Province in Central China
Photo: User:Vmenkov, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Hubei (湖北, Húběi) is a province in the southern central region of China. Its capital and largest city is Wuhan.
From the travel guide. Select a place for details, a map and what is nearby.
长江提防
In the lowlands of eastern and central Hubei (the Jianghan Plain), the Yangtze is lined with levees (embankments), protecting fields and villages from floods. The top of the levees is well paved, making them pleasant paths for walking, running, and biking. Typically, there is only a very limited amount of motor vehicle traffic on the levee roads - farmers accessing their fields, people who have come to fish or to fly a kite, and occasional tourists. The levee path can be accessed at many locations via paved farm roads, or via roads that run to river docks.
The Yangtze levees mostly run through agricultural terrain. A major afforestation program has been underway for some years, narrow strips of forest being planted on both sides of each levee. In the areas where the trees have grown tall, these rows of trees among the fields allow one to identify the location of the levee from a kilometer or two away.
Kilometer markers are placed along the length of the levees; the distance, on each side of the river, is measured in the upstream direction (i.e. from the Anhui border on the north side of the river, and from the Jiangxi border on the south side).
Even though the levees, in principle, are continuous (as required by their flood-protection purpose), they, unfortunately, don't form a continuous path through the entire province, or even through any single county. Numerous breaks exist at construction sites, harbor facilities, and at the points where major tributaries enter the Yangtze. (At such points, the levee continues inland along the tributary, but the closest bridge across that tributary may not be all that close, or it may not be accessible from the levee). Perusing satellite images on Google Maps (alas, not accessible from within China itself without a VPN) may be the best way to identify continuous sections of the levees and the access points.
You can fly into Wuhan Tianhe Airport (WUH) from most major cities in China and from some international locations.
Read in the guideGetting around in Hubei is fairly easy. Buses go to most cities or at least through them, just let the driver know where to stop.
Read in the guideChoose an airport to see hotels, stations, taxi ranks and car rental desks around it.
Jingzhou (Shashi) · Regional · SHS
Loading places around the airport…
the capital, spread across the Han and Yangtze rivers

Yichang (宜昌 Yíchāng) is a city in Hubei Province.
the garden of Hubei province
Huangmei (黄梅 Huángméi) is a town and county in the east of Hubei Province, bordering Anhui and Jiangxi along the Yangtze River.
Huanggang (黄冈), formerly known as Huangzhou, is a prefecture-level city Hubei Province.
Huangshi is a prefecture-level city in southeastern Hubei Province, China. It is located on the south bank of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River.
Jingmen (荆门) is a city in the central-western part of Hubei Province in the southern central region of China. Jingmen is known as the "Gateway to Jingchu" and is one of the cradles of Chu culture.
Jingzhou (荆州 Jīngzhōu) is a city in Hubei Province on the banks of the Yangtze River (长江 Cháng Jiāng). It has been an important historical city for 6,000 years, and is particularly famous for being the capital for the State of Chu (楚国) during the Warring States Period, and for its importance during the Three Kingdoms Period.
Shiyan (十堰 Shíyàn ) is a city in Northwest Hubei Province, central China.
『』 Xiangyang (襄阳; Xiāngyáng), which was called Xiangfan (襄樊; Xiāngyfán), is a city in Hubei Province. It is comprised of two halves, Xiangyang (on the south side of the Han River) and Fancheng (on the north side of the river).
Xiaogan City is a prefecture-level city under the jurisdiction of Hubei Province. It is located in the northeast of Hubei Province, on the north bank of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, facing Wuhan in the south, Huanggang in the east, Suizhou and Jingmen in the west, and Xinyang (Henan Province) in the north.
birthplace of the tai chi martial art and a UNESCO World Heritage Site
one of three Tusi sites on the UNESCO World Heritage List
a World Heritage-listed district featuring an eponymous mountain massif with virgin forests
Articles and travel topics about Hubei and China.
How to qualify for China's 144-hour visa-free transit, set up Alipay and WeChat Pay with foreign cards and navigate train travel as a foreigner.
6 min read
How to link Beijing, Xi'an and Shanghai by high-speed bullet train, booking Great Wall hikes, Terracotta Warriors and modern urban towers.
6 min read
How to explore Zhangjiajie's sandstone pillars, ride the Bailong Elevator and drift down the Li River through Guilin and Yangshuo karst peaks.
6 min read
The Yangtze River (Chinese: 长江 Cháng Jiāng, literally "long river") is China's greatest river and a historic transport route.
Wikivoyage
Every section of the guide. Open one to read it in full.