Yangtze River cruises

The Yangtze is one of the world’s great rivers, often called the ‘lifeblood of China’. Over 6,000km in its entirety, it is the longest river in Asia with its most famous section being the Three Gorges. It takes around three days to pass through the Three Gorges, so a Yangtze River cruise will typically form part of a longer China itinerary featuring the pandas of Chengdu, the Great Wall, the Forbidden City and the Terracotta Warriors, with three nights aboard ship a great way to break it up. In most cases, you will board in Chongqing City, and disembark in Yichang.

These three adjacent gorges, Qutang, Wu and Xiling, between them span 310km of the Yangtze’s middle section. World renowned for their dramatic and kaleidoscopic scenery, helped by a subtropical monsoon climate, they were once tricky to navigate due to fast-running water. In recent years however the massive – and massively controversial – Three Gorges Dam, has raised the water level and quietened it substantially, making the region one of China’s highest ranked tourism attractions, and a very popular destination for large cruise vessels. The Three Gorges region is also significant for its history and culture; great battles once took place in the valley, and ancient scholars carved poems into the rocks.

The Three Gorges Dam, constructed in part to prevent flooding further downstream, is a monumental achievement but one that has come at great cost. Entire towns have been relocated, and many cultural and archaeological points of interest have either already been submerged or are at risk. Many Yangtze River cruises end with a visit to the dam itself to appreciate the scale and challenge of this immense engineering project.

Usually the first excursion on a Yangtze River cruise, Fengdu is hard to miss on the north bank. A vast statue of the ‘Ghost King’ carved into the Ming Mountain is the most attention grabbing attraction, while there are a number of sculptures, temples and pagodas that blend impressions of the afterlife with Taoism, Buddhism and Confucianism.

At the mouth of the Qutang Gorge, and so-named for the thick fog its founder, an official turned soldier named Gong Sunshu, encountered there in 25AD, the White Emperor City is also known as the ‘City of Poems’. Dotted with temples, pavilions and many other sights of cultural interest, the area has a tranquil, academic atmosphere.