In a recent New York Times article Thomas Friedman on the impact of globalization on the Coronavirus pandemic asked this interesting question:

Who knew that there were regular direct flights from Wuhan, China, to America?

Of course, not many Americans knew there were direct flights from “over there” to here. In fact, it can be safely assumed less than 1% of the population even knew that a place called Wuhan actually existed.

This led to me to think maybe its a good time to learn more about other major cities starting with Wuhan. With that said below are xx facts about Wuhan:

1. Between 2000 and 2018, the population of Wuhan grew from 8 million to 11 million. Population wise, Wuhan is bigger than New York.
2. The Wuhan subway line was opened in 2004 with a single line and 10 stations. Today the Wuhan Metro has 9 lines and 228 stations.
3. 228 million tourists visited the city in 2018.
4. In 2009, Wuhan was linked to Guangzhou in Southern China with a high-speed rail service.
5. Today 25 major cities are connected to Wuhan with the hi-speed train service.
6. In 2009, the third passenger railway station was opened in the city.
7. The travel time is just 5 hours between Wuhan and Beijing on the hi-speed train.
8. Wuhan Tianhe International Airport had direct flights to 52 global destinations and 84 domestic cities in 2018. International cities reachable by flights include New York, San Francisco, Dubai, Milan, Paris, etc.
9. The distance from Wuhan to Beijing by road is 750 miles and it now takes 12 hours on the G45 expressway.
10. The world’s largest power station, The Three Gorges Dam is located near Wuhan.

Sources: Global Viral Outbreaks Like Coronavirus, Once Rare, Will Become More Common and High-Speed Trains, International Flights: How the Coronavirus Spread, WSJ and Wikipedia