The handbook / Index
Every guide,
in one place
The main navigation is organised by the question you have and the time you have. This index lists all of them by reader intent, with what each page does and does not cover.
Checked 2026-11 · Wuhan Handbook
Class C
Short answerFifteen pages make up the whole site, including this index and the start page. If you know what you need, use the groups below. If you do not, start with What is Wuhan?, then Should I go?, then the guide matching the hours or days you have. Every page opens with a short answer and ends with its sources and check date.
Wuhan Handbook is a small, selective guide, not a directory. Fifteen pages is the whole site. Each one answers one question, and the groups below follow the order most readers actually plan a trip: understand the place, decide whether to come, work out the time, then handle the practical details.
Decide & plan
Should I go?Why most travellers skip Wuhan between Beijing and Shanghai, when skipping it is right, and when two days here are worth adding to a China trip.Class C · checked 2026-11
Visa & entryTwo separate visa-free routes now cover most Western passports: 30-day entry (50 countries) and 240-hour transit (57 countries). Which one applies to you.Class A · checked 2026-11
Wuhan layoverA decision table for a Wuhan layover: hours needed to leave Tianhe airport, late-night and 5am arrivals, luggage, and the visa rule that comes first.Class A · checked 2026-11
Two or three daysA practical two- and three-day Wuhan itinerary organised by the three towns, so you never cross a river twice in a day. Includes a rainy-day swap.Class B · checked 2026-11
When to go & what to packWhen to visit Wuhan: blossom, the best autumn window, summer heat to avoid, holiday crowds, and what to wear for damp cold and humidity.Class B · checked 2026-11
Side tripsWudang Mountain is the most-mentioned side trip from Wuhan — and it does not fit a day. Trains, tickets, where to sleep, and an honest verdict.Class A · checked 2026-11
Cherry blossomsWuhan University cherry blossoms: free real-name booking, three weeks in March, caps and rules from the 2025 policy — and what is unknown for 2027.Class A · checked 2026-11
Once you're coming
See / things to doEight places in Wuhan, ranked: what each is, why it matters, what it costs and the drawback. Prices and hours checked against venue sites.Class A · checked 2026-11
Eat / food guideWhat to eat in Wuhan: the guozao breakfast ritual, what to order at a stall, the sit-down side of Hubei cuisine, and honest answers on halal.Class B · checked 2026-11
Where to stayWhere to stay in Wuhan: how to choose between Hankou, Wuchang, Hanyang and East Lake, plus the checks foreign visitors must make before booking.Class A · checked 2026-11
Getting aroundGetting around Wuhan: metro, DiDi, ferries, buses and bikes compared, why river crossings decide your day, and which transport facts we cannot verify.Class A · checked 2026-11
Wuhan at nightWuhan after dark: the Yangtze light show, river cruises, the Yellow Crane Tower night show, and where the locals actually eat supper.Class A · checked 2026-11
Hubei Museum guideHow to visit the Hubei Provincial Museum: free passport reservation, Monday closures, the bell show schedule, guide fees, and how much time to give it.Class A · checked 2026-11
East Lake guideEast Lake is one of China's largest urban lakes — too big to walk. Which section to pick, how the greenway cycling works, and an honest half-day plan.Class B · checked 2026-11
Yangtze ferryWuhan's public ferry is the cheapest way onto the Yangtze — a 1.5-yuan crossing between Wuchang and Hankou. Schedule, decks, and how it compares to cruisesClass B · checked 2026-11
Hubu Alley: worth it?Hubu Alley is Wuhan's most famous snack street — and a modern tourist strip. What it is, when it is worth walking through, and where to eat instead.Class B · checked 2026-11
Before you arrive
How to bookHow foreigners book China travel: 12306 with a passport, Trip.com's fee, the hotel registration trap, and which attractions need official channels.Class B · checked 2026-11
240-hour visa-free transitThe 240-hour transit-without-visa rules at Wuhan Tianhe: the different-in different-out condition, who can use it, and where to confirm before boarding.Class A · checked 2026-11
Which train stationHankou, Wuchang and Wuhan stations serve different lines and different parts of the city. How to tell them apart, and which metro line each one sits on.Class B · checked 2026-11
Airport to cityWuhan Tianhe airport to Hankou, Wuchang and the rail stations: separate international and domestic routes, plus fares and times we can actually source.Class A · checked 2026-11
Pay and connectCan foreign cards buy Wuhan metro tickets? Set up Alipay, WeChat Pay, DiDi and mobile data, and see where each common workaround fails.Class A · checked 2026-11
One intent, one page
Where two guides could look like duplicates, this is the dividing line. Keeping them separate is deliberate, and it is why we do not repeat route details on every page.
Scope boundaries — see the full reasoning in the structure proposal
| Page | Answers only this | Not this |
|---|
| What is Wuhan? | What kind of city it is | Whether it deserves your time (that is the decision guide) |
| Airport to city | The first hour after landing | Getting around once you are in town |
| Getting around | Moving between the three towns | Payment apps and mobile data |
| Pay and connect | Money, cards, apps and data | Routes, lines and river crossings |
| Where to stay | Which town to base yourself in | Hotel names or current prices |
What you will not find here
No exhaustive attraction list, no hotel or restaurant directory, no booking links and no real-time timetable. We cannot verify venue details from outside China and will not publish confident guesses. Every figure that does appear is dated, sourced and labelled with its confidence; prices show both yuan and a dated US dollar conversion. How this handbook works.
The structure of this site is documented in IA-PROPOSAL.md: Level 1 is organised by task and time, the city guide by geography, and the practical guides by category. The first-level labels have not yet been tested with real readers — see the project work plan for that outstanding check.
Sources, prices and currency
The page index above is generated automatically from the same page metadata that builds the navigation, footer and sitemap, so it cannot drift out of date. Each entry shows its review class and last-checked month. This page contains no figures or prices. Class C — structural index.
Every CNY amount on this page is shown twice: the yuan figure you will actually see on the price board, and a US dollar conversion for budgeting. Dollar values are mid-market conversions at 1 CNY = $0.14953 (ExchangeRate-API (open.er-api.com), 11 Nov 2026), refreshed automatically when the page loads and cached for 24 hours. Your bank or card issuer will use its own rate and may add a foreign-transaction fee. Full explanation.
Checked yearly — geography, history and background. This page was last checked 2026-11.