I keep reading forum posts that it is not worth it. You offer these cruises so you must think they are. Can you tell me something positive
Posted by Lily Hunt on Fri 10 Feb, 2012