Amazing Yangtze River Cruise Tour from Hong Kong

Welcome to Hong Kong! Upon arrival, you will be taken to the hotel and the tour guide will help you with check-in. Now you’re free to do anything you like, expecting a wonderful Yangtze River Cruise Tour.

Covering an area of 1,106.66 km2, Hong Kong is a highly prosperous international metropolis and free port. The city is divided into three parts, namely the Kowloon Peninsula, New Territories, Hong Kong Island. With the longest average lifespan in the world, it has a permanent population of about 7.48 million. As a special administrative region of China, the city is the third-largest global financial center, and it is hailed as the “oriental pearl” and a “shopping paradise”. Besides, it boasts various delicious foods such as pineapple bread, Hong Kong Wonton Noodles, Hong Kong-style milk tea, and egg puff. Among them, egg puff is a peculiar traditional street snack in Hong Kong. You may fall in love with it upon seeing the mouth-watering golden snack. It’s made of eggs, granulated sugar, flour powder, and milk. The puff smells like cake and feels surprisingly elastic when you take a bite of it.

After breakfast, you are scheduled to visit Wong Tai Sin Temple, one of the most famed temples in Hong Kong. Covering over 18,000 m2, the spectacular complex well embodies the traditional Chinese culture. Wong Tai Sin enshrined therein is believed to have miraculous healing ability and he is well-known for his mercy to patients. What’s more, he is deemed responsive to prayers made in the temple. More amazingly, it’s said that you may know all your fortunes in a year by  praying and drawing divination sticks at the temple. Especially around the Spring Festival each year, locals will be desperate to head to the temple, making endless lines outside the gate even before dawn to worship Wong Tai Sin. What a spectacular view!

Next, you will take a peak tram to explore Victoria Peak, a place with splendid landscapes, great shopping malls, and delicious foods. Dating back to 1888, the peak tram is the first funicular railway in Asia. It will run down the 1,365-meter long track, which will allow you to overlook Victoria Harbor. It rises from 28 to 396 meters above sea level, with the steepest slope reaching 27 degrees. At the end of the thrilling journey in eight minutes, Peak Tower will just be in front of you. In the bowl-shaped building, apart from various shops and amusement facilities, Hong Kong's Historical Adventure, Peak Explorer Motion Simulator, and the madam Tussald's waxwork museum are great highlights there. On the top floor is Sky Terrace 428. It delivers you a 360-degree view of Hong Kong and fabulous natural scenes beyond.

Later, you will leave for Repulse Bay, dubbed as the “first bay in the world”. Tucked away in the foothills, it is the most representative bay in Hong Kong. With restaurants, tea houses, and barbecues, the crescent-like bay provides a perfect bathing beach. Additionally, it’s also home to a popular high-grade residential quarter.

Behind the bay stands Tin Hau Temple. With three graphic statues in front of it, the small building is also surrounded by many stone tablets with blessings. It faces the sea, serving as a guardian of fishermen. It’s said that as the goddess in the sea, Tin Hau would appear on the sea to save people in trouble. Thus, the temple was built in honor of her and constant streams of visitors come here to pray for her blessings. Despite its small size, it’s very popular among locals and visitors both at home and abroad.

The last stop today is Stanley Market, an exotic place with the integration of Chinese and Western cultures. Long before it was a small village even with occasional sights of tigers. Now it has developed into a prosperous place with a growing number of luxury buildings. It is a favorable residential area for wealthy people. It also once served as the administrative center of Hong Kong Island. Now you are free to have a walk down the quaint streets. You may find yourself being obsessed with dazzling silk clothing, sportswear, and jeans. You can buy gorgeous plus-size clothes for yourself or your family as a gift. Meanwhile, there are a lot of bars and pubs, where you can appreciate the picturesque sceneries over a cup of beer or wine.

When you have finished shopping, the guide will send you back to the hotel for a rest.

Option: At night, you can also take a stroll down the Lan Kwai Fong, the largest bar street in Hong Kong. It’s a place of pastimes for many local workers after work. Meanwhile, it’s like a great magnet with the constant influx of visitors from all over the world, mainly speaking English. There are also many nice restaurants and pubs that are open until midnight, some even all night.

Victoria Peak

Repulse Bay

After breakfast, you will be taken to take the estimated flight to Chongqing. China river boat cruises will start in this picturesque city. Upon your arrival, the local tour guide will pick you up and take you to board the Three Gorge cruise ship. After helping you with check-in, the guide is supposed to get off. The boarding time ends at 20:30, and the cruise ship sets off at 21:00. So, it’s time to enjoy yourself on board. There are many facilities to have fun together with your family, such as the chess rooms, cybercafe, cinema, and kids’ club. Of course, attentive servers are always available to help you. Tonight, you will have a good dream in the well-equipped room.

Located in the southwestern part of China, Chongqing serves as an economic, financial, and shipping center in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River (the longest river in China). As a well-known historical and cultural city, it is also dubbed as a hotpot city. Additionally, amid various delicious delicacies, Chongqing Street Noodles and Bon Bon Chicken are the two most popular. Interestingly, Bon Bon Chicken is made with a short club beating repeatedly on it, consequently making it soft and tender. You can have a try!

This morning, after a long enough sleep, you can go to have a hearty buffet breakfast. Otherwise, you may also first choose to participate in doing Tai Chi (a type of Chinese physical exercise in which you make slow, controlled movements) exercise. After that, you can do some reading over a cup of coffee. With sea breezes blowing across your face, you may feel fully relaxed. hearing the sound of water lapping against the ship, you will fall in love with everything in your sight.

Today, you are blessed to have a shore excursion to Shibaozhai Pagoda. Known as a “pearl in the river”, the pagoda snuggles up to a towering boulder. It is said that the boulder was a colorful stone left by Nvwa, a goddess in Chinese mythology. Legend has it that she successfully patched the sky with colorful stones she made after it was broken by great havoc caused by monsters. The 12-storey pagoda is made of wood as a whole. With a height of 45 meters, it is divided into three parts of the gate, the body, and the attic. It looks like a huge bonsai in distance. Being four hundred years old, the marvelous building will amaze you with layers of flying-like eaves. Inside are magnificent halls, showrooms housing cultural relics, and mysterious caves to be explored.

If you like, you can also pay extra to go on an expedition to Fengdu "Ghost City” or any other scenic area on the itinerary you have ordered. With a history of about two thousand years, Fengdu "Ghost City” is a very popular tourist destination among visitors on the Yangtze River cruise ship. It’s famous for the thrilling buildings and structures built based on Chinese myths about the land of darkness. Legend has it that when people die, their souls will float into Fengdu "Ghost City” for judgment according to their behaviors in the mortal world. Good people’s souls will go to heaven while bad ones will be doomed to be punished in the land of darkness. Meanwhile, it’s also deemed as a treasury with the combination of Confucian, Taoist, and Buddhist culture.

In the evening, there is a welcoming cocktail held by the captain. Apart from high-quality wines, you will be provided with a wide variety of luscious foods like desserts, fruits, and snacks. The festive atmosphere will allow you experience Chinese-style joy and happiness.

Shibaozhai Pagoda

Fengdu "Ghost City”

After the buffet breakfast, you can continue practicing Tai Chi. Hopefully, you will be able to teach your friends to do this well-known exercise.

Today, you will appreciate the jaw-dropping landscapes of the Three Gorges. First, you will pass by Qutang Gorge. Although it’s the shortest one among the Three Gorges, Qutang Gorge is famous for its “majesty”. Its western entrance with vertiginous cliffs on both sides is less than one hundred meters wide, just like a huge gateway. Featuring turbulent currents, it can be as narrow as 50 meters. Along this 8,000-meter-long gorge, there are many marvelous scenic areas like White Emperor City, which is your nest stop.

Hailed as a “poetry city”, White Emperor City attracted many great ancient Chinese poets such as Li Bai, Du Fu, and Bia Jvyi. They composed a large number of excellent poems due to the inspiration of its beautiful landscapes. The temple there has buildings going back to the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1636-1912) dynasties. It’s mainly dedicated to heroes such as Liu Bei, Zhuge Liang, and Guanyu in the period of the Three Kingdoms (220-265). You may hear some interesting stories about these figures from the tour guide that happened in this legendary place.

Next, you will reach Wu Gorge, the most well-known for its gorgeous landscapes. With a length of 46,000 meters, the gorge boasts deep valleys, fantastic peaks, layers of mountains, and zigzag streams. Amidst mist, you will feel like sailing in a winding gallery.

Goddess Stream in the gorge will allow you to experience the primitive natural beauty. Being 15 km long, the famous stream is both shallow and narrow. You will be amazed by the five peaks of Wushan mountains standing high along both sides of the stream. Surely, the breathtaking scenery will be a pleasant memory in your life.

At lunchtime, you will enjoy a hearty buffet of all kinds of foods and drinks onboard.

Before long, Xiling Gorge will be in your sight. With a length of 66,000 meters, it’s the longest one of the Three Gorges. It’s a gorge of gorges, featuring numerous shoals and torrent currents. What’s more, it also boasts about 174 fascinating karst caves embedded into those vertiginous cliffs like gems.

After the impressive journey across the Three Gorges, the captain is waiting for your coming back to have a great dinner in the evening. Meanwhile, you will watch wonderful performances by crew members, such as cross talks, costume shows, and lion dance.

Three Gorges

Goddess Stream

After buffet breakfast, let us head to the last stop of the Yangtze River Cruise Tour.

Being 185 meters high and 2,335 meters long, the Three Gorges Dam Site is the largest hydrogen power station in the world. The dam site is a huge project in China with cutting-edge technologies and advanced equipment from big brands, including VOITH, GE, SIEMENS, and ALSTOM. It is multifunctional, especially playing an important role in flood control, power generation, and shipping. When you reach there, you may experience the ship lift (with a surcharge). As the world’s largest ship lift with advanced technology, it has a maximum lifting weight of over 15,500 tons, and it can lift a ship to 113 meters high. Reaching the top of the dam, you will be fascinated by the magnificent views of the great Three Gorges.

As the exploration ends, you will be driven to Yichang Three Gorges Center Cruise Terminal where the tour guide is waiting for you. Then you will be taken to the airport. Have a nice trip back to your home!

Three Gorges Dam Site

Yichang Three Gorges Center Cruise Terminal

Author: Tabitha