Yangtze River Cruise Preview

Before offering the Yangtze River Cruise tour, Tom and Judy headed East to set sail on the lazy waters of the Yangtze and visit the metropolitan cities of Beijing and Shanghai.  Here is a write up of their experience.

Shanghai

Our flights were on time and we arrived in Shanghai early evening. Shanghai Pudong International Airport is new and efficient. Immigration and Customs moved quickly. Our Teacher Treks Guide greeted us warmly. We were transferred to our Shanghai five star, Huo Ting Hotel and Towers. The hotel is located in the commercial section of Shanghai, and has a local convenience store adjacent. This is convenient for your purchases of additional water, soft drinks and beer. The hotel room was very clean and well maintained. It was of ample size and contained five-star hotel amenities. The window overlooked a confluence of highways and commercial properties. The lights and the glitter reminded us faintly of Las Vegas.

Sunday morning we enjoyed our buffet breakfast; the selection and presentation were impressive. Eggs cooked to order highlight the American style amenities. Since it was just the two of us we left a little later to begin our Shanghai tour. The tour consisted of the Bund (waterfront of the Yangtze River), Art Museum, Temple and other sights. Shanghai is the juxtaposition of old and new. Architectures from late 19th century and early 20th century exist with ultra modern construction. It seems to harmonize quite well. Many buildings reflect European influences when western powers maintained concessions in Shanghai. Perhaps you recall the movie "Sand Pebbles" with Steve McQueen. It attempted to portray the American presence early in the 20th century. I am not sure of the movie’s historical accuracy but it does provide a context for a visit to Shanghai and indeed the Yangtze River Cruise. We had a very nice Cantonese lunch. The food was somewhat westernized for our pallets but quite good. Since we have visited Shanghai before we only allowed one day to see the city. We wished we had added a day to again visit Zhouzhuang, the Venice of China. Our summer tour will include this destination with canals, gondolas and a lunch featuring baby pork shoulder. It is delicious. We ended our day with a visit to a Shanghai silk carpet factory and the Chinese Market (a bargain for clothing, watches, pocketbooks, and more).

Wuhan

Monday morning after our buffet breakfast at the hotel we departed for the airport. Our destination was Wuhan, our departure point for the upstream cruise on the Yangtze. Transiting the airport was straightforward and smooth. Passport identification and tickets, (provided in China), are all that is required. The flight was on time, about two hours duration. The A320 Airbus on China Eastern Airlines was clean, comfortable, and quite familiar to us. Food and beverage service provided and was quite good. In our opinion, it is better than all US domestic tourist class flight services we have encountered in recent years. Transiting the airport in Wuhan was also simple and straightforward. We gathered our luggage and our Teacher Treks Guide greeted us upon arrival. We took a short tour of the city. Wuhan is an industrial city; construction is everywhere and air pollution quite high. Our drop off location was about 1/2 mile from the ship-boarding ramp. Baggage handling from the drop off point to the ship's boarding ramp was difficult. This was primarily due to construction. We expect it to improve but we are making arrangements for baggage transfer directly from the airport in Wuhan to your assigned cabin aboard our cruise ship. This highlights one of our stronger suggestions: "pack light and be prepared to porter you own luggage".

Yangtze River

Boarding the Victoria Cruise Line "EMPRESS" late afternoon we were greeted by our Cruise Director, Tim Powell. We certainly hope we get him for our summer tour. He was attentive and quite knowledgeable throughout our cruise. He assured us that all Victoria Cruise Directors are equally competent and attentive. We were ushered to our cabin. It is small, by hotel standards, clean and laid out to provide maximum space. Storage space was ample with a hanging closet, draws and luggage storage under the berths. The clear view out the sliding glass door was a welcome sight day and night. A sitting area with two chairs on deck outside our cabin added to the charm of this river cruises. Both beds were down and rather comfortable. We had a standard bathroom with all amenities necessary for comfort. All staterooms are the same except for junior suites and full suites. Both may be available at significant increase in cost. One bottle of drinking water per person per day was provided free of charge. Hot water for tea or coffee was provided several times each day. One housekeeping staff person was assigned to each deck. These people accommodated our in-room requests.

All meals are in the dining room on the first deck. One sitting accommodates all the passengers. Dress was casual and informal. Suit jackets for gentlemen are not required. The Captains reception was casual, dressy, long trousers and collar shirts for gentlemen. Ties are strictly at your pleasure. Breakfast and lunch are served buffet style with dinner a table service event. Evening dinners were usually Chinese; breakfast and lunch are western style with several Chinese cuisine selections. In general the food was good and certainly plentiful.

The 4th deck of the ship has the lounge, beauty salon, massage/ fitness area, and a game room. There was a meeting room aft with outside deck space both forward and aft. Deck 5 was completely open, with chairs and viewing areas. During the voyage demonstrations, lectures, and events are conducted in this area. The vessel has a Chinese Doctor aboard. We understand he practices both Chinese and western medicine. The services are not free but the cost seems to be reasonable.

We departed Wuhan at exactly 7:00pm (19:00), the lights of the city were beautiful and the fragrances of China enhanced the wonder we experienced. We enjoyed a cocktail in the lounge and had our first meal aboard. Drink prices are comparable to US prices. If you enjoy more than a few drinks, you may wish to purchase at duty free and bring your own libations aboard.

The next morning, as with every morning, early coffee (6:00 am) and light snacks were available on the 4th deck. The ship’s Doctor led the faithful in Tai Chi at 6:30 am on the top deck. The breakfast buffet began at 8:00 am. Shore excursions began after breakfast and are scheduled and posted the evening before. Each cabin was provided a copy of the schedule.

Our first excursion was Yuelang. We visited the tower on Dongting Lake. Many historical artifacts are in this area including a poem written by Chairman Mao. Dongting Lake is famous for the silver needle tea, grown only on an island in the lake. The tea leaves rise and fall three times before it is consumed, less the essence is missed, more and the spirit is lost. We returned to the ship for lunch. After lunch we attended lectures on fresh water pearls and the history of the Yangtze River.

This evening was the Captain’s Welcome Reception. Champagne and appetizers were in abundance. After dinner in the 4th deck lounge our crew-modeled fashion from the Qin (CHIANG) dynasty. Following our fashion show the DJ played tunes to please a wide selection of tastes. The music lasted well into the early morning.

The next day, after breakfast, the Ship’s Doctor, Dr. Hu, demonstrated Chinese acupuncture. He demonstrated additional Chinese treatments for minor ailments. Volunteers from the audience were used as his subjects. A little later Fred Hu, no relation to the doctor, a kite master flew a 30-foot dragon kite from the top deck.

Late morning we passed through Gezhouba Dam lock. This dam is about 1/3rd the size of the, "under construction" Three Gorges Dam. We bought lottery tickets predicting the exact time the lock’s front gate will open and allow the ship to continue upstream. You must predict hour, minute, and second. The winner is announced at dinner on the final evening. The winner splits the lottery pot 50/50 with the ship crews' fund. For our part we made several guesses and actually came within 26 seconds of the exact time. It's all in fun and quite fascinating.

We entered Ziling Gorge, the longest and most treacherous of the gorges. Many places along the river are quite narrow and river control stations establish priorities. Cruise boats have a high priority on the river; however, as in most of the world, downstream traffic has priority over upstream traffic. The views were beautiful even with rain and today's fog.

We arrive at the Three Gorges Dam Site. We had the opportunity to see first hand the mammoth construction project and scope of the engineering challenges. Our local guide and the ships' crew were full of fascinating information and statistics. By some estimates over 3 million people will be relocated. Many quote 1.5 million. I am not sure the final count will be known until completion. Whole cities, towns, villages and farms will be submerged behind this dam. Imagine having roots that go back hundreds, perhaps thousand of years submerged forever. Cemeteries, temples, historical, religious, and family sites disappear forever. The Chinese are sad but also recognize the need for change. Many view the project with excitement at the economic and social opportunities. From our observations and conversations, the young are far more optimistic than the older folks. Such is usually the way of the world. We returned to our ship and transited the temporary ships’ lock at the dam site.

We continued upstream through Liling Gorge to Badong where we anchored and spent the night before entering Wu Gorge. Presently, passenger ships traveling downstream must disembark passengers and be bussed to the other side of the locks to return to their ship. Fortunately we were traveling upstream. Thursday morning during breakfast we entered Wu Gorge. The scenery was spectacular, even thru the rain and fog, (remember it's November, early winter here); our shore excursion on this day was by motorized sampan up the Daling River through the Lesser Gorges.

The ship docked at a city called Wushan. We traveled by bus from the dock to the entrance to the lesser gorges and the mouth of the Daling River. Wushan is a stark example of major city relocation problems. Many of the abandoned homes have already been destroyed. The new city is well above the high water mark for the reservoir resulting from the Three Gorges Dam project. The bus ride was a short distance, but the road had not been repaired for some time so the trip was slow about 30 minutes. This was our favorite day, the weather improved slightly, the views up close were beautiful and the sampan crew very helpful. We returned to the cruise ship for a late lunch, and began transiting Qutang Gorge, the shortest of the three gorges. We saw the Dax Village, site of 5,000-6,000 year old archeological ruins.

Later that afternoon we viewed a demonstration of Chinese painting. After dinner the crew performed in a cabaret show and invited our participation. Friday our last full day aboard, we toured the ship’s Navigation Bridge and attended a lecture on the entire Three Gorges Dam Project. Our shore excursion was changed because of downstream river traffic delays. We were scheduled to visit Fengdu but will not arrive until dark. We visited, instead, the largest tower in China, completely constructed of wood pegs, (no iron nails). Judy elected to shop the myriad of local vendors in the area. I think she was born to shop. The crafts were inexpensive if you bargained well. We returned to the ship to enjoy our last views of the Yangtze River and its wonders. Photographs in traditional Chinese royal costumes were available for royal guests.

On our last night on board we attended the Captain’s Farewell Banquet. Again dress was casual, and the evening conviviality was relaxing. By the way, with a guess on the lottery within 27 seconds we still lost to folks who were 13 seconds off the exact time. Close but no cigar! We packed early the next morning. Luggage had to be outside the room before we had breakfast. The crew carried our luggage to the boarding ramp. We docked at Chongqing on time.

We carefully checked out safety and motion concerns while aboard the cruise ship. The river was quite calm during our upstream cruise. Except for the scenery passing by the windows we experienced very little motion sensation. Noise and vibration were virtually non-existent. If you are able to fly to China, the cruise boat will be no problem. Each cabin is equipped with two personal flotation devices (life jackets). The vessel has life rafts and lifeboats sufficient to accommodate all passengers and crew. The Yangtze River is not very wide and I was informed that the Captain would beach the vessel on a riverbank in the unlikely event of a problem. The river seems to be quite narrow even at the widest point (I observed about one mile).

Chongqing

Our local guide greeted us aboard and arranged for our luggage to be transported to the waiting vehicle. Chongqing is a former capital of China and is quite large. We toured the city, visiting the Stillwell Museum. The facility is undergoing extensive renovation and restoration. We expect it to be finished for our visit this summer. The highlight of our city tour was a visit to the local zoo. Our local guide told us he has a close relationship with the resident pandas. All three pandas were out of sight in their house. He called and behold one appeared. The panda came over to the rail and posed. I was impressed. I think the guide was equally impressed. One of the pandas recently had a new baby. They expect the baby to be on display early in July. We saw the lesser panda and were told pandas are members of the raccoon family. My knowledge of animals is limited to "fish have scales, birds have feathers, and cats have fur" so I accepted the information as fact. Lunch was Sichuan with mild spices. Selection was good and service excellent.

Xian

Late that afternoon we flew to Xian. Again airport transiting was straightforward. Passport and tickets are all that is necessary. Security was reasonable and quick. The aircraft was western manufactured Airbus A320. Service was pleasant, on schedule, aircraft clean and for airplane fare the food is ok. We arrived in Xian and were met at the airport by our local guide. Our guide took us on a short city tour as we headed for our hotel, the New World Grand Hotel. It is located inside the walled portion of Xian. (Chinese cities were historically all surrounded by walls). Very few complete walls exist around the larger cities today. Xian is a notable exception. Sunday we departed for the museum at the archeological site where the Terra Cotta Warriors were discovered in the 1970's. During our visit to the museum photography was allowed. We took several photos. Our local guide was enthusiastic and knowledgeable. She was from Xian and quite proud of the region, city and her country. The Circle Vision-Rama projection was helpful in explaining the history behind the site and its modern rediscovery. We had lunch at the museum. The dining experience was pleasant. The specialty of the house is delicious home-made noodles.

Beijing

Later that afternoon we flew to Beijing. The in-country flight was comfortable, on-time and quite pleasant. Upon arrival in Beijing we were greeted by our local guide and transported to our hotel, the Jinglun. Since we have been to Beijing many times we declined to see the local sights and concentrated on shopping. Judy was in her glory and Tom enjoyed Pe'jdo and Jambalaya at the Mexican Wave, one of our favorite kick back spots in Beijing. During our summer tour we will visit the Great Wall, Ming Tombs, Forbidden City, and the Summer Palace. We departed Beijing for the USA on Wednesday, looking forward to our return.