Yangtze Cruise Tour Itinerery form Chongqing to Shanghai

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7-Day Chongqing to Shanghai Yangtze Cruise Tour

Tour Code: YCT-3

The Three Gorges, or Yangtze Gorges region is a scenic area along the Yangtze River (Chang Jiang) in the People's Republic of China, which is classified as a AAAAA scenic area by the China National Tourism Administration.

Day 1 Chongqing Departure
10:00am depart Chongqing. Afternoon shore excursion to Fengdu, visiting either the "Ghost City" on Mingshan Hill, or the new relocation village for families who have moved as a result of the Yangtze's rising waters brought about by the Three Gorges Dam. (L, D)

Chongqing: Chongqing is a major city in Southwest China and one of the five national central cities in the People's Republic of China (PRC). Administratively, it is one of the PRC's four direct-controlled municipalities (the other three are Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin), and the only such municipality in inland China.

Fengdu Ghost Town: The first stop of the Yangzte Cruise down-river from Chongqing is the Ghost City in the County of Fengdu. It is said that the Ghost City is where people checked in after their death. Anyone who wants to experience an atmosphere that awakens thoughts about the prospect of life after death should not miss it, as they will not be disappointed.

When the river flows out of Qutang Gorge and passes the broad valley of the Daning River, it enters the scenic Wuxia Gorge. Wuxia Gorge is 45 kilometers long, extending west to east from the mouth of the Danning River in Wushan County to Guandukou in Badong County, Hubei Province.

Day 2 Small Three Gorges
Sailing through Qutang Gorge and Wu Gorge. Excursion to Daning River Small Gorges or Shennong Stream. Evening sail through Three Gorges Dam Ship locks(B, L, D)

Qutang Gorge is the shortest and most spectacular of China's Three Gorges. Immediately downstream of the ancient village Baidicheng the Yangtze River passes between the Chijia Mountain on the north and the Baiyan Mountain on the south. The point where the river passes between these mountains is called the Kuimen Gate and it is the entrance to the Qutang Gorge - the first of the three Yangtze gorges.

Wu Gorge, sometimes called Great Gorge, is the second gorge of the Three Gorges system on the Yangtze River, People's Republic of China. Formed by the Wu River, it stretches 45 kilometres (28 mi) from Wushan to Guandukou, and is located downstream of Qutang Gorge and upstream of Xiling Gorge. The gorge straddles the boundary between Wushan County of Chongqing Municipality (formerly part of Sichuan Province) and Badong County, Hubei Province.

Xiling Gorge is mainly composed of smaller gorges and dangerous shoals. From west to east, there are four gorges - The Military Books and Precious Sword Gorge (Bingshu Baojian Xia), The Ox and Horse Lungs Gorge (Niugan Mafei Xia), Kongling Gorge, and Lantern Shadow Gorge (Dengying Xia) - and some dangerous shoals such as Qingtan, Xietan, Xintan and Konglingtan. In the past, a great number of boats have sunk here, striking the reefs in the rapid flow of water. Thanks to the Gezhouba Water Conservancy Project, the water now has been calmed to some extent.

The Small Three Gorges is one of the exciting and famous stops in the Yangtze Three Gorges. It is often called the "highlight" of the Yanzgte cruise, even the whole China trip. It always refers to the three separate valleys of the Daning River, namely "Dragon-Gate Gorge", "Misty Gorge" and "Dicui (Emerald) Gorge". These three gorges, with an area of 160 hectares of forest, lie on the lower reaches of Daning, extending from the entrance of the Dragon-Gate Gorge in the South to Tujiaba in the North for 50 km.

Day 3 Three Gorges Dam
Morning visit to Three Gorges Dam site; Reboard ship at Yichang dock; Sailing through Xiling Gorge (B, L, D)

The Three Gorges Dam is a hydroelectric dam that spans the Yangtze River by the town of Sandouping, located in Yiling District, Yichang, Hubei province, China. The Three Gorges Dam is the world's largest power station in terms of installed capacity (22,500 MW) but is second to Itaipu Dam with regard to the generation of electricity annually.

Xiling Gorge: The longest among the Yangtze Gorges, Xiling Gorge stretches west to east for 76 kilometers from the mouth of the Xiangxi River at Zigui in Hubei Province to Nanjing Pass near the city of Yichang in Hubei. It is divided into two sections -- the west section consists of the Military Book and Sword Gorge, the Bull's Liver and Horse's Lung Gorge and Kongling Play Gorge, while the east section features the Shadow Play Gorge and the Yellow Cat Gorge, otherwise known as Yichang Gorge.

Except for a ship lift, the dam project was completed and fully functional as of July 4, 2012, when the last of the main turbines in the underground plant began production. Each main turbine has a capacity of 700 MW. The dam body was completed in 2006. Coupling the dam's 32 main turbines with two smaller generators (50 MW each) to power the plant itself, the total electric generating capacity of the dam is 22,500 MW.

Day 4 Wuhan City
Afternoon shore excursion of Wuhan, visiting the Hubei Provincial Museum (B, L, D)

Wuhan City is the capital of Hubei province, People's Republic of China, and is the most populous city in Central China. It lies at the east of the Jianghan Plain, and the intersection of the middle reaches of the Yangtze and Han rivers. Arising out of the conglomeration of three cities, Wuchang, Hankou, and Hanyang, Wuhan is known as "the nine provinces' leading thoroughfare"; it is a major transportation hub, with dozens of railways, roads and expressways passing through the city. Because of its key role in domestic transportation, Wuhan was sometimes referred to as the "Chicago of China."

Hubei Provincial Museum is one of the best-known museums in China, with a large amount of State-level historic and cultural relics. Established in 1953, the museum has a collection of over 200,000 ancient cultural relics, including the Sword of Goujian, an ancient set of bronze bells (Bianzhong) and extensive artifacts from the Tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng and the tombs at Baoshan. The particular importance of several of the archaeological items in the museum's collection has been recognized by the national government by including them into the short list of Chinese cultural relics forbidden to be exhibited abroad.

Huangshan, known as 'the loveliest mountain of China', was acclaimed through art and literature during a good part of Chinese history (e.g. the Shanshui 'mountain and water' style of the mid-16th century). Today it holds the same fascination for visitors, poets, painters and photographers who come on pilgrimage to the site, which is renowned for its magnificent scenery made up of many granite peaks and rocks emerging out of a sea of clouds.

Day 5 Mount Huanshan
Full-day shore excursion to Huangshan ("Yellow Mountain"). (Jiuhuanshan or "Mountain of the Nine Lotuses" may be substituted if weather or road conditions do not permit a visit to Huangshan.) (B, L, D)

Huangshan is the mountain best renowned for its scenery in China, and has an interesting but complex geological history. It features numerous imposing peaks, whose formation dates back some 100 million years to the Mesozoic era, when the ancient Yangtse Sea disappeared as a result of crustal movements and subsequent uplift. The geology and geomorphology of the region is undoubtedly of great interest; of particular note are the features resulting from glaciation, the folds and faults which have resulted from tectonic activity and the high altitude karst features including calcareous tufa shoals, waterfalls and stepped lakes.

Day 6 Nanjing City
Half day tour of Nanjing including Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum and a Qing Dynasty style Bazaar surrounding a Confucian Temple; 9:00 pm Leave Nanjing for Shanghai (B, L, D)

Dr. Sun was born in Guangdong province of China on 12 November 1866, and died in 1925 in Beijing, China. On 23 April 1929, the Chinese government appointed He Yingqin to be in charge of laying Dr. Sun to rest. On 26 May, the coffin departed from Beijing, and on 28 May, it arrived in Nanjing. On 1 June 1929, Dr. Sun was buried there. Sun, considered to be the "Father of Modern China" both in mainland China and in Taiwan, fought against the imperial Qing government and after the 1911 revolution ended the monarchy and founded the Republic of China.

Nanjing is the capital of Jiangsu province in eastern China and has a prominent place in Chinese history and culture, having been the capital of China on several occasions. Its present name means "Southern Capital" and was widely romanized as Nankin and Nanking until the Pinyin language reform, after which Nanjing was gradually adopted as the standard spelling of the city's name in most languages that use the Roman alphabet.

Dr. Sun Yat-sen's Mausoleum is situated at the foot of the second peak of Mount Zijin (Purple Mountain) in Nanjing, China. Construction of the tomb started in January 1926 and was finished in spring of 1929. The architect was Lu Yanzhi, who died shortly after it was finished. It is classified as a AAAAA scenic area by the China National Tourism Administration.

Day 7 Shanghai
8:00 am arrive Shanghai (B)

Shanghai is the largest city by population in the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the largest city proper by population in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities of the PRC, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010. It is a global city, with influence in commerce, culture, finance, media, fashion, technology, and transport. It is a major financial center and the busiest container port in the world.

Itineraries and times are subject to change according to river conditions. Included meals as noted in above itinerary: (B) = Breakfast (L) = Lunch (D) = Dinner

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