The sage on the yellow crane was gone amid cloud white.
To what avail is the Yellow Crane Tower left here?
—Excerpts from Yellow Crane Tower by Cui Hao (704-754)
The poem Yellow Crane Tower is an iconic work about Wuhan’s most iconic building, recited by generations of locals and visitors to the capital of Hubei Province in central China.
Celebrated in nearly 1,500 poems, the imposing structure is considered the symbol of the city. Standing on the bank of the Yangtze River, it has witnessed the city’s ups and downs for 1,800 years. The sweeping curvature of the tower’s many yellow-tiled eaves was designed to resemble a crane spreading its wings to take flight.
On May 30, over 170 representatives
