1 Walk along the new -Riverside Promenade, which at 9.8km is eight times longer than Shanghai?s Bund. Have a drink at one of the kiosks, take in an occasional performance, let the kids romp in the playground, or just sit on the grass or on a bench and enjoy the river view and boats chugging up and down the Yangtze. In the early morning, watch Chinese practice tai chi, martial arts, and ballroom dancing.
2 Go fly a kite along the beach below the promenade. Vendors on the beach sell a wide variety of colorful kites.
3 See Wuhan?s colorful local opera, or Hanju, which has a history dating back more than 400 years to the Ming dynasty. Hanju is said to have been the forerunner of Peking opera, which did not appear until 200 years later. Performances are staged every Friday and Saturday at the People?s Theater in Hankou at 1:30 p.m. Chu opera can be seen on Saturdays and Sundays at 1:30 at the Peace Theater.
4 Jump in the lake or sun bathe along the beach at East Lake, or go fishing along the shores of the lake.
5 Watch Chinese at play beneath the Changjiang Bridge, northwest of the Yellow Crane Tower. See elderly opera buffs performing Hubei?s popular Chu opera on a makeshift park stage to the accompaniment of a Chinese band each afternoon beginning at 2 pm. Or watch neighborhood grannies doing a traditional drum dance. Walk past hawkers peddling traditional medicines on the street, fortune tellers shaking their bamboo joss sticks on to the ground, people playing mahjong and cards, curbside masseuses pounding on backs, and dentists bent over open-mouthed patients sitting in folding chairs. Or enjoy professional and amateur singers belting out pop songs on the sidewalk backed up by a full Chinese band ? a member of the band passes a basket after each performance.
6 Stroll along the 1,210m-long Jianghan Road pedestrian street, lined with small shops, department stores, crafts shops, Chinese and Western restaurants and coffee shops, and cinemas. View the beautiful turn of the century European architecture along this broad street.