The Yellow Crane Tower, located in Wuchang District, Wuhan City, Hubei Province, is located at the top of the Snake Mountain and near the Yangtze River. It is a landmark building in Wuhan. It was founded in the second year of Wu in the Three Kingdoms (223) and rebuilt many times in the past dynasties. The existing building was rebuilt on 1985 based on the prototype design of Tongzhi Building in Qing Dynasty. It is famous for the poem Yellow Crane Tower written by Cui Hao, a poet in the Tang Dynasty.
Since ancient times, it has had the reputation of "the best scenery in the world", and it is also called "the three famous scenic spots in Wuhan" with Qingchuan Pavilion and Guqintai, and "the three famous buildings in the south of the Yangtze River" with Yueyang Tower in Hunan and Wangtenglou in Nanchang, Jiangxi. It is the first of the "Top Ten Attractions in Wuhan", one of the "Four Famous Buildings in Ancient China" and one of the "Top Ten Famous Historical and Cultural Buildings in China", and is known as "the first building in the world". ?
The main building of the Yellow Crane Tower is an octagonal structure with reinforced concrete frame, with a total height of 5 1.4m, a bottom width of 30m and a top width of 18m, five cornices, a pointed roof covered with golden glazed tiles, supported by 72 columns, and 60 upturned corners extending outward. Outside the building, there are bronze yellow cranes, victory pagodas, archways, pavilions and other buildings. The whole building looks like a yellow crane, spreading its wings and flying, with plaques hanging on all sides under the eaves, and a gold plaque inscribed by calligrapher Shu Tong on the front. ?
The origin of the name
There are two views on the name of the Yellow Crane Tower: "because of the mountain" and "because of the fairy". ?
Yin Xian said
There are two theories about immortals. According to legend, there was a fairy driving a crane through here, hence the name. It is said that a Taoist painted a dancing yellow crane on the wall of Xin's restaurant, and the business in the store was very good. Ten years later, the Taoist priest came back, recruited the yellow crane with a flute and flew away by crane. The Xin family also invested in the construction of a building called the Yellow Crane Tower. ?
Yinshan said
According to historical research, the Yellow Crane Tower was named after it was built on Huanggu Mountain. In ancient times, the words "mandarin fish" and "crane" changed from one sound to another, which were common to each other, hence the name "Yellow Crane Tower".