Most China guidebooks list a Yangtze River Cruise through the Three Gorges as one of the Top Five things to do in China. Historically this has been true. In 2020, I'm not sure. The Three Gorges Dam was completed in 2006 (fully functional in 2012) and raised water levels behind the dam by almost three hundred feet. This effectively "degorged" the gorges. While the gorges are still a wonder to cruise through it's questionable if it remains a Top Five China experience.
There are many different options for cruising the Yangtze - from speed boats that may pass through the Gorges at night to luxury boats with several onshore activities during the day. The ship I was booked on was as nice of a place as I'd stayed in since leaving home. I was traveling alone and thus for my rooming assignment I was paired up with a Chinese local. Unfortunately he didn't speak English (and I quickly learned that my attempts to say "Hi, my name is Jim" in Chinese weren't hitting the correct pitch or inflection) but we were still able to communicate well enough with hand gestures. When I arrived a guest in the room next door was out on their balcony playing an erhu, an ancient Chinese string instrument, and another guest sang along - I knew it would be a fun cruise. On the cruise it was me, three Germans (who were currently living in Cincinnati) and 150 Chinese. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner was a mix of Chinese and Western foods with the standout dish being lemon chicken on the first night’s dinner. Before boarding the ship I stocked up beer, water, and snacks because they were a little more expensive on board. I recall the ship leaving at night so that we would pass the first two gorges during the following day.
There are many different options for cruising the Yangtze - from speed boats that may pass through the Gorges at night to luxury boats with several onshore activities during the day. The ship I was booked on was as nice of a place as I'd stayed in since leaving home. I was traveling alone and thus for my rooming assignment I was paired up with a Chinese local. Unfortunately he didn't speak English (and I quickly learned that my attempts to say "Hi, my name is Jim" in Chinese weren't hitting the correct pitch or inflection) but we were still able to communicate well enough with hand gestures. When I arrived a guest in the room next door was out on their balcony playing an erhu, an ancient Chinese string instrument, and another guest sang along - I knew it would be a fun cruise. On the cruise it was me, three Germans (who were currently living in Cincinnati) and 150 Chinese. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner was a mix of Chinese and Western foods with the standout dish being lemon chicken on the first night’s dinner. Before boarding the ship I stocked up beer, water, and snacks because they were a little more expensive on board. I recall the ship leaving at night so that we would pass the first two gorges during the following day.
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There are a few onshore excursions to keep life interesting. The first onshore excursion was at Shibaozhai, the site of a nine-story wooden staircase along a cliff side that leads to a pagoda on top. Shibaozhai was interesting but I like that we first had to walk through a newly constructed village. The Three Gorges Dam put several upstream villages underwater and due to the rising water level several towns were completely submerged. The town near Shibaozhai was nice and didn’t feel too cookie cutter compared to the mass of apartment complexes I saw in Chinese suburbs. I’m sure the new homes were nicer than where these people were living before but I’m not sure how happy they were that they needed to move. A second onshore excursion involved taking a boat up the Shennong Stream to view the Little Three Gorges and a small boat ride where locals pulled the boat from the shore as they did prior to the dam construction. Now the river is wide enough and currents not as strong to paddle upstream instead of pulling the boat.
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Late in the morning on the second day we passed into the first of the Three Gorges - Qutang Gorge. The entrance of the gorge is featured on the back of the 10Y note. The entrance was still spectacular and I think the main selling point of taking the cruise West to East instead of vice versa. I did a search of "Qutang Gorge before the Three Gorges Dam" and similar searches to see how much this gorge has changed in the past twenty years. Surprisingly there's not many side-by-side comparative photos but when I could find a photo the image from twenty years ago looked relatively the same what I saw when we passed through the gorge.
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Once we entered the gorge the views were relatively tame.
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Fortunately the second gorge, Wu Gorge, was much larger (and longer) although there were still not the dramatic cliffside drops you’d expect with a place called a gorge. It took the boat nearly two hours to pass through this gorge - the length of the gorge, as opposed to the dramatic drop, was impressive feature. When you're passing through this gorge you can't help but wonder how much more impressive it would be if the water level was three hundred feet lower. At dinner one of the Germans mentioned that he had been on the cruise twenty-five years ago and felt the views were much more impressive pre-dam.
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Each night the cruise had an activity planned. The first night's activity consisted of a couple of games, like musical chairs. Their musical chair version had a catch that you needed to grab an article from the audience (iphone, shoe, belt, 100Y note) before finding an open chair. Another game involved a whisper down the lane component in which the first person was shown a picture of an animal and had to act out the animal without making a sound. At the end of a five person line, the final person needed to guess the animal. The crew also performed a few traditional Chinese dances, including a Tibetan minority dance. To cap off the evening there was a group dance of La Macarena. The second night activity was a talent show and one woman on board sang Chinese opera - she was so good she should have performed at the national opera house.
That night we passed through the Three Gorges Dam's locks. I thought this was a more impressive site then the gorges themselves (and the dam). The locks were massive and the nighttime passage added a sense of mystery - it felt like being on a Hollywood set with all the dimmed lighting - I thought a cop and robber gun fight would break out at any moment. It took about two hours to pass through five locks with the ship dropping nearly 100 meters, about three hundred feet, over the course of the locks.
That night we passed through the Three Gorges Dam's locks. I thought this was a more impressive site then the gorges themselves (and the dam). The locks were massive and the nighttime passage added a sense of mystery - it felt like being on a Hollywood set with all the dimmed lighting - I thought a cop and robber gun fight would break out at any moment. It took about two hours to pass through five locks with the ship dropping nearly 100 meters, about three hundred feet, over the course of the locks.
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The next morning we went on a “tour” of the Three Gorges Dam. You are not allowed inside the gorges but instead taken to a few viewpoints on the far side by the locks. I've seen the Hoover Dam. I've seen the Verzasca Dam. The Three Gorges Dam does not cut as an imposing figure on the surrounding landscape. But it is much, much wider. And there was a lot more commercial activity taking place at this dam compared to the other large dams that I've seen.
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Back on the ship we continued for another hour downstream through Xiling Gorge. This gorge seemed a little higher than the previous two - as one would expect since it's the only gorge that is down stream from the dam. We disembarked in Yichang and a bus took me and others to the Yichang train station where I sat for a few hours before catching a night train to Pinyang. There's not much to see or do or eat in Yichang so you'll want to balance your train departure time with your cruise arrival time.
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CHONGQING
Chongqing is the starting point for most downstream Yangtze River Cruises. I arrived here from Chengdu and it was complete mayhem - there were only a few working self-serve subway ticket kiosks. Chongqing is a Chinese mega city and the entire city seems to be under construction. Chongqing’s Central Business District is called Times Square and the surrounding area has as much construction work in process than any other area in China that I'd seen - roads were torn up, building foundations were being laid, and multiple new bridges were near completion. Scattered among the newer buildings were older apartment style homes that looked out of place - in other cities there wasn’t as much a blend between old and new - Chongqing's old vs. new juxtaposition was striking. The CBD has a small, central clock tower - less than 50 feet high - which is surrounded by malls.
The cruise boat I was on can be seen in the image on the right.
The cruise boat I was on can be seen in the image on the right.
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I stayed in Ciqikou, an “ancient” village on the outskirts away from the city center. I drank a crysthanemum tea on the second floor of a tea shop and watched the Ciqikou walking street scene unfold below. One of my favorite Chinese street foods is the whirled potato on a stick. It's great watching little kids try to eat the potato stick - it must be eaten top down but the stick is above the kids heads so they try to eat by biting into the side but the potato bounces into their head before they can get a bite.
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New Chinese construction is always experimenting with avant-garde architectural designs but my favorite example of pushing classical "architectural" boundaries was with the deep fried potato on a stick - the picture on the bottom right. This edible delight maximizes the flavor surface area like no other street food I've come across. It's great watching little kids try to eat the potato stick - it must be eaten top down but the stick is above the kids heads so they try to eat by biting into the side but the potato bounces into their head before they can get a bite.
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For additional Yangtze River Cruise photos see FLICKR ALBUM.
For additional Chongqing photos see FLICKR ALBUM.
For additional Chongqing photos see FLICKR ALBUM.