An urban narrative centered on water

Standing at Hanyangmen Wharf in Wuchang district, ferry guide Fan Yunlong points toward the muddy-green waters where the Yangtze and Hanjiang rivers meet.

"That protruding area over there is Nan'an Mouth. That's where the two rivers merge," he says.

Fan grew up along the riverbanks. He speaks about currents and ferry crossings the way other people talk about family history.

"When I was a kid, we didn't have smartphones. No weather forecast either. Every morning, I'd just look at the bridges. Whichever ones I could see clearly were where the weather was good. That's where I'd go to find my schoolmates," he recalls with a laugh.

He gestures toward the water. The bridges arc across the water like a procession. The stately double-deck Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge, gray and unyielding, has been carrying trains and cars since 1957. Farther south, the orange cables of Yingwuzhou Yangtze River Bridge catch the afternoon light like harp strings. Beyond it, the golden towers of the Yangsigang Yangtze River Bridge rise against the hazy sky.

As he speaks, a white ferry slowly approaches through the fog, its hull carrying the words Jianghan Lansheng, roughly translated as "River Confluence Panorama".

Upgraded in early 2026, the themed ferry route links some of Wuhan's most iconic historical sites — from the famed Yellow Crane Tower on the Wuchang bank to Qingchuan Pavilion on the Hanyang shore, where a two-story Ming-Dynasty (1368-1644) structure with red walls and double-eave roofs keeps watch over the water.