5 Days Chongqing, Yangtze Cruise & Wulong Karst Tour

Welcome to the magical 8-Dimensional Chongqing! This morning, your local guide and driver will meet you at your hotel or the arrival hall of Chongqing airport / train station for your exciting exploration of the Mountain City! First, go to Three Gorges Museum. The vast collection of over 280,000 pieces of precious historical relics gives an amazing introduction of the great Yangtze River and formation of the magnificent Three Gorges and tells the thriving of Chongqing from 3,000 years ago, to its war defense in 20th century, and to nowadays as one of the four prosperous municipalities in China. Step out from the museum and appreciate the People’s Assembly Hall, which is popular with fancy classical exterior design and was listed into the History of Architecture compiled in London in 1987!

Then, go to experience Chongqing Light Rail Line 2 from Huanghuayuan to Liziba Station (15 minutes’ riding) with the beautiful cityscape of streets, bridges, flyovers, and Jialing River. Get off at Liziba to watch the unbelievable view of a train traveling through a 19-floor building, a successful demonstration of Chongqing’s urban design.

After the visit, be transferred to your hotel at Xiannvshan Town (3 hours' drive) of Wulong County and help you check in. Have a sweet sleep!

Optional activity (extra payment): Watch “Impression Wulong” night show with real landscape background of Wulong and folk culture charm of Sichuan & Chongqing regions. It is directed by Zhang Yimou, a world-class movie director and the chief director of the opening and closing ceremonies of both Olympic Games 2008 and Winter Olympics 2022 in Beijing.

After breakfast, your guide and driver will pick you up at your hotel. Today, you will explore Wulong Karst National Geological Park. Wulong Karst is well known for its giant dolines (sinkholes), natural bridges and caves, inscribed as a part of South China Karst UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2007. Besides, it is the shooting location of the globally famous movie “Transformers IV”.

After arrival at Wulong Tourist Center, hop on a sightseeing bus to the largest natural bridge cluster in Asia - Three Natural Bridges, where you can appreciate exceptionally high natural bridges with long stretches of deep unroofed caves. Take the sightseeing elevator down to the valley bottom to marvel at the magnificent Karst Mountains, miraculous caves, beautiful waterfalls. Enjoy your hiking passing Tianlong Bridge, Tianfu Post House (shooting location of Zhang Yimou’s movie “The City of Golden Armor”), Qinglong Bridge and Heilong Bridge.

Then, take a sightseeing bus to Longshuixia Gap, a gap-style gorge and the important part of Wulong Karst. In this natural oxygen bar, enjoy 2 kilometers’ fun walking by One Line Sky, Dragon Pool Minoring the Moon, etc. and witness the steep cliffs on both sides, verdant original forests in the valley and mysterious waterfalls.

After the visiting, go back to Chongqing downtown and head to Hongya Cave to catch the symbolic view of Chongqing. The featured Ba & Shu regional wooden structures are tiered up to 11 floors on a hillside, creating a stunning sight with neon lights at night. Enjoy your leisure walk there and take some beautiful photos!

Then, your guide and driver will escort you to Chongqing Chaotianmen Port and help board your Yangtze River cruise. Your relaxing Yangtze cruise sails at around 21:00!

More notes and tips for Yangtze River Cruise’s embarkation:

• 1. There are 13 sub-piers of Chaotianmen Port (朝天门码头), and the boarding time and piers change based on the cruise line, water level, season, weather and other factors. Please check the info with your travel consultant and know where to board your ship at least one day beforehand.
• 2. Some cruises do not include dinner on the embarkation night, you can have dinner or buy some snacks at Raffles City before embarkation.
• 3. When embarking or disembarking at Chaotianmen, you may need to carry your luggage up or down the stairs. If you have difficulty with this due to physical constraints, please inform your travel consultant in advance. They can arrange for a luggage porter to assist you for a fee of 20-30 RMB per package.

In the morning, wake up leisurely and enjoy the gentle sunshine shining over the tranquil and beautiful Yangtze River. It will be colorful and interesting whether you decide to stay onboard or go ashore at river stops. 

Onboard, you will enjoy different kinds of activities, like practicing Tai Chi on the boat’s sundeck, drinking a relaxing morning coffee, attending a Yangtze River history and culture lecture, or taking part in the Captain’s Welcome Party and evening shows.

Next, follow a local guide and make a shore excursion in Fengdu County. Fengdu County, a vital part of the Three Gorges Reservoir Region, boosts unique natural and cultural landscape, including Fengdu Ghost City, Mount Shuanggui, Snow Jade Cave, Jade Emperor Scenic Area, Xiaoguanshan Folk Residences , etc.

Out of all these sites, Fengdu Ghost City is the most famous and attractive one. It is filled with mysterious tales of the underworld, brutal tortures, and various types of demons and Chinese devils. Entering this ghost city, you will find many statues of demons and vivid scenes of their perfidious activities. Some cruise companies arrange the site visit as an included, and others classify it as optional, which requires extra payment; you may check with your travel consultant while booking.

An Optional Excursion: Leaving Fengdu County, your cruise will reach and dock at Zhongxian County in the late afternoon, where a marvelous large-scale real landscape show is coming. The Feng Yan San Guo Show brings a cultural feast for Yangtze River cruise visitors to know the brilliant historical culture of the Three Kingdoms Period and the spirit of loyalty of great military officer Guan Yu. With amazing effects of lights, sounds, and special effects during the show, historical scenes seem to return vividly in front of you.

More notes and tips regarding today’s itinerary:

• 1. Even sailing the same route through the Three Gorges, different cruises would have different shore excursion arrangements. The sites abovementioned refer to common and most frequent situations. The specific itinerary of the day depends on the ship you booked.
• 2. Physical demands and dressing tips: Comfortable shoes are highly recommended since there will be a long distance walking at Fengdu Ghost City and many stairs to climb up at Shibaozhai Pagoda!

Today, you will sail through the essential section of the Yangtze River - Three Gorges! You shall relax on the sun deck and soak up the breathtaking gorge scenery passing by as you drift through Qutang Gorge and Wu Gorge. While the ship cruises toward the mouth of the Gorges, especially at Kui Gate, you’ll hear the wind whistling fiercely and witness the rolling hills stretching towards the skyline, leaving you marvelling at nature’s ingenious workmanship.

Today’s shore excursions would mainly be arranged at counties along the Three Gorges, in Fengjie, Wuxian or Badong. Different cruise companies draw up different itineraries. But in general, most luxury Yangtze River cruise companies, such as Century Cruises, Victoria Cruises and Yangtze Gold Cruises, etc., would port in Fengjie in the morning and offer an optional shore excursion (required extra payment) to the White Emperor City. This famous ancient “Poem City” is mentioned in about 1,400 Chinese poems. A tour through the scenic area tells a touching story of Liu Bei entrusting his son to his prime minister, Zhuge Liang. What’s more, the Viewing Platform in the scenic area is the best place to take a photo of the top representative landscape of the Qutang Gorge, Kui Gate, the same scenery on the background of the CNY 10 Note.

Cruise journey continues. In the afternoon, your cruise will stop at Wu Gorge. You will take a shore excursion here by switching to a smaller boat to sail down a beautiful stream running in a narrow side gorge where you will have close-up views of high mountain peaks and hanging coffins on the steep cliff faces. Shennv Stream, Shennong Stream and the Lesser Three Gorges are the frequently-chosen ones.

This evening, you’ll enjoy the Captain’s Farewell Party with all your mates and appreciate or join the fascinating dance show to spend a wonderful night.

More notes and tips regarding today’s itinerary:

• 1. Besides the shore excursions mentioned above, two newly pop-up sites selected by cruise companies have gained high recognition from guests: Three Gorges Summit and Goddess Sky Road. Both are constructed on mountaintops for customers to enjoy the panoramic view of the natural splendor!
• 2. Different cruises have different shore excursion arrangements. The specific itinerary of the day depends on the cruise you booked.

After breakfast, you’ll begin to check out and disembark at Maoping Port. Today’s highlight is a morning excursion to Three Gorges Dam, the world’s largest hydropower project, located in the middle of Xiling Gorge near Yichang. You will marvel at this gigantic dam from different angles, learn more about the background history of the Three Gorges Dam Project and enjoy the beautiful surrounding landscape and scenery. If you like, you can take an optional experience to sail through the Three Gorges Dam Ship Lift, the largest and the most sophisticated ship lift in the world, which takes only 40 minutes with fresh insight into the dam project.

After the dam visit (around noon), you’ll take the bus arranged by the cruise company heading to Yichang Three Gorges Center Cruise Terminal for leave. Here you will be pick up by our local guide and escorted to visit Yichang Museum if time permits. Then, be transferred to the airport or train station to catch your flight or train to next destination. Service ends!

Disembarkation Tips: No matter you take Ship Lift or not, you’ll check out and take your luggage away in this early morning. (1) Only Dam Visiting: you’ll take bus from Maoping Port to Three Gorges Dam for sightseeing, and then arrive at Yichang downtown around 12:30. (2) Dam & Ship Lift Experience: travelers who are interested in Ship Lift will first switch to a sightseeing boat to sail through the Ship Lift and then visit Three Gorges Dam Site. You’ll arrive at Yichang downtown around 13:30. (3) Ship Lift Note: During the peak season, the ship lift operation is in full swing. In some instances, you may not be able to find a seat and may have to stand. If you are worried about how the crowds might affect your experience, it is advisable to think carefully before joining the program.

Departure Ideas: You can take flights from Yichang Sanxia Airport to Shanghai, Xian, Beijing, Guangzhou and Hangzhou, etc. Or you can take high speed trains from Yichang East Railway Station to Wuhan (about 2hrs), Shanghai (about 8hrs), Beijing (about 7.5hrs), Hangzhou (about 7.5hrs), Chengdu (about 7hrs), Guangzhou (about 7hrs) and more cities.