Wuhan, a historic and vital port city on the Yangtze River.

After a stop-start stretching over weeks, spring is well and truly here and you may already be thinking of the languid nights of the summer ahead. But a recent visit to Wuhan that lies by the Yangtze River gave me a springtime experience that was truly intoxicating.

The capital of Central China's Hubei province is a historic city and a vital link in the nine provinces that occupy central China.

Before my trip, my knowledge of Wuhan was limited to the spicy duck neck, a famous Hubei snack that is even more popular than Peking Duck. Even in Beijing, you can see long queues in front of restaurants that specialize in these delicacies.

Looking forward to enjoying a cold beer with spicy duck necks on the banks of the Yangtze River, I set off for Wuhan at the end of March.

I arrived in the city after a two-hour flight from Beijing and moved into a hotel in Wuchang town. The metropolitan area of Wuhan comprises three parts - Wuchang, Hankou and Hanyang, divided by the Yangtze and its tributary, the Hanjiang River.

Wuchang occupies an important role in China's modern history - the uprising led by Sun Yat-sen's supporters against the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), broke out in Wuchang in 1911 and eventually spread all over the country.

The hotel stands at the corner of a street named "Zhuo Dao Quan", or "blade-thrust spring". The name arises out of a popular story. It is believed that in the Three Kingdoms (AD 220-280) period, when General Guan Yu led his army stationed in Wuchang during a severe drought in AD 207, the powerful general pierced the ground with his big dragon blade, and out gushed copious amounts of water.

This spring can still be seen in the suburb of Wuchang, near the famous East Lake. In the Song Dynasty (960-1279), a temple named Yu Quan, or Spring Guard, was even built to worship General Guan and record the myth of the spring.

But I am inclined to believe it is not all myth. The general must indeed have been a very thirsty man. Known as one of the "Three Furnaces" in China, along with Chongqing and Nanjing, Wuhan's summer is oppressively humid and hot, and can make you feel like you are in a steam room.