One experience / One and a half yuan
The best 1.5 yuan
in China.
Before there were bridges, Wuhan was three towns stitched together by ferries. The commuter ferry still runs — packed with scooters at rush hour, empty enough at midday that you can lean on the rail and watch the bridge pass.
The classic route runs between Zhonghua Road wharf in Wuchang and Wuhan Guan wharf in Hankou, one way for ≈$0.22¥1.5, every day roughly 6:30 to 20:00 with a departure about every 20 minutes at peak times (F18). It is a working commuter boat, not a sightseeing vessel — that is exactly why it is the most honest way to see the First Bridge, the tower and both skylines. Stand on the open deck, ride toward Hankou at dusk if you can, and keep your expectations calibrated: this is transport with a view, not a cruise. If you want the produced version, that is the evening river cruise at fifty times the price.
This is the deep-dive page for the commuter ferry; the ranked overview lives on the sights guide. The fare and schedule come from a 2026 People's Daily Hubei report on the service (F18) — a tier-2 official media source rather than the operator's own price list, so the fare is marked reported rather than verified.
The crossing, step by step
- Route: Wuhan中线 ferry, Wuchang's Zhonghua Road Wharf No.1 (中华路码头) ↔ Hankou's Wuhan Guan Wharf (武汉关码头), straight across the river between the two old towns (F18).
- Fare: ≈$0.22¥1.5 one way. Pay by scanning with Alipay or WeChat Pay like every local aboard.
- Frequency: roughly 6:30–20:00 daily, about every 20 minutes at peak (F18). It is a commuter timetable — quiet mid-morning and mid-afternoon.
- Decks: the upper open deck reopened in 2026 after a period of closure (F18) — that is where you want to be. The lower deck is where the scooters park.
What you actually see
One crossing takes in, in a single sweep: the 1957 First Bridge with trains rumbling across its upper deck, Turtle Hill and the TV tower on the Hanyang side, the Yellow Crane Tower's hill above the Wuchang bank, and the Hankou skyline downstream. The ride lasts about ten minutes. Do it once in daylight and once near dusk if you can — the second crossing is free of obligations and costs another 1.5 yuan.
Take the metro to Wuchang, visit the Hubu Alley area and the tower hill, walk down to Zhonghua Road wharf, cross to Wuhan Guan as the light fades, and emerge directly into the Hankou riverside light show. One 1.5-yuan ticket stitches three districts together.
Ferry vs night cruise: which one?
| Public ferry | Evening cruise | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | ≈$0.22¥1.5 | ≈$12.41–23.63¥83–158 |
| What it is | Commuter transport with a world-class view | Produced sightseeing loop, 50–70 minutes |
| Best for | Honesty, daylight, the commuter-city feeling, unlimited repeats | Scheduled light-show hours and a guaranteed seat |
They are not competitors; they are the cheap truth and the comfortable show. Locals ride the ferry — you will share the deck with them, which is the point.
Catches, stated plainly
- It ends at 20:00 — this is not the night crossing; the evening belongs to the cruises and the riverside lights.
- Timetables shift. Service changes with season, weather and river conditions; the fare here is dated and tier-2 sourced. The wharf signs on the day are the final word.
- Rush hours are for locals. Mid-morning gives you space; 8 a.m. gives you scooters.
Questions we keep seeing
How much is the Wuhan Yangtze ferry?
What time does the Wuhan ferry run?
Is the Wuhan ferry worth it for tourists?
Can tourists take the night cruise instead?
Sources, prices and currency
Fare, route and schedule from People's Daily Hubei's 2026-05-22 report (F18) — tier-2 official media, marked reported; cruise comparison prices from platform listings (F34). Timetable shifts are flagged as perishable. Class B — re-checked quarterly.
Every CNY amount on this page is shown twice: the yuan figure you will actually see on the price board, and a US dollar conversion for budgeting. Dollar values are mid-market conversions at 1 CNY = $0.14953 (ExchangeRate-API (open.er-api.com), 11 Nov 2026), refreshed automatically when the page loads and cached for 24 hours. Your bank or card issuer will use its own rate and may add a foreign-transaction fee. Full explanation.
Checked quarterly — hours, routes and venues. This page was last checked 2026-11.