4-Day Yangtze Winter Cruise Experience on Century Diamond

In early January of 2019, I had a chance to experience the Yangtze River Cruise downstream trip from Chongqing to Yichang on Century Diamond from 4th Jan to 7th January. After the cruise trip I understand why so many visitors come from all over the world to take the Yangtze Cruise trip. It is really worth to see.

Day 1: Take High Speed Train to Chongqing and Board the Cruise

I took high speed train from Chengdu to Chongqing North Railway Station in the late afternoon. The train ride lasts about 1.5 hours. Then I took the Metro to Xiaoshizi station where is near Hongya Cave. I was so impressed by the night view here and almost missed the ship. I walked towards Chaotianmen Port in the last 40 minutes and thank God a local Porter helped me to carry my luggage and leaded me directly to Pier No. 9 to board the ship.

I was the last person to board the cruise and get my room cabin on 3rd Deck with very efficient check in procedure. Then I went to the Bar for welcome Party.

Day 2 Enjoy Shore Excursion to Shibaozhao Pagoda

I didn’t go to the optional excursion to Fengdu Ghost City in the morning. Instead, I had a chance to watch other room cabins on the cruise fallowed by the staff. Then I have a better idea about each cabin’s size, decoration, location and would give the clients better recommendation based on different requirements. I enjoyed a cup of tea in the balcony, the views along the river was pretty although it was in winter time: warm sun shine shimmered on the quiet jasper-like river, the green mountain along the river reflected clearly in the water……

After lunch break, all passengers on the ship got off the ship to join the shore excursion to Shibaozhai Pagoda. The Shibaozhai Pagoda (石宝寨) is 12-story, 18th century temple built in Zhongxian County on the northern bank of Yangtze River, 278 kilometers away from Chongqing. It represents one of the gems of Chinese Architecture, an architectural delight. It was quite impressive to see a wooden pagoda built against the cliff stone and witness the ebb and flow of the Yangtze River….

I was so lucky to see the sunset over the top of Shibaozhai Pagoda.

Day 3 Enjoy Shore Excursion to Baidi Town and Shennv Stream

I got up early this morning and took the optional excursion to Baidi Town, also White Emperor City. It was foggy in the Yangtze River (very common in winter), but the view was still outstanding. Many visitors fly drones to catch the beauty of Kuimen Gate - the entrance of Qutang Gorge.

In the afternoon it was Shennv Stream visiting as in the cruise package. Our guide is a girl with high school knowledge but learnt English on herself due to the limited education facility in the remote mountain area along Yangtze River. Her sincere and simple expression about the history of boat tracker touched many people on our small boat. The View in Shennv Stream was also good despite the heavy mood brought by the boat tracker and the poverty condition in the remote mountain area in China.

In the evening I packed my large luggage to the front desk to consign the luggage to Yichang directly.

Day 4: Enjoy Shore Excursions to Ship Lift and Three Gorges Dam Site

I got up very early this morning to take a smaller boat to experience the ship lift. On the smaller ship across the Century Diamond, I finally got an overall view of the ship I was on.

The smaller boat was also quite comfortable, the lunge and lobby was good.

Personally I thought the ship lift the Three Gorges Dam Project are the highlight of the Yangtze River cruise tour. It’s such a complicated and powerful project over the great Yangtze River that had involved so much human and material resources, and organizing the Three Gorges Aboriginal Immigrants… I felt so proud as a Chinese when overview the project from Tanziling. Right now the electricity power generated in Three Gorges Dam has transferred to many eastern cities to support the industry and economy development. I couldn’t imagine how it is like now if there wasn’t the Dam Project over the past years. Would china develop so fast?

After the Dam visit, the shuttle bus took me to Yichang Three Gorges Terminal. Then I took a taxi to Yichang East Train Station for a train back to Chengdu. Thanks to low season, I was able to catch the 14:06 train and arrive in Chengdu earlier at night.

Echo

" Hi, I'm Echo at yangtze-river-cruises.com. Are you interested in my 4 Days Yangtze River Cruise from Chongqing to Yichang? Feel free to contact me, and I will be glad to tell you more stunning stories about the places I have visited. Or, if you want to customize a tour on your own, I'm always ready to help at any time. With my passion, knowledge and understanding of the essence of travel, I promise I will try my best to make the tour memorable and meaningful for you. "