Down the Yangtze River (Part 1)

Down the Yangtze River - October 2004 (Part 1)

The timing was right. This would be our 5th trip to China. On previous trips we had checked off most of the top tier sights: Great Wall, Forbidden City, Qing Army Soldiers, Guilin and Li River cruise, Hong Kong, Shanghai, as well as Hangzhou, Suzhou, Hainan Island and Kaifeng. We were ready for the Yangtze River. Of course just getting on a regular cruise boat at Chongqing and getting off at Yichang was too easy. We wanted to blaze our own trail down the river following these goals:

1. Sleep onshore each night (Preferably in a room with a river view)
2. Cruise through each of the 3 gorges in daylight (preferably on a slow boat)
3. Avoid tourists (Chinese and Western) and tourist traps
4. Take a boat up or down Shennongxi
5. Get a good look at the Three Gorges Dam (“GezhouBa” in Chinese)

I posted the rest of Part I over at LiveJournal. Click here to continue reading.