A report from a Yangtze river cruise…
When we were planning our once-in-a-lifetime tour of China, we were told that one of the highlights of our trip would be our short cruise along the Yangtze River. The passage through the fabled Gorges would be spectacular and the Three Gorges Dam would be a feat of engineering that would take our breath away. We therefore had high expectations as we left London for our two and a half week holiday.
The Yangtze cruise came about mid-way through the trip, which covered all the main tourist sites. We started in Hong Kong where we spent two days taking in the sights and sounds of this bustling metropolis. We then flew on to Beijing, where we were taken to Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace and the Temple of Heaven, all well-known tourist sights. The highlight was however our visit to the legendary Great Wall; only when you climb the wall to a high point can you really comprehend the scope of the construction as it snakes off over the hills. We then moved on to Xian, the home of the renowned and fascinating Terracotta Warriors. You cannot fail to be amazed at the sight of the lines of men and animals, now placed in covered halls to protect them from the elements.
We had now spent eight days in China, during which we had hardly stopped. What an excellent time to move on to the Yangtze River for a few days of less hectic activity! We flew from Xian to Chongqing, a busy town where many of the downstream cruises start. The river level was however extraordinarily low and, because of the size of our ship, we had a bus ride of almost two hours downstream to Fuling which was as far upstream as the ship could come.
And so, late in the afternoon, we boarded the Presidential Prime, the brand new addition to the well-known President fleet. The Prime marks the new generation of 5-star ships on the Yangtze. It features deluxe classical European style and modern comforts, with spacious public areas and restaurant and impressive conference facilities. There are 187 cabins accommodating 374 passengers, the highest capacity on the river. The ship is fully air-conditioned and every cabin has a private balcony. We upgraded to an Executive Suite, which was as large as a good-sized hotel room with every modern convenience. The crew were all most efficient and attentive to l our every need, which struck us the moment that we stepped on board.
We set sail almost as soon as we had boarded and it was almost immediately time for dinner. The restaurant was large enough to accommodate all passengers at a single sitting and the quality of the food was excellent. Dinner comprised essentially Chinese food served at your table, which we had already found was the normal practice as we travelled around China. Both breakfast and luncheon on the ship were buffet-style, with western food options, which all the western tourists greatly appreciated.
The ship sailed through the night and we then spent our first full day on board travelling gently downstream towards the fabled Gorges. During the morning we were offered an included shore excursion to Fengdu Ghost City. Located on the Ming Mountain, a huge temple was built which depicted life in hell, showing demonic images and torture instruments, demonstrating that good people will be well-treated after they die but bad people will be punished. The dead must undergo three tests to enter the netherworld and the sites of these tests can be seen in the Ghost City. All in all, a fascinating introduction to the culture of the ghost.
On the second morning we had reached the gorges. Around mid-morning we entered the Qutang Gorge which is the shortest and the most majestic of the three. The peaks along the banks of the Gorge are from 1000 metres to 1500 metres high and the river is only between 100 to 200 metres wide. It is worth noting that, since the damming of the river, many historic features along the banks of this gorge have been submerged but it is nevertheless most impressive. At lunchtime we entered the second gorge, the Wu Gorge. It is some 40 kilometres long and has strange peaks and weird rocks along its banks. There are twelve peaks on each bank. Because of the long, deep canyons in the gorge, the daily period of sunlight is short which creates fog and clouds that are a regular and unique feature of this particular gorge, all very atmospheric.
At the end of the Wu Gorge, we had our second included excursion of the cruise, a trip by small boat up the Shennong Stream, a tributary of the Yangtze with its own four gorges. After a short ferry ride into the stream, we transferred into small open sampans, each carrying 10 passengers and rowed and steered by six boatmen from the riverside community. As we proceeded upstream, the river became more shallow and swift-flowing, at which time the boatmen went ashore and towed the sampans by rope. The scenery up these narrow gorges is marvellous and we were also able to see the mysterious hanging coffins which are a fascinating feature of this particular stream.
On the morning of our third day we were taken ashore to visit the Three Gorges Dam Project. This provides the opportunity to view the dam itself, the hydropower stations and ship locks which enable river traffic to pass the dam. The dam is some 3000 metres wide and some 200 metres high; there was a heavy mist when we were there and we simply could not see the whole width of the dam, even from the elevated viewing area. The locks to move river traffic past the dam are five in number and it takes about half an hour for a ship like the President Prime to pass through each lock; we passed through the locks around midnight.
After visiting the dam site, we sailed into the third and last gorge, the Xiling Gorge. This is the longest of the gorges at about 80 kilometres and is notorious for its reefs and shoals. The landscape of the gorge is spectacular, with many historic landmarks.
The cruise also offered a couple of optional shore excursions, which were much enjoyed by those that went on them, and a number of onboard demonstrations such as Chinese embroidery and painting, miniature snuff bottle painting and traditional Chinese massage and acupuncture. In summary, the short cruise met all our high expectations, which is greatly to the credit of the cruise company.
After disembarking at Yichang, we moved on to Shanghai, a very exciting and vibrant city with a fascinating blend of traditional Chinese architecture and very modern developments. From there we went to Guilin where we were taken on a day cruise on the Li River, with its unique and beautiful landscape of pinnacled peaks. From Guilin we returned to the UK after a magical tour to which our cruise on the Yangtze made a big contribution.
By Ian Lewis
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