Wuhan has long been known as a manufacturing centre for steel, iron and cars, but that image is changing as a glut of new business is transforming the commercial landscape, as witnessed by the city's top hotels.
Shangri-La Hotel Wuhan opened in 1999 as the first 5-star hotel in the area. Most guests are business travellers and the hotel can cater events for about 1,000 guests.
The hotel is seeing changes to its guest demographics as the city develops. With a new high-speed rail link reducing travelling time from Shanghai to five hours, the number of Shanghai-based visitors checking into the hotel has grown by 35 per cent, says general manager Marcel Holman.
That number, however, is dwarfed by an influx of Japanese business guests, whose number has increased by 152 per cent. Japan recently opened a representative office in Wuhan.
'Japan is the largest trade partner of Hubei province and the province is home to nearly 400 Japanese companies. A direct flight from Wuhan to Tokyo is scheduled for launch very soon,' Holman says.
Direct flights to Singapore, France and San Francisco have also been proposed. As work continues to overhaul the city's airport, those destinations do not seem to be out of reach.