Three Days Yangtze River Cruise 

The First Day on the Ship

It was a sunny day when my cruise ship left from Chongqing Port –Chao Tian Gate on the 22nd of July. It was my first time to travel on a river. I was quite excited at that time. When the horn sounded my Yangtze River cruise began.

I stood on the sundeck to see the spectacular scenery along both sides. It was marvelous and quite special to me, having grown up in a northern city I had never seen such beautiful scenery. It was a little humid and muggy outside the cabin, but it is more natural and I like it. It made me believe that, yes, it's true, I'm on the Yangtze River, it is not just a dream.

The water scenery was great but muddier than I expected. Sitting on a chair on the deck is the most enjoyable thing I like to do on a boat, watching the scenery on the two sides back off, the misty sky, the steep cliff, the verdant trees, the different scenery on shore, the boats passing by ,all are fascinating to me .

The Cabin inside was much cooler than the sundeck. The broadcast informed us that it was lunch time. I went to the dining room, it was self-service meal, wow ~ the food was dainty and the waitresses and cooks were all polite and passionate. Both western dishes and Chinese food are offered, including dessert, fruit, ice-cream ~~ hmm, it was great!

Fengdu CIty

After a short rest, the ship arrived at Fengdu city, also named “Ghost City”. We disembarked to see the first attraction spot.

Frankly speaking, I did not have a lot of fun because the old stories did not attract me. Do ghosts exist? Who knows? Though I was still happy to see the temples just to see what the God of Hell looks like.

The Captain’s welcome party was held at 6 p.m. I did not attend the party because I was exhausted after climbing the ghost city which is on a small mountain. Dinner was plentiful and after dinner I went to the sundeck to feel the mild wind and enjoy my precious free time .

The Second Day of My Cruise

It was amazing when the boat was passing through the first gorge – Wu gorge. It was 6 a.m. when the broadcast informed the passengers that we would be passing through the Wu gorge, unfortunately I could not get up, not because I'm lazy but because I had a serious case of diarrhea which had started the previous evening. I had to stay in bed so I saw the Wu gorge through the window.
I could not recognize where the gorge was without an interpretor, what a pity, the scene outside was spectacular, but I did not have any strength, so I stayed in bed until noon, that is to say, I missed the other two famous gorges – Xiling gorge and Qutang gorge .

It was about 1 p.m. when we arrived at Badong. Shennong Stream is marvelous pure and green, it was the highlight of the whole trip. Though I did not feel very well, I still took a small boat to cruise the stream.

The water is extremely pure and green and I could see the rocks clearly laid on the bottom of the river. The guide told us the water is drinkable and I could not help myself to touch the water.
The water was so cool and mild, in such a quiet place, I felt like I was in a pure paradise. Natural and green are the two words I can think of to describe such a place. I was full of joy and happiness in my heart .
Passing through the five-step locks of the three gorge project took more than two hours,and it was marvelous and incredible. Our ship went down 20 meters in a few minutes, but you could hardly feel it, only seeing the drawdown of the water level can you believe it .

The End

The next morning, we went to Sandouping, the site of the China Dam Project. It is a man-made tourist spot where you can have a bird’s-eye-view from the top, so I took a lot of photographs there.

On the morning of July 25th, I took a bus from Yichang port to Wuhan city. The five hour bus trip may have been a little boring, but it gave me a chance to see the scenery of the two cities. Wuhan is an important transportation transfer point where I stayed just half a day. I didn’t explore anywhere in Wuhan except the Hankou train station where I caught my train back to Xi’an.

When I got home I had a chance to relax and remember all the beautiful scenery I had seen over the past three days. I was so happy that I went on the cruise and I would recommend an excursion on the Yangtse River to anyone who loves the water and nature as much as I do.