Yellow Crane Tower, located on Snake Hill in Wuchang, is one of the Three Famous Towers South of Yangtze River (the other two: Yueyang Tower in Hunan and Tengwang Tower in Jiangxi).

Legend has it that in Wuchang, there used to be a wine shop opened by a young man named Xin. One day, a Taoist priest, in gratitude for free wine, drew a magic crane on the wall of the shop and instructed it to dance whenever it heard clapping. Thousands of people came to see the spectacle and the wine shop was always full of guests. After 10 years, the Taoist priest revisited the wine shop. He played the flute and then rode on the crane to the sky. In memory of the supernatural encounter and the priest, the Xins built a tower and named it Yellow Crane Tower.

According to records, the tower was first built in 223 A.D during the Three Kingdoms period (220-280). After completion, the tower served as a gathering place for celebrities and poets to party and compose poetry. It was estimated that up to the Tongzhi Reign of the Qing dynasty, as many as 300 poems about the tower had been found in historical literature. Cui Hao, a famous poet during the Tang 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 time and 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 years of work beginning in 1981. Where the old tower was only 15 meters wide, the ground 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, overlapping ridges and interlocking eaves, more magnificent than the old one.

The new Yellow Crane Tower is regarded as the symbol of Wuhan city

黃鶴樓位于武昌蛇山之巔，自古與湖南岳陽樓，江西滕王閣并稱為“江南三大名樓”。

黃鶴樓的神話傳說故事給它蒙上了一層神秘的色彩，傳說中蛇山黃鶴磯頭上原有辛氏開設(shè)的一家酒店，一道士經(jīng)常向其討酒喝，為了感謝他的千杯之恩，臨行前在壁上畫了一只鶴，告之辛氏能下來起舞助興。從此酒家賓客盈門，生意興隆。過了十年，道士復(fù)來，取笛吹奏，道士跨上黃鶴直上云天。辛氏為紀念這位幫他致富的仙翁，便在其地起樓，取名“黃鶴樓”，相傳此道士是八仙之一的“呂洞賓”。

黃鶴樓始建于三國時期吳黃武二年(公元223年),傳說是為了軍事目的而建,孫權(quán)為實現(xiàn)“以武治國而昌”(“武昌”的名稱由來于此),筑城為守,建樓以了望。至唐朝,其軍事性質(zhì)逐漸演變?yōu)橹拿麆倬包c,歷代文人墨客到此游覽,留下不少膾炙人口的詩篇。唐代詩人崔顥一首“昔人已乘黃鶴去,此地空余黃鶴樓。黃鶴一去不復(fù)返,白云千載空悠悠。晴川歷歷漢陽樹,芳草萋萋鸚鵡洲。日暮鄉(xiāng)關(guān)何處是,煙波江上使人愁。”已成為千古絕唱,更使黃鶴樓名聲大噪。

至唐永泰元年（公元765年）黃鶴樓已具規(guī)模，使不少江夏名士“游必于是，宴必于是”。然而兵火頻繁，黃鶴樓屢建屢廢。最后一座“清樓”建于同治七年（公元1868年），毀于光緒十年（公元1884年），此后近百年未曾重修。

1981年10月，黃鶴樓重修工程破土開工，主樓以清同治樓為藍本，但更高大雄偉。運用現(xiàn)代建筑技術(shù)施工，鋼筋混凝土框架仿木結(jié)構(gòu)。飛檐5層，攢尖樓頂，金色琉璃瓦屋面，通高51.4米，底層邊寬30米，頂層邊寬18米，全樓各層布置有大型壁畫、楹聯(lián)、文物等。樓外鑄銅黃鶴造型、勝像寶塔、牌坊、軒廊、亭閣等一批輔助建筑，將主樓烘托得更加壯麗。登樓遠眺，“極目楚天舒”，不盡長江滾滾來，三鎮(zhèn)風(fēng)光盡收眼底。

新的黃鶴樓,被視為武漢市的象征.

Yellow Crane Tower, located on Snake Hill in Wuchang, is one of the Three Famous Towers South of Yangtze River (the other two: Yueyang Tower in Hunan and Tengwang Tower in Jiangxi).

Legend has it that in Wuchang, there used to be a wine shop opened by a young man named Xin. One day, a Taoist priest, in gratitude for free wine, drew a magic crane on the wall of the shop and instructed it to dance whenever it heard clapping. Thousands of people came to see the spectacle and the wine shop was always full of guests. After 10 years, the Taoist priest revisited the wine shop. He played the flute and then rode on the crane to the sky. In memory of the supernatural encounter and the priest, the Xins built a tower and named it Yellow Crane Tower.

According to records, the tower was first built in 223 A.D during the Three Kingdoms period (220-280). After completion, the tower served as a gathering place for celebrities and poets to party and compose poetry. It was estimated that up to the Tongzhi Reign of the Qing dynasty, as many as 300 poems about the tower had been found in historical literature. Cui Hao, a famous poet during the Tang 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 time and 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 years of work beginning in 1981. Where the old tower was only 15 meters wide, the ground 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, overlapping ridges and interlocking eaves, more magnificent than the old one.

The new Yellow Crane Tower is regarded as the symbol of Wuhan city

黃鶴樓位于武昌蛇山之巔，自古與湖南岳陽樓，江西滕王閣并稱為“江南三大名樓”。

黃鶴樓的神話傳說故事給它蒙上了一層神秘的色彩，傳說中蛇山黃鶴磯頭上原有辛氏開設(shè)的一家酒店，一道士經(jīng)常向其討酒喝，為了感謝他的千杯之恩，臨行前在壁上畫了一只鶴，告之辛氏能下來起舞助興。從此酒家賓客盈門，生意興隆。過了十年，道士復(fù)來，取笛吹奏，道士跨上黃鶴直上云天。辛氏為紀念這位幫他致富的仙翁，便在其地起樓，取名“黃鶴樓”，相傳此道士是八仙之一的“呂洞賓”。

黃鶴樓始建于三國時期吳黃武二年(公元223年),傳說是為了軍事目的而建,孫權(quán)為實現(xiàn)“以武治國而昌”(“武昌”的名稱由來于此),筑城為守,建樓以了望。至唐朝,其軍事性質(zhì)逐漸演變?yōu)橹拿麆倬包c,歷代文人墨客到此游覽,留下不少膾炙人口的詩篇。唐代詩人崔顥一首“昔人已乘黃鶴去,此地空余黃鶴樓。黃鶴一去不復(fù)返,白云千載空悠悠。晴川歷歷漢陽樹,芳草萋萋鸚鵡洲。日暮鄉(xiāng)關(guān)何處是,煙波江上使人愁?！币殉蔀榍Ч沤^唱,更使黃鶴樓名聲大噪。

至唐永泰元年（公元765年）黃鶴樓已具規(guī)模，使不少江夏名士“游必于是，宴必于是”。然而兵火頻繁，黃鶴樓屢建屢廢。最后一座“清樓”建于同治七年（公元1868年），毀于光緒十年（公元1884年），此后近百年未曾重修。

1981年10月，黃鶴樓重修工程破土開工，主樓以清同治樓為藍本，但更高大雄偉。運用現(xiàn)代建筑技術(shù)施工，鋼筋混凝土框架仿木結(jié)構(gòu)。飛檐5層，攢尖樓頂，金色琉璃瓦屋面，通高51.4米，底層邊寬30米，頂層邊寬18米，全樓各層布置有大型壁畫、楹聯(lián)、文物等。樓外鑄銅黃鶴造型、勝像寶塔、牌坊、軒廊、亭閣等一批輔助建筑，將主樓烘托得更加壯麗。登樓遠眺，“極目楚天舒”，不盡長江滾滾來，三鎮(zhèn)風(fēng)光盡收眼底。

新的黃鶴樓,被視為武漢市的象征.

Yellow Crane Tower, located on Snake Hill in Wuchang, is one of the Three Famous Towers South of Yangtze River (the other two: Yueyang Tower in Hunan and Tengwang Tower in Jiangxi).

Legend has it that in Wuchang, there used to be a wine shop opened by a young man named Xin. One day, a Taoist priest, in gratitude for free wine, drew a magic crane on the wall of the shop and instructed it to dance whenever it heard clapping. Thousands of people came to see the spectacle and the wine shop was always full of guests. After 10 years, the Taoist priest revisited the wine shop. He played the flute and then rode on the crane to the sky. In memory of the supernatural encounter and the priest, the Xins built a tower and named it Yellow Crane Tower.

According to records, the tower was first built in 223 A.D during the Three Kingdoms period (220-280). After completion, the tower served as a gathering place for celebrities and poets to party and compose poetry. It was estimated that up to the Tongzhi Reign of the Qing dynasty, as many as 300 poems about the tower had been found in historical literature. Cui Hao, a famous poet during the Tang 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 time and 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 years of work beginning in 1981. Where the old tower was only 15 meters wide, the ground 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, overlapping ridges and interlocking eaves, more magnificent than the old one.

The new Yellow Crane Tower is regarded as the symbol of Wuhan city