Tianhe Airport Layover Guide: A Quick Trip to Yellow Crane Tower (6 h)

Time: March 2024. I landed in Wuhan at 11:00 and my next flight was at 17:10, which gave me 6 hours and 50 minutes for the layover.

Wuhan is one of the main transfer airports for northbound flights in China, and plenty of routes come with a long layover here. Yellow Crane Tower is famous, and the airport connects directly to it by metro, so if you have the time, it’s worth doing a quick run.

I. Airport prep

Follow the WeChat account “Transfer Passenger Service”. The transfer service gives out free meal vouchers and luggage storage, and you can also book through-check baggage in advance.

• Through-checked baggage: This needs to be booked ahead of time and lets your checked luggage transfer seamlessly to the next flight.
• Transit meal: Tap to get the QR code. It can be used at the restaurant at the end of Corridor A in the departure hall outside security. You can redeem either a 30-yuan meal voucher or a small gift. I picked the 30-yuan chicken set at “食尚坊,” which also came with an egg and soy milk. My companion ordered a 26-yuan plate of hot dry noodles instead. Compared with the chicken set, that felt like a terrible deal.

• Luggage storage: Tap to get the QR code. The storage point is at the JD Express counter at the end of Corridor F in the departure hall outside security. Requirements: registration with your ID card, just like airport security. Items that cannot be checked, such as power banks, are not accepted for storage.

I did not use through-checked baggage on this quick trip. I landed at 11:00, picked up my luggage, stored it, had lunch, and by then it was exactly 12:00.

II. Metro ride

Metro route: Line 2 $ \rightarrow$ Jiyuqiao $\rightarrow$ Pengliuyang Metro Station $ \xrightarrow {步行} $ Yellow Crane Tower

Pengliuyang Metro Station: both Exit A and Exit C work if you want to get out and spot Yellow Crane Tower right away, but I recommend Exit C because that is where the internet-famous wall is.

I got on the airport metro at 12:00 sharp and reached the entrance to the Yellow Crane Tower scenic area at 13:10.

III. The tower

You can buy tickets through a WeChat mini-program. Student tickets are half price at 35 yuan. If you do not have your student ID with you, you can verify your status through Xuexin (also via WeChat mini-program). Special thanks to @leland for being my guide.

There is one main route up the tower. On each floor, you circle around once before reaching the staircase to the next level. The way down is a different corridor, and it leads straight down continuously.

From the higher levels of Yellow Crane Tower, you can look out over both the newer red bridge and the older white bridge spanning the Yangtze. (I forgot to take a photo.)

After finishing the visit, I walked back to the metro station. The whole visit took no more than 40 minutes, and the time was 13:50.

I then spent about an hour on the metro back and got to the airport around 15:00. That still left an hour to retrieve my stored luggage, clear security, and get ready to board. By 16:00, the quick run was complete.

IV. In short

After arriving at the airport,

• Spend one hour storing your luggage and eating lunch.
• Spend one hour taking the metro and walking to Yellow Crane Tower.
• Forty minutes is enough to see Yellow Crane Tower.
• Spend one hour heading back from Yellow Crane Tower.
• Spend one hour at the airport handling the return procedures.