Social Events
City tour
Day 1: Explore Wuhan's history and culture
The Yellow Crane Tower, or Huáng hè lóu in Chinese, is the most iconic building in all of Wuhan. Built around 1800 years ago, it was the watchtower of the city, and because of that, found itself repeatedly destroyed by warfare and fire, only to be rebuilt and rise from the ashes again and again.
Known for the poetry of some celebrated Chinese poets such as Cui Hao and Li Bai, the Yellow Crane Tower has a room in the upper floor that is specifically reserved for the notes of visiting poets. The cultural value of the Tower mainly stems from its presence in poetry and in immortals, which are two prominent cultural forms in Chinese history.
Yellow Crane Tower
Don’t forget the top floor of the Tower, where you can have an unfettered panoramic view of Wuhan and the Yangtze River. Entry to the tower is 80 yuan (12 US dollars), 35 yuan (5 dollars) for students.
Hubu Alley
Located at the city's busiest street, Hubu Alley is a paradise for food lovers. The 147 m long T-shaped pedestrian street is full of appetizing local food and mouth-watering smells.
Day 2: Historical & Geological Museums
Hubei Provincial Museum houses more than 200,000 historic and cultural relics from throughout the province, of which 16 are national treasures. As one of the best known museums in the country, there aren't many better places to learn the glorious complexity of Chinese history.
The centerpiece is the world’s largest musical instrument - an ancient set of bronze bells, “biān zhōng” in Chinese, which you won’t find anywhere else in China, even not in the Beijing’s Palace Museum. Note that a replica of the massive Chime Bells is played twice a day in the museum’s music hall by performers dressed in traditional robes. This performance is definitely the one you should not miss. Other items include the “Sword of Goujian”, the personal weapon of the King of the Yue State in the Spring and Autumn Period (771 B.C. to 403 B.C.), which is known for its unusual sharpness and resistance to blemishes.
Hubei Provincial Museum
Admission to the museum is free, though the “biān zhōng” performances are 15 yuan (2 dollars). You can easily spend half of a day here. Take your time and enjoy all the historic beauty.
Yifu museum of China university of geosciences is one of the best natural and history museums in China. It has collected more than 30,000 specimens of minerals and fossils, which ranked in the top around China. You will find many rare specimens in this museum, such as traumatocrinus guanlingensis, mandschurosaurus, psittacosaurus and ichthyosaus and so on. You can also learn the origin and evolution of life, observe a variety of mineral rock specimens and find out how various geological phenomena are generated, such as volcanic eruptions and earthquakes.
Yifu museum of China University of Geosciences
Day 3: Enjoy breakfast like a king & Feel the heartbeat of the city
Start your day with a Wuhan style breakfast from Hubu Alley or any of the city's roadside vendors. In Wuhan, having breakfast, or “guo zao” (guò zǎo), as it’s said in local dialect, is probably one of the most important things to do for a day. There are over 200 different types of breakfast in Wuhan. Fried bread sticks (yóu tiáo), steamed dumplings, dòu pí, rè gān miàn, wontons, and sweet dumplings (tāng yuán) are just a few of the them. It is no exaggeration to say that you could go for three months without repeating the same breakfast.
Breakfast in Wuhan
Jianghan Street has over a century of history and is a famous Wuhan's time-honored business street, and one of the most bustling areas in the city. There are 13 historic buildings with European, Roman and Byzantine styles on the street, giving a flourish to the city. The shops on the street include more than 60 luxury brands, a Madame Tussauds Wax Museum, a Han Show Theater and a Movie Culture Park.
Jianghan Walking Street
Wrap your day up with the stunning view of the Yangtze River. Wuhan is divided by the Yangtze River into three parts: Wuchang on the east bank and Hankou and Hanyang on the west. Transportation between the two banks was completely blocked for hundreds of years and residents were unable to cross. Now the Bridge combines the three districts as a single entity, which greatly boosted Wuhan's development.
Yangtze River Bridge
The view on the bridge is stunning, especially at night. You can see the Yellow Crane Tower, the Hubei TV Tower and other notable landmarks on both sides. Come here at the end of your day and definitely don't forget to bring your camera. The best way to snap a picture is to stand on one side of the river banks and look towards the bridge.
Social Events
Ice-breaker reception
Sunday September 15th 17:00-19:30
Location: The banquet hall of the hotel.
All delegates are warmly invited and encouraged to attend. The Icebreaker Welcome Reception is the perfect time to catch up with colleagues that you haven't seen over the year, and meet new people in your field.
Ice-breaker reception in hotel
Han Show
Monday September 16th 19:30-21:30
An experience of the Chinese culture to the Han Show. This electrifying show is inspired by the spirit of Han nationality, Chu-Han Dynasty and the city of Wuhan. Directed by the world's greatest show mastermind Mr. Franco Dragone, the Han Show is a creative masterpiece blending world leading technologies and performance that challenges physical boundaries.
The Han Show Theater shapes like a red lantern. This state-of-the-art theater is purpose-built for the Han Show featuring moving seats and a huge stage pool. It brings the audience a splendid sensory experience with 3 levels of performance: aerial, aquatic and immersive stage.
Price: $50/$60
Post-conference Trip to Xi’an
Let’s travel from the Warring States period (770-221 B.C.) represented by the Chu civilization in current Wuhan area to the Tang Dynasty (618-907 Ad) represented by Chang’an in current Xi’an.
Day 1: A sight of the old town of Chang’an
Leave Wuhan for Xi’an, with the historic name of Chang’an in Tang dynasty, by high speed train.
Walk along the Ming Dynasty City Wall, and the old town of Xi’an. Spend the evening in the Great Wild Goose Pagoda square and enjoy music fountain show.
The Great Wild Goose Pagoda square
Day 2: Travel to the ancient time through Terra-cotta Warriors Museum and Huaqing Palace
Emperor Qinshihuang's Mausoleum Site Museum (Terra-cotta Warriors Museum) is well-known as the Eighth Wonder of the World. The main object exhibited here are the terra-cotta figures of more than 2000 years old. These figures stand for the garrison force that protects Emperor Qinshihuang's mausoleum. The burial pits of the Terra-cotta warriors and horses are located about 1.5 km east of Emperor Qinshihuang's Mausoleum.
In March 1974, local farmers discovered broken pieces of Terra-cotta figures when digging a well. After a year of investigation and excavation, the archaeological team unearthed a large pit, in which approximately 6000 Terra-cotta warriors and horses were discovered. Following this discovery, in the summer of 1976, they found two other pits. The Terra-cotta warriors and horses are all life-sized, and the warriors carry real bronze battle weapons. Orderly arrayed in rows and lines, these figures of warriors and horses make up a great underground army consisting of war chariots, infantrymen, cavalrymen and other armed servicemen.
This amazing discovery caused an immediate stir among Chinese archaeologists and soon attracted the attention of the world. People called this find "one of the world wonders" and "one of the greatest archaeological discoveries of the twentieth century. The Mausoleum including the pits of Terra-cotta Warriors and Horses was listed as one of the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site on December 7th, 1987.
Terra-cotta Warriors Museum
Huaqing Palace (Huaqing Hot Spring & Lishan Mountain) scenic spot is located 30 kilometers away from the east of Xi’an city, adjacent to the Terra Cotta Warriors. The emperors of Zhou Dynasty, Qin Dynasty, Han Dynasty, Sui Dynasty, Tang Dynasty all once established temporary palace or villas in this place. It is well-known by its permanent resource of hot spring, the historical stories of Tricking the Marquess with Beacon Fires, the love story between beauty Lady Yang and Emperor Minghuang, the spot of Xi’an Incident and it has become an iconic scenic spot of Tang Palace Culture Tourism in China.
The Huaqing Palace consists of many cultural sites like Tang Dynasty Imperial Hot Spring Relics Museum and many landmark buildings such as Longevity Hall and Huan Garden. The altitude of Lishan Mountain is 1302 meters, the scenic spots like Laomu Hall. The Sunset in Lishan Mountain is one of the “Eight Famous Scenic Spots in Guanzhong Plain”.
Huaqing Palace
Day 3: Hike in the granitic Hua Mountain
The steepest sacred mountain in central China, the Hua mountain is located 120 km (75 miles) east of the city of Xi'an. Traditionally called the "West Mountain," it is well known for steep trails, breath-taking cliffs, narrow passages, and grand sceneries. There are five peaks: the South peak, also called the Goose-Landing Peak, is the highest at 2,160 meters; the East peak is also called the Sunrise Peak; the West peak - the Lotus Peak; the North peak - the Cloud Terrace Peak; and the Middle peak - the Jade Maid Peak.
The whole mountain is a huge monolithic granite. The trails through Hua mountain are particularly challenging. There are more than 210 narrow pathways planked over or chiseled in cliffs, the most famous being the Sky Ladder, the Gray Dragon Peak, the Thousand Stairs, the Clouds Ladder. The most adventurous scenic spots are the Sparrow Hawk Flipping, and the Long Sky Pathway, which are at the top of cliffs.
Hua Mountain
Day 4: Sunrise!
Sunrise view on top of Hua Mountain if wanted, and back to Wuhan via high speed train.