WU-CH'ANG

Pinyin Wuchang industrial city and capital of Hupeh sheng (province), central China. Located on the south bank of the Yangtze River, it is the oldest city of the Wu-han conurbation (Han-kou, Han-yang, Wu-ch'ang). It is the oldest of the Wu-han cities and served as a capital under the Wu dynasty in the Three Kingdoms period (AD 220280) and is the administrative and cultural centre of the Wu-han cities. Northeast of the city proper is the huge Wu-han iron and steel complex, built in the 1950s, one of the largest in China. See Wu-han.