![Hankou's Little Secret... Hankou's Little Secret...](http://m5.paperblog.com/i/136/1360748/hankous-little-secret-L-NbDGvm.jpeg)
Escaping the concrete jungle that's Guanggu I loved the greener pastures of Hankou's Jiefang Gongyuan to the fullest. With the city in my view I made the most of the park life on offer to me, funnily enough the air within the park walls felt easier to breath as pollution isn't a pretty thing to deal with on a daily basis. Boating seemed to be all the rage, peddling for victory I left it to the families to do just that! Catching a glimpse of a charming looking Bonsai Garden and towering pagoda I lucked out completely, their happened to be a tea house within the Bonsai Garden that overlooked the pagoda. Grabbing a seat and my £1.00 refillable thermos of green tea I took some time out to get my head around such a lush park being in the middle of Wuhan's largest and most crowded city district. Feeling much less toxic I wanted to see the last bits of the park before the winter sun decided to prematurely set. Oh, Jiefang Gongyuan served big even though the fog kept Wuhan under a tight grip!
![Hankou's Little Secret... Hankou's Little Secret...](http://m5.paperblog.com/i/136/1360748/hankous-little-secret-L-p2m6hG.jpeg)
I find that exploring around Wuhan takes so much longer than anywhere I have been to, well maybe New York City comes close because this central Chinese city is apparently the same size as London? I'll be the judge of that! Recognising the aged architectural charms of Gongbingning Road and the surrounding streets I felt like I was back being all touristy within NYC's Lower East Side. Wuhan has an edge that hasn't been rounded off by mass tourism, priding myself for finding these unassuming parts of the city makes feel blessed that this Chinese city hasn't caught up on the China tourism boom. Running with that unplanned diversion I forgot about the temple until another time, retracing my steps back to a main road that linked with Line 1 of the Wuhan Metro. Things are definitely meant to be with regards to not sticking to my original rigid Hankou travel plan. I had a fair metro ride back to Guanggu, I wasn't quite ready to say goodbye to my weekend yet! No way!
![Hankou's Little Secret... Hankou's Little Secret...](http://m5.paperblog.com/i/136/1360748/hankous-little-secret-L-hFFGFw.jpeg)
It's a crime but I tend to favour my Wuhan nights out within Hongshan district, sticking close to my Guanggu ends because I always get crazy but there's one place along the Hankou Riverside I would love to hangout at. Romantic Life, a bar of a certain kind that I first found online during some pre-Wuhna research I recognised certain qualities about that place I liked. Making a pit-stop for an afternoon iced coffee I admired the kitsch and over the top decor of Romantic Life's main bar and lounge area, it looked like the perfect cabaret bar to me. I know that I'll go back to Romantic Life soon enough but as long as these nights are bitterly cold I'm not planning that sort of night out! Leaving the riverside I couldn't help but notice the European inspired buildings that front the Jiangtan section of Yanjiang Avenue oozed French Concession Overness! Getting over to Hankou on these two occasions was well worth my weekend, I loved my efforts sightseeing in Hankou, Wuhan. Yaass!
Hankou Serves Greatness!
Joseph Harrison