First Day: Boarding the Victoria Sabrina
After our visit to QiKou Ancient Village and “ChongQing 1984 Performance” in the morning we went back to our hotel (River Four Seasons Hotel) to pick up our luggage and from there we e-hailed a taxis to harbour 11 (朝天门11码头) which was just 2.5 km away. At Harbour 11 we boarded our cruise ship, “Victoria Sabrina”. Boarding started at 5pm just before boarding we left our luggage at a designated place at the wharf, they would be loaded onto the ship by porters. We entered the ship and was directed to a dining hall to wait for registration.
Victoria Sabrina was one of the more modern boats under the” Victoria Cruise lines”. There were several cruise lines sailing the Yangtze River. Sailing down river from ChongQing to Yichang in 4 days/3nights and up river in 5 days/4nights. The trip itinerary offered by these cruise lines were similar. Their differences were the “comfort level” of their fleets.
A friend of ours had went on the “Yangtze Victoria Cruises” and was very happy with its “comfortableness and services”, so we too booked a cruise with Victoria Cruise. For each day of the week a different cruise ship from the cruise line would set sail from ChongQing, we departed from ChongQing on Wednesday so Victoria Sabrina was the ship. We had booked our cruise with “China Discovery” and the cost was ¥8246 for two persons for a “Superior two single bed Cabin with Balcony”. There were several ways to book the cruise and the pricing were the same, we used “China Discovery” because we were familiar with the agency.
Upon registration we had to pay the mandatory ¥150 per person for tip and services. We also signed up for two “optional attractions” and upgraded our dining experience. The upgraded dining experience allowed us to dine in a nicer restaurant with designated table and food would be served. In the not-upgraded dining it would be in a restaurant with free sitting arrangement.
We signed up for one optional attraction which was for the evening of day 2, it was a performance “Romance of the three Kingdoms”. We signed up for another optional, “Top of three Gorge Breathtaking view” which would take place in day 3. Each attraction costed ¥295 per person, though they were costly we came prepared and was ready to spend the money.
ShuangGui Mountain
ShuangGui Mountain faced the Yangtze River and was a national forest park known for its picturesque scenery, which integrated history, culture, and modern art. It was the favourite destination of historical famous Chinese poets and artists. The visit to ShuangGui Mountain was included in the cruise package. Some passengers went for an optional (paid) visit to FengDu Ghost City. We were not keen to visit a Ghost City as we were not unfamiliar to “Chinese” type of ghosts.
For those going onshore, to visit ShaungGui Mountain or FengDu Ghost City had to wake up early for breakfast and assembled on the departing deck by 8am. Our cruise ship docked and we walked on a long jetty path to shore.
Getting off the cruise ship to visit ShuangGui MountainAfter we reached the shore we were directed to a yellow trolley bus that took us to the entrance of the park of ShuangGui Mountain. At the entrance we were separated into two groups, one would be lead by a Chinese speaking guide and the other an English speaking guide.
Getting to the entrance of ShuangGui Mountain ParkSomehow we kept being “left behind by the guide” so we did not get much of her “explanation”. Shortly, we came upon a Su DongPo temple/garden. Our guide mentioned something along the line that the famous poet came and stayed around here for a while and etc etc.
Then we reached a pavilion called 良緣亭 which translated to Pavilion of Auspicious Unions. According to the “Golden Tablet” with a “long tongue ghost” beside it, the pavilion was built in remembrance of a couple, Chinese Painter Mr Qi Bai Shi and his 2nd wife, by their daughter.
The weather was not good, it was raining lightly so we and the tour guide were not too keen to stay out in the rain. When the rain got lighter we went up a temple of a deity.
The guide led us to a high view point and pointed out to several structures on the high hillside. There was a pagoda, some traditional Chinese building and a “yellow huge monolithic concrete building” which was an abandoned project.
Romance of the three KIngdom
The performance of “Romance of the three Kingdom” was an optional item ( cost ¥295 per person) on the 2nd evening of the cruise. This was a live-action musical and acrobatic performance, which was about the history and culture of the Three Kingdoms Period. The performance was staged at Three Gorges Harbor (Sanxia Gangwan) in Zhongxian County, Chongqing Municipality. For visitors on land they could travel by high speed train from ChongQing to Zhongxian Station and then taxis to Zhong City. For us who were on the cruise we sailed into the pier somewhere near the county and was transferred to the open air theatre by buses.
We had watched several “grand scale” open-air performances and most of them were “out-of-this-world” impressive. So we were easily “sold” on this performance.
The weather in the morning was rainy and the entire afternoon was misty. So we were lucky that by the evening the weather was clear. This was very crucial as the stage and seats were “open-air”. The stage was this gigantic land slightly flooded with a layer of water. The backdrop far behind was probably some hills/valleys of the three gorges which were too dark to see. The props on the stage were gigantic! there were five huge stone columns with carving and they even opened up during the performance!
The storyline of the performance was about General Guan Yu who was a loyal and righteous military general during the three Kingdoms period of China. The show started with warriors and horses charging! The burst of lights, music and water splashes were so dramatic and exciting. The war scene was stunning and realistic.
In front of the audience seats were the “battle ground” and just when we were focusing in front, suddenly the rolls of spectator seats opened up in the middle forming two sections. One section rotated clockwise and the other counter clockwise and the two sections ended up facing each other with an open space in between. They rotated again and soon the audience faced the back which brightened up into a palace setting. Performers came out from the different levels of the “palace” to dance and sing.
Part of the show had a fairy flying down… we certainly did not remember that as our understanding of the “three kingdoms”. Accuracy was not very important but the visual effect of the flying fairy was certainly very awesome.
The epic tale vividly presented the historical scenes with elaborate costumes and 3D holographic projections. A particular scene had a monstrous “giant” interacting with a soldier riding on a horse. The giant seemed so real and alive and we only had our rationale minds reminding us that this giant was a hologram.
After about 70 minutes the show ended. Though we had no idea of the “happening” in the storyline of the performance we were fine with it as the actions, songs, dances, 3D, laser effects had absolutely captivated us!
Day 3 Optional
Day 3 optionals was “White Emperor City” or “Top of the Three Gorges”. We signed up for “Top of the Three Gorges” as we would like a different view of the gorges, this time from the top, definitely high up above the “cruise” level. Unfortunately in the morning of the third day, we were told that both optional trips were cancelled as the weather was bad and going up to the viewing deck of the mountain would be a waste of time as the view would be covered in heavy mist and nothing could be seen. So sad!!!!
Shennv Stream
Shennv Stream was one of the highlights of the cruise. Visit to Shennv stream was done on the 3rd day afternoon when we were about three-quarters way into our journey.
Shennv Stream in Chinese was 神女溪 which meant “fairy stream” was located at the south of Wu Gorge about 20km from Wushan County. The stream stretched 30km. Shennv Stream got its name along with a famous peak in Wushan called Shennv Peak (神女峰). This peak was one of the famed Twelve Peaks in Wushan. According to folklore there was a celestial maiden who descended to this gorge to protect the local people from devastating flood. The celestial maiden later transformed into the peak to watch over the river forever.
After the Three Gorge Dam was built, the water levels of the Yangtze River and its branches (including Shennv stream) were all raised. So the once raging water became calm with deeper and narrower landscape. This changes on the streams made them a great place to drift down the river in a slow boat passing gorgeous steep green cliffs.
Beautiful Yangtze River sights
In the three days on the cruise we had on several occasions went up to the deck to view the Yangtze river. It was only in ChongQing City where both sides of the river were lined with tall skyscrapers. Once we were away from the bright city, both sides of the banks were short hills, cliffs, mountains etc.
Some parts of the river were very wide while other parts were not as wide. Yangtze River was the longest river in China and in Asia though it was the third longest in the world. It length was 6300km starting from its source in the Plateau of Tibet and ended in East China Sea.
Some Activities on Cruise
There was a number of activities on the boat, especially for those that did not leave the cruise ship for land visits.. There was a talk on traditional medicine in the afternoon, there were movies, there were also dancing performances.
We attended only a couple of the activities. When we were free we preferred to sit at our balcony and enjoy the Yangtze river view with a cup of tea.
Three gorges dam
On the 4th morning we reached the Three Gorges Dam. Before the year 2018, cruise ships would sail down the five steps lock to go downstream. After 2018 cruise ships were stopped from using the locks to reduce “ship jam/congestion” at the lock. We also understood that merchant ships till today continued to use the lock free of charge.
Our cruise had two plans for tourists to see the Three Gorge Dam”. The first was a land tour to the dam where we got to view the dam and the lock from the land, the 2nd plan was a boat tour that would sail downstream through the lock. Many people felt that going through the lock was a “MUST” experience we were not keen as we had several experience sailing through lock so we did not opted for the paid boat tour down the lock.
Immediately after an early breakfast on the 4th morning everybody had to check out. We left our luggages at the designated deck and left the cruise boat to transfer onto a bus that would bring us for the “Three Gorge Dam” land cruise. This tour was part of the tour package so no additional fee was charged. The Three Gorges Dam was situated at the upstream of Sandouping, Yichang, Hubei province, 38km away from the Gezhou Dam at the downstream. The dam had broken the world record for annual hydroelectric power production.
This dam was the world’s largest power producing facility and the world’s largest hydroelectric dam. The dam was built across the Yangtze River to control the amount of water flowing through. One of the main reasons for building the dam was to prevent flooding further downstream. Another reason was to generate electricity. The dam was designed to impact the environment as little as possible. Some artifacts were lost, or are no longer accessible.
At one of the high viewpoints we were able to see the lock. From afar we could see the ships queuing up and the lock in action. It was definitely more meaningful to view the lock and ships and the entire operation in a single view from the viewpoint.
After the land tour of the Three Gorges Dam ended about in the early afternoon, we were transferred to Yichang Station where our luggage were already waiting for us. We picked up our luggage and check into a nice hotel in Yichang central.
Our room on the Ship
Our room had two single beds with ensuite toilet, a settee and a television. Generally the space was a bit narrow but for only three nights it should be fine for us.
The toilet came with shower, wc and face-basin and the size was pretty “decent”. So far so good the room was clean and comfy.
We had our own private balcony that had two chairs and a round table. A private balcony was very important to us on a cruise ship as when we rested in our room, we would not felt so confined.
