Yangtze River Cruise Tour with Zhangjiajie

Dear friends, welcome to China, and today the beautiful mountain city - Chongqing will be your first destination. As a mega-city, Chongqing is one of the most populous cities in the world. Enjoying an adventurous location, it is an international comprehensive transportation hub in southwestern China, as well as the shipping center of the upper-middle reaches of the Yangtze River. Besides, Chongqing is also a hot spring city in China. With mountains and rivers all around, the city is famous for its hot springs that are rich in minerals including lithium and strontium. Enjoying a hot spring will do good for your health. Besides, the hot&spicy delicacy - hot pot is highly recommended for you. After arrival, you will meet the guide waiting for you at the airport. Then, you will be driven to the hotel and be helped to check in. You can walk around or take a good rest in your hotel room.

This morning, we will start our journey at Ciqikou Ancient Town, which is a must-visit to find out the glamour of Chongqing. Today, Ciqikou has become a popular and famous tourist destination and lots of visitors from all over the world come here to spend their holidays. Walking on the streets here, you will find many ancient buildings, which are built with the style of buildings in Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1636-1912) dynasties. Ciqikou Ancient Town is also famous for its temples, including Baolun Temple, Yunding Temple and Wenchang Temple. Here, I’d like to share with you things about the Baolun Temple. There is a legend that Emperor Jianwen in the Ming Dynasty ran away from the imperial palace and wandered here and there because of the War of Jingnan (a war for usurping the throne) launched by the later Emperor Yongle. It is said Emperor Jianwen had become a monk in Baolun Temple and did lots of good things to help people pull through after constant wars. What he did was highly praised by the people. Since then, the Baolun Temple became more and more famous for this emperor. Besides, I must introduce the mouth-watering snacks to you! Mahua (fried dough twist) is so delicious that you cannot miss it! With different flavors, Mahua is a perfect choice for travelers. You can buy some for your friends in your hometown, and I believe it will be a surprise for them!

After lunch, we will visit the Chongqing Zoo, which covers an area of 435,000 square meters. It is a zoo integrating, animal protection, scientific research and entertainment. There are over 1200 animals, among which the rare animals are giant pandas, Rhinopithecus, cassowaries, etc. When you visit here, giant pandas - the celebrities with high popularity in this zoo - are so lovely that you cannot miss them. There are 18 pandas in the zoo in total. They are so adorable when their chubby bodies climbing from this tree to another! In 2019, pandas “Lan Xiang” and “Mang Zai” gave birth to male twins and female twins respectively. They are named “shuang shuang”, “chong chong”, “xi xi” and “qing qing”, with a meaning of happiness in Chinese. When they play together, it will be a challenge for visitors to identify them. Try to find and distinguish the 4 cute pandas! 

Next, we will explore the Hongya Cave located in the waterfront area in Chongqing where the Yangtze River and Jialing River meet. It is a tourist destination combining sightseeing and entertainment. It covers an area of about 46,000 square meters. The Hongya Cave area is featured by Diaojiao House (a kind of stilted house) and commercial streets with Chinese-style architectures. When you come here, you can appreciate the classic Chinese buildings, wander around in the old streets, experience the Chongqing culture, taste the spicy hot pot, admire the astounding scenery of the confluence of the Yangtze River and the Jialing River. Here, I’d like to recommend the food street to you particularly! Extending around 100 meters, it is a paradise of Chongqing delicacies. Along the riverside, you may see chefs showing the process of food-cooking, for example, cooking glutinous rice cake and making peanut brittle. While along the other side, there are crowded snack bars, where you will have a chance to taste the most popular Chongqing snacks, such as dandan noodles, spicy chicken with chilies, chicken giblets, and boiled duck-blood curd with Chongqing flavor. I believe, the hot&spicy Chongqing cuisine in Hongya Cave will impress you a lot!

After that, you will be transferred to the wharf. Then, you will enjoy a 2-day wonderful Yangtze River Cruise.

Hongya Cave

Ciqikou Ancient Town

After a buffet breakfast, it is a good idea for you to learn Taichi from Taichi master. Doing Taichi and enjoying the beautiful Yangtze River scenery will make you energetic and refreshing.

Today, you will have a shore excursion to the Ghost City of Fengdu, which originates from the Han Dynasty (202BC-220AD). It is a famous sightseeing destination for travelers who take a Yangtze River Cruise. The popular attractions in the Ghost City are Naihe bridge, Hengha Temple, Baoen Temple, Caishen Temple and others, and each of them conveys the concept of praising virtue and punishing vice. Here, I will introduce the Caishen Temple. In this temple, there are statues of Bi Gan and Zhao Gongming. Bi Gan, the uncle of Emperor Dixin, who is the last emperor in the Shang Dynasty (1600BC-1046BC), is loyal and principled. He cannot stand Dixin’s excessive indulgence in the beauty and tyrannical behavior, so he risked his life to make admonition frankly several times. However, Dixin turned a deaf ear to Bi Gan’s words. One day, Su Daji (Dixin’s favorite concubine) told Dixin that she suffered heart disease, and only Bi Gan’s heart could save her life. Then, this muddle-headed emperor ordered Bi Gan to take out his heart as the medicine for Daji’s disease. Finally, Bi Gan died for losing his heart. Later, people built the Caishen Temple to commemorate Bi Gan. Would you like to know the story of Zhao Gongming, the other owner of the Caishen Temple? Please ask your guide while visiting.

Optional activity:

This afternoon, if you are interested, you can pay a visit to Shibaozhai Pagoda. Since its opening to the public in 1979, the Shibao Pagoda attracts about 220,000 people from across the world yearly. The Shibao Pagoda was only a precipitous mountain in ancient times, and people built a temple at the top of it by climbing the iron chain. In the middle-time of the Ming Dynasty, local personages asked for skillful workers to make ways up to the mountain instead of climbing the chain. After that, a 9-floor pavilion was built. Later, an added 3-floor tower was built in 1956. Since then, the 12-floor Shibao Pagoda formed. Now it has become an ideal spot for tourists to have a 360° bird’s-eye view of the Yangtze River.

At night, there will be a captain welcoming party for you. I wish you could enjoy the precious nighttime with your friends!

Shibaozhai

Fengdu Ghost City

After a sweet sleeping time, this morning you might as well learn Taichi from Taichi master, which will make you more energetic to start a whole day’s visit.

Your ship will sail across the Qutang Gorge this morning. Stretching 8 kilometers, the Qutang Gorge is the shortest section of the three gorges. Famous for majestic and grand scenery, the Qutang Gorge boasts the precipitous mountains and narrow waterways, which will astound you a lot!

Then, you will experience a shore excursion once again! And the White Emperor City is waiting for you to visit! While visiting, you can walk to the Mingliang Hall, the Tuogu Hall, and the Wuhou Hall. There you will see a lot of inscription poems and cultural relics, especially those in the Sui and Tang Dynasties(581-907). In addition, for the visit of Li Bai, Du Fu, Su Shi and other famous Chinese poets to this place, the White Emperor City is also praised as “the city of poems”. Wish you a wonderful time this morning!

After lunch, your ship will sail across the Wu Gorge. With lush mountains and clear water, the Wu Gorge always attracts lots of tourists! This Gorge seems like a marvelous gallery, where the picturesque natural beauty will make you excited! While visiting this afternoon, I recommend you to take short videos and pictures in the fabulous natural scenery. And if you share them on your Facebook, Youtube or other social media, I am sure you will get a lot of new followers and “likes”! 

There is a notice in advance: the traveling routes and attractions might be changed according to your ship and the weather.

Qutang Gorge

White Emperor City

After a buffet breakfast on the ship, your Yangtze River Cruise will come to an end. Then, you will take the estimated train K1473 12:58/17:54 to Zhangjiajie, which is the last stop of your China tour this time. It covers 9,516 square kilometers with a permanent population of over 1 million. Zhangjiajie is one of China’s hot tourist city that many visitors choose it as one important destination of their China tour. After arrival, you will met by your local guide at the train station and then be transferred to the hotel. You can have a walk around this famous tourist city in the remaining time. If you are tired, just have a good rest in your comfortable hotel room.

After breakfast, you will be driven northeastward to Yuanjiajie, which is 24 kilometers away from downtown. And it will take us around 47 minutes to get there. Then, you will see the Bailong Elevator, which has a height of 326 meters. This elevator is recognized as the world’s tallest outdoor elevator by the Guinness World Records. Taking the Bailong Elevator, you will go up to the Yuanjiajie Scenic Area, where you can enjoy the spectacular beauty of the First Bridge Under the Sun and the Avatar Hallelujah Mountain, which is the scene of the Hallelujah Mountain in the movie “Avatar”. After that, you will take the electrical bus to Tianzi Mountain known for the peak forest. Covering 67 square kilometers, it has an altitude of over 1,200 meters. After visiting Helong Park, the Yubi Peak and other attractions in the Tianzi Mountain Scenic Area, we will arrange for you to go down the mountain by cable car. At last, you will visit the Ten-mile Gallery taking a sightseeing train, and you can enjoy the beauty of the Caiyaolaoren (a mountain that looks like an elder who is picking herbs) and Three Sisters Mountain, which are all landscapes that you cannot miss! Follow your guide and enjoy a pleasant traveling time!

Yuanjiajie Scenic Area

Yuanjiajie Scenic Area

Today marks the end of your journey appreciating the natural beauty of Yangtze River and Zhangjiajie. I believe China’s lush mountains and clear water have leaved you a deep impression. With warm-hearted staff and professional service, China Tour Star tries to provide you with best travelling experience. And we expect your next tour to other cities in China. Good-bye and may joy and happiness abide in you!

Author: Liu Na

Proofreader: Liu Yan