The capital of Hubei province, Wuhan lies at the confluence of the Yang zi and Han R ivers , roughly m idway between Beijing and Guangzhou . The city is comprised of three towns C W uchang, Hankou and Hanyang C facing each other across the rivers and linked by several bridges.

The area was first settled more than 3,000 years ago in the Han Dynasty , when Hanyang became a busy port. In the first and third centuries A.D., walls were built to protect Hanyang and Wuchang. About 300 years ago, Hankou became one of the country's top four trading towns.

In the early 20 th century, Wuhan became a hot spot of revolutionary activities. In 1911, Dr. Sun Yat-Sen led a revolution that overthrew t he Qing Dynasty. There are many memorial structures devoted to the revolutionaries, such as the Red Building, which housed the National Revolutionary Army Government in the 1911 Movement, the Monument to the Martyrs of the February 7 Strike and the Central Peasant Movement Institute.