Tanhualin Historic District 昙华林

About Tanhualin Historic District

Tanhualin Historic District (昙华林) is a car-free street, and the old quarter around it, in the northern part of the former walled city of Wuchang, in Wuchang District (武昌区), Wuhan. Its lanes keep churches, mission buildings and houses built between 1864 and 1937.

The street grew up after 1371, the fourth year of the Ming Hongwu reign, when the Wuchang city wall (武昌城) reached its final extent. Running east to west for 1,221.23 m, it starts at Zhongshan Road (中山路) in the east and ends at Desheng Bridge (得胜桥) in the west, lying between two hills: Pangxiejia (螃蟹岬) to one side and Huayuan Hill (花园山) to the other. Side lanes such as Gejiaying (戈甲营) branch off it, and in wider use the name covers Gejiaying and Huayuan Hill as well.

Foreign missions put up several of the buildings that survive. Griffith John (杨格非) of the London Missionary Society built Chongzhen Church (崇真堂) at 44 Gejiaying in 1864, the first Christian church in the provincial capital; Chinese Wikipedia describes it as the oldest surviving Christian church in Wuhan. The American Episcopal Church opened Boone School (文华书院) on the street, whose grounds later became Huazhong University (华中大学). In 1890 the Swedish Mission Society (瑞典行道会) began building its China base at the southern foot of Pangxiejia, in the middle stretch of the street, with a church, a senior pastor's house and a middle school; from 1936 it also housed a Swedish consulate, the only foreign consulate in Wuchang.

Tanhualin also figures in wartime history. The Wuchang District government records that on 1 April 1938 the Third Department of the Political Department of the Military Affairs Commission (军事委员会政治部第三厅) was set up here to run propaganda for the war against Japan, under the direct leadership of Zhou Enlai (周恩来). The street also appears in fiction, including the novel "Spring Comes to Tanhualin" (春天来到昙华林) by Fang Fang (方方).

What to look for

• Chongzhen Church (崇真堂), a Gothic church of 1864 with pointed windows, at 44 Gejiaying
• Former Swedish Mission (瑞典教区旧址), a Nordic or colonial-veranda style group of 1890 at Nos. 92–108 Tanhualin
• Shengdan Church (圣诞堂), an 1871 hall modelled on a Greek temple and ringed by colonnades, inside Hubei University of Chinese Medicine
• Huayuan Hill Pastor's House (花园山牧师楼), built in 1937 at No. 90
• Former Residence of Weng Shouqian (翁守谦故居), No. 75, built before 1895
• Renji Hospital (仁济医院), once the campus of the Hubei College of Traditional Chinese Medicine
• Two Catholic buildings in the wider quarter: the Canossian sisters' chapel (嘉诺撒仁爱修女会礼拜堂) and the former East Hubei bishop's residence (天主教鄂东代牧区主教公署)

Location & getting there

Getting to Tanhualin Historic District

• Search for 昙华林 with 武汉市 and 武昌区.