Yellow Crane Tower, located on Snake Hill in Wuchang, is one of the "ThreeFamous Towers South of Yangtze River (the other two: Yueyang Tower in Hunan andTengwang Tower in Jiangxi).
Legend has it that in Wuchang, there used to be a wine shop opened by ayoung man named Xin. One day, a Taoist priest, in gratitude for free wine, drewa magic crane on the wall of the shop and instructed it to dance whenever itheard clapping. Thousands of people came to see the spectacle and the wine shopwas always full of guests. After 10 years, the Taoist priest revisited the wineshop. He played the flute and then rode on the crane to the sky. In memory ofthe supernatural encounter and the priest, the Xins built a tower and named itYellow Crane Tower.
According to records, the tower was first built in 223 A.D during the ThreeKingdoms period (220-280). After completion, the tower served as a gatheringplace for celebrities and poets to party and compose poetry. It was estimatedthat up to the Tongzhi Reign of the Qing dynasty, as many as 300 poems about thetower had been found in historical literature. Cui Hao, a famous poet during theTang 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 timeand 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 yearsof work beginning in 1981. Where the old tower was only 15 meters wide, theground floor of the new structure was increased to 20 meters wide. The tower,51.4 meters high, is five-storied with yellow tiles and red pillars, overlappingridges and interlocking eaves, more magnificent than the old one.
The new Yellow Crane Tower is regarded as the symbol of Wuhan city.
因篇幅问题不能全部显示，请点此查看更多更全内容