This year before the Chinese New Year festival, I took a Yangtze River cruise trip in Jan from 11th to 14th on cruise Century Diamond for the downstream trip from Chongqing to Yichang. A great experience and give me a relax time after the whole year’s work. Here I am happy to share my cruise trip with you.
Day 1: Cruise Boarding
I took a bullet train for around 2 hours from Chengdu east station to Chongqing west station. The Chongqing west station is a new station which has been in service since last year only. It is around 23km away from the west station to Chongqing Chaotianmen Port, the place where I boarded my cruise, took me around 50 minutes by taxi.
I called the ship one day in advance to check the boarding sub pier, which is No. 8 of Chaotianmen pier. Since it’s in the lower season, there are not many clients on board, and I am almost the last few clients when boarding around 8:30pm. After check in the cruise with my ID card, I get my room card. It’s a room size 25.90 m2 on deck 3, although not big in size but still good enough. After put down my luggage, I went to the bar for the Welcome Party and happy to meet the cruise staff and other passengers there.
Chongqing Chaotianmen Port to Board Century Diamond
the Deluxe Cabin of Century Diamond
The Welcome Party on Century Diamond
Day 2: Shore excursion; optional Fengdu Ghost city and included Shibaozhai Pagoda
In the morning, I take the optional excursion to Fengdu – “the Ghost City”（丰都鬼城）, which also called the “City of Ghosts” on Ming Mountain with a history of 1900 years, is located on the northern bank of the Yangtze 176 kilometers downstream from Chongqing. The guide show us to the Nothing-to-be-done Bridge (奈何桥), Ghost Torturing Pass (鬼门关), and other places. Personally, I more like the nature scenery, so I am more interested in the Baidi town which is an optional visit on Day 3, and I will show you later.
Fengdu Ghost City
After the morning visit to the Fengdu Ghost City, I backed to cruise for lunch and have a break. In the afternoon, all passengers visited the included shore excursion to Shibaozhai Pogada.
The Shibaozhai Pagoda (石宝寨) is 12-story, 18th century temple built in Zhongxian County on the northern bank of Yangtze River, 278 kilometers away from Chongqing. It represents one of the gems of Chinese Architecture, an architectural delight.
Shibaozhai Pagoda
12-story Shibaozhai Pagoda
Day 3 Shore excursion; optional Baidi Town and included Shennv Stream
It is really beautiful of Kuimen (夔门) , the scenery listed in the cash of Chinese Yuan ( 10 Yuan), which make me feel like the Baidi Town is one of the highlights of this trip in my opinion.
Qutang Gorge on 10 Yuan Banknote
Magnificient Qutang Gorge of Three Gorges
Kui Gate, the Landmark of Qutang Gorge
In the afternoon, I visited the Shengnv stream, which also called Goddess Stream, is a small stream between Qinshi Town and Feifeng Peak. Having a total length of 30 km, it is the wondrous gorge. We change to a small boat to cross the stream. The local guide in the small boat telling us the stories and history of here, and let us know the mysterious of Wushan (巫山). Once you come here, you will have a feeling of quiet and peaceful which is totally different to the stress life when you are living in the big cities.
Change to a Small Boat to Explore Shengnv Stream
Day 4: Shore Excursions to Three Gorges Dam Site and optional Ship Lift
Today is the last day on board, I got up very early in morning, and take the option Ship Lift visit. Three Gorges Dam Ship Lift, also called Three Gorges Dam Ship Elevator, is not only the largest but also the most sophisticated ship lift in the world.
Option Visit to Three Gorges Dam Ship Lift
Another highlight of the Yangtze river cruise trip is the Three Gorges Dam. The Three Gorges Dam is the largest hydropower station in the world with an annual energy output of 84.7 billion kilowatt-hours. The Three Gorges Dam includes three areas: the dam itself, a hydroelectric, and a system of locks. The height of the Three Gorges Dam is 185 meters (607 ft) above the sea level. The dam is about 2,300 meters (7,546 ft) long and about 115 meters (377 ft) wide. With a water capacity of 39.3 billion cubic meters, the dam will hold a huge reservoir which will efficiently prevent flooding in the middle and lower portions of the Yangtze River.
Three Gorges Dam Site
My Yangtze River cruise trip is about to end, it’s a good time to me. If you want a leisure and short cruise trip like me, this is a good choice for you.
If you are interested in more tours about Yangtze River Cruise, you can head to our Yangtze River Tours with different experiences. Feel free to select yours to explore the beauty of Chongqing and Yichang!
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Want to know more about the experienced travel expert Vivien’s trip? You could just contact her directly or continue to read more about her travelogues.
