Wuhan is really three cities — Wuchang, Hankou and Hanyang — fused by the meeting of the Yangtze and its longest tributary, the Han. One of the few Chinese cities that earns the prefix "Great," it gives a first-time visitor more than expected: the Yellow Crane Tower of a thousand poems, the first bridge across the Yangtze, a museum with the oldest playable orchestra on earth, lake shores bigger than some capitals', and a breakfast culture — "guozao," crossing the morning — that is reason enough for the trip. Visit in spring or autumn; the summer furnace is not a metaphor.
