Homeinn Plus Hotel (Wuhan International Plaza Zhongshan Park Metro Station Branch)

With ten floors, this is a huge commercial center. There are international shops and food options inside. It’s described as tax-free, but check carefully, since some stores aren’t duty-free.

We lost half an hour waiting for a supervisor to come explain things to the cashiers. The staff didn’t seem to understand that Union Pay, Alipay, WechatPay, and VISA cards bearing their logos can be used internationally, without the customer being Chinese. With Mastercard, they checked a manual that showed the older logo and rejected our current card, which had the two orange circles but no “Mastercard” wording. Their attitude felt narrow-minded and uninformed.

Behind facades modeled on historic Hankou buildings are luxury stores. The food court’s longest queue forms at a stall serving 1930s-style hot dry noodles. In the central atrium, a kinetic sculpture made from 1,842 aluminum leaves stretches 25 meters.

They’ve got all the brands we’re after in one place, along with plenty of restaurants. It’s not just clothing.