A transport terminus on the Yangzi 120km west from Jingzhou, YICHANG was an important commercial centre under the Han, and later became a treaty port. Fading during the early twentieth century, the blossoming of Yangzi tourism, as well as the building of the Gezhou dam upstream (not to mention the Three Gorges dam ), has seen an optimistic renaissance replacing the once decrepit atmosphere. That said, there's little of interest in the modern city centre - glaring and shadeless in summer - but animated evening scenery along the river compensates, with water traffic moored up, nightclub barges throbbing to karaoke efforts, and crowds flying kites, gorging themselves on shellfish at nearby street restaurants or just sitting on the banks cooling off with ice creams. You may well end up here for a night; aside from the river, Yichang marks the start of routes north to Shennongjia , while the town is also on the rail line between Xi'an and Hunan.

Yichang stretches along the Yangzi's northern bank for around 5km directly below the Gezhou dam, with buses and trains pulling in near each other on Dongshan Dadao.