Hubei is in the heart of central China. The Yangzi River flows for 1,060km (650 miles) through this fertile province, and has been central to the fortunes of Hubei. Away from the Yangzi, there are flat cultivated plains producing almost half of China's rice and cotton. In the more remote parts of Hubei sacred mountains and lush forests can be found, but it is the stunning beauty of a cruise through the Three Gorges of the Yangzi River that attracts most visitors to the province.

The provincial capital of Wuhan has prospered through Hubei's location on the Yangzi, halfway between Chongqing and Shanghai. Wuhan is a major transportation hub. As well as having the river connecting both east and west the Chengdu–Sichuan railway runs through Wuhan, as does the Beijing-Guangzhou railway, connecting north to south.

These trans-China links have prevented Hubei from being isolated from political and economic developments. In 1911, unrest in Wuhan quickly spread the seeds of revolution from Hubei to the rest of China, leading to the end of imperial rule.

Many Yangzi cruises start or finish in Wuhan and a visit is often paid to the site of the Three Gorges dam project near Yichang. Gezhou Dam was completed in 1998 and when the second Three Gorges Dam is completed in 2008 it will be the largest hydroelectric power scheme in the world. The landscape however will be irrecoverably changed forever.