5 Day 4 Night Yangtze River Cruises – Yichang to Chongqing

Embarkation in Yichang

Boarding the ship at Maoping Port (Zigui, a suburb of Yichang) in the evening allows our guests to settle in and become familiar with the amenities on offer while shedding the hustle and bustle of their travels. We give you a buffer to refresh and prepare for the next day’s sightseeing on the amazing Yangtze, the ancient pathway across China, spanning centuries of cultures and blending the best of the old and the modern.

Meals: n/a;
Overnight: Cruise Ship

Three Gorges Dam / Set Sail / Xiling Gorge

Take a shore excursion to the Three Gorges dam. This 60-story, mile-wide structure is a stunning example of human achievement and a hallmark of an emerging China.

The cruise ship departs upstream through the west section of Xiling Gorge in the late afternoon, the first of these dramatic slices through the surrounding mountains. The new reservoir has altered the landscape, and with more than a million people relocated, the picture is now of a wild countryside – the physical embodiment of thousands of beautiful Chinese landscape paintings. Watch the fog move in that turns the mountains into ghostly sculptures and enjoy our sumptuous Captain’s Dinner for your evening meal.

Additional optional shore excursion is available in the morning (river conditions permitting) to Three Gorges Tribe.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Overnight: Cruise Ship

“Small Gorges” / Wu Gorge / Qutang Gorge

A morning side excursion is offered into the Lesser Three Gorges or Shennong stream or Goddess Stream in smaller sightseeing boats. Here we will see where the mighty Yangtze flows faster and has carved narrower, even more dramatic, rising stone cliffs. We’ll spot the coffins of the Ba people hanging on suspended along an ancient plank road that hugs the cliff face. Tonight’s dinner features local cuisine and entertainment while you feast.

Your cruise ship will sail through the Wu Gorge and Qutang Gorge. Wu Gorge is 45 kilometers long, Noted for its deep and serene scenes, the Wu Gorge is full of zigzags, weird peaks, rising mists, and beautiful sights. Qutang Gorge, known for its magnificence, is only 8 kilometers long.

Additional optional shore excursion is available in the late afternoon (river conditions permitting) to White Emperor City and “Return to the Three Gorges” Live Show (evening).

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Overnight: Cruise Ship

Cultural Heritage: Shibaozhai Pagoda or Fengdu

Today’s adventure includes a shore excursion to the Shibaozhai Pagoda or Fengdu, according to different cruise line arrangements (only one is included, and you could visit the other one as the optional excursion at extra cost). The day finishes with a Captain’s Farewell Banquet. Tomorrow we will finish up at Chongqing.

Shibaozhai Pagoda: This 400-year-old temple was saved from the rising waters and become an island where once it was a hilltop. The temple is built partway into the cliff and no nails or bolts were used in its construction.

Fengdu: This ancient village of temples is full of shrines to the gods of the underworld. Visitors are said to be purified after they “survive” the scares. Surrounded by misty mountains, this area was revered as a crossing-over point, a mix of the material and spiritual worlds.

Additional optional shore excursion is available in the evening (river conditions permitting) to “Romance of the Three Kingdoms” live show.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Overnight: Cruise Ship

Disembarkation in Chongqing

This morning after breakfast, we will check out the cruise ship in Chongqing around 9:00 am.

Meals: Breakfast
Overnight: n/a