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The map of Hankou, Hanyang, and Wuchang, as of 1915

Hankou (simplified Chinese: 汉口; traditional Chinese: 漢口; pinyin: Hànkǒu; Wade-Giles: Hankow) was one of the three cities the merging of which formed modern-day Wuhan, the capital of the Hubei province, China. It stands north of the Han and Yangtze Rivers where the Han falls into the Yangtze. Hankou is connected by bridges to its former sister cities Hanyang (between Han and Yangtze) and Wuchang (on the south side of he Yangtze).

Hankou is the main port of Hubei province.

History

Hankou used to have five colonial concessions from the United Kingdom, France, Russia, Germany and Japan. The German and Russian concessions were administered by the Chinese government after the First World War. The British left in 1927 after Chinese nationalist riots. The French and Japanese left after the Second World War.

Former Hankou Orthodox Church

On October 10, 1911, a revolution to establish the Republic of China and replace the Qing Dynasty led to the involvement of Hankou in the struggle between Hubei revolutionary forces and the Qing army, led by Yuan Shikai. Although the revolution began in Wuchang with a revolt started by members of the New Army, revolutionaries quickly captured major strategic cities and towns throughout the province, including Hankou on October 12. The Qing Dynasty Army recaptured Hankou later, but as the revolution spread throughout China, eventually the town and the province came under control of the Republic of China.

Hankow was the destination on the escape route of groups of missionaries fleeing the Boxers in the Northern provinces around 1900. The flight of some missionaries from the T'ai-yüan massacre in Shan-si is recorded in the work A Thousand Miles of Miracles in China" (1919) by Reverend A E Glover, one of the fleeing missionaries.

Before the Communist Revolution, Hankou was the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hankou, covering the province of Hubei. The dioceses in Wuchang, Hanyang, and elsewhere in the province, were subordinated to it.

Modern status

Jianghan Street in central Hankou

"Hankou" remains a commonly used name for the part of Wuhan urban area north of the Yangtze and Han Rivers. The name is preserved also in the name of the old Hankou Railway Station (closed in 1991) and the new Hankou Railway Station (opened in 1991 at a new location) serving this part of the city.

Nonetheless, Hankou is no longer the name of an administrative unit (e.g., a district), as its area now falls mostly within Jiang'an District, Jianghan District, and Qiaokou District. This contrasts with Wuchang and Hanyang, whose names have been retained in the eponymous administrative districts within the City of Wuhan.

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