Wuhan is served by Tianhe International Airport, which is the main airport in central China and is located just to the northwest of town. Tianhe is China's fourth international hub after Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou.
The airport handles around 13 million passengers per year and serves many domestic destinations and a growing number of international ones with the likes of Air China and Cathay Pacific. The airport has two terminals with the recently built Terminal 2 having the bulk of the facilities and being able to handle the Airbus 380. Regular flights currently come in from the likes of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Chengdu, from where flights arrive from all over the world.
Transport to Wuhan and the surroundings from Tianhe International Airport is by public bus, airport shuttle and taxi. Public buses run every hour from the airport to the main bus station near the Hankou Railway Station – a 20-minute journey – while taxis are markedly quicker and of course more expensive.
Wuhan has several public transport options and although significantly cheaper than getting around other prominent Chinese cities, it is large and can be tough at times. There is a useful bus service, minimal light railway, tourist buses and a slew of taxis.
The easiest way to travel around Wuhan is by taxi as they vastly outnumber any other form of public transport, can be had anywhere, run at all hours and are quite cheap to boot. Wuhan taxi drivers are fairly honest and rip-offs only tend to happen from the airport, where drivers often demand relatively ridiculous rates. There is a standard flag fall rate followed by a per-kilometre rate; always make sure the meter will be used and you should have no problems.
Next up are the buses and although pretty reliable, cheap and fast, unfortunately it is hard to work out the routing without good map-reading skills, being proficient in Chinese script and going it alone. The exception is Tourist Line 402 which ferries tourists around all the top sights including the Yellow Crane Tower and East Lake.
Ferries regularly ply the Yangtze River with cheap crossings throughout the day and providing a different perspective of Wuhan day and night. You can also do a near complete tour of the city by ferry where boats depart the Wuhan Passenger Port and take in various prominent city bridges, Qingchuan Tower, Longwang Temple, the Yellow Crane Tower, and the Wuchang Watching River Tower.
The Chinese love to cycle and Wuhan has a profusion of lovely parks, river banks, and lakes to cycle around. Rental prices are generally very cheap off the street and a little more expensive from a hotel.
One can also hire a car although this must be done with driver as it is not possible to go it alone by car in China unless you have the necessary visa and licensing. Cars with drivers can be had at reasonable rates and can be booked ahead of time online for a pick up at Tianhe International Airport or at your hotel.
