Overview of Tribe of the Three Gorges
Tribe of the Three Gorges, located in the area of the charming Xiling Gorge, on the “Two Dams, One Gorge” Tourist Line, has long been a popular scenic area, especially for the Yangtze River Cruise ship travellers from different countries and regions, also, it is the only one large scenic spot having not been influenced by the Three Gorges Dam project in Yichang. Within this 14 square kilometers wide place, reputed as a National AAAAA Tourist Attraction, multiple types of natural sceneries and primitive scenes of local people could be seen. Moreover, as a shining pearl on the Three Gorges golden tourist line, the Tribe of the Three Gorges will show you many mixed cultures, and make you immerse into a dreamland.
Lying surrounded by lush mountains and beautiful water, Tribe of the Three Gorges is appealing like a painting. And according to the history, a lot of famous ancient scholars and celebrities have composed a great number of excellent poem works praising the beauty of this place. As it is a large tourist attraction combining natural views with cultures and historical development along the great Yangtze River, the Tribe of the Three Gorges is destined to be the legend of Tourism in the Three Gorges on Yangtze.
What to See at Tribe of the Three Gorges?
Once you enter the Tribe of the Three Gorges scenic area, you could easily be touched by the natural sightseeing and thick culture. You can savor from a lot of places there, like the Village on the Water, the Stream-like Tribe, the Mountain-top Tribe, the Stone Tablet, Shadow-play Stone, etc., besides, you can appreciate the wonderful performance of local wedding to know more of the cultural custom.
The Village on the Water
The Village on the Water is at the junction of Longjin Stream and the Yangtze River. Several old sailing boats docking in the wind, small fishing boats stop with the fishing nets stretching, emerald and clear stream water with the reflection of the forest and bridge, birds flying above the water… Everything is so dreamlike and fine to make you get lost in the picturesque place. Many generations of people at Three Gorges lived there by fishing, conflicting with the waves and wind on the water, companied with the fishing boat. Therefore, there forms the Village on the Water. Though, the living standard of locals has improved, the ancient custom has been well preserved, and you can stroll along the narrow and natural path to enjoy the beauty of wide, magnificence, and gentleness when you visit the Tribe of the Three Gorges.
The Village on the Water
The Stream-side Tribe
The Stream-side Tribe in Tribe of the Three Gorges leaning the hills and off the water is mysterious and fabulous like an idyllic poem and a landscape painting, with the verdant mountains, crystal clear water, beautiful sunshine coming through the plants, mists, and rains. The stilted houses are the living places of local residents, on which are hanging, like the red chili, corn, straw rain cape, and bamboo hats, etc. You would feel so amazing to surprisingly see so simple and original scene in the past time. Particularly, when there is smoke rising from the chimney of local houses, ducks playing in the stream in front of the house door, local maidens washing clothes with their rods. The sounds of those simple scenes in the village are so ear-pleasing to get to back to the pure life in the ancient China.
The Stream-side Tribe
The Mountain-top Tribe
The Mountain-top Tribe locates at an area with precipitous landform, so people there build their house on the hill with wooden structures, and their house is called the “Ganlan (stilt) Style Architecture” by modern architects. Since the landform is very steep and the houses must be flat and stable with the support of pillars or constructions of wall, they are called stilted houses. Usually the houses have 2 to 3 floor, with the 1st floor for storage or feeding domestic animals, and the 2nd and 3rd ones being the living place for hosts. Walking to a residence of local people, you may feel it so primitive and pure. What’s more interesting is that you could walk from one door to another room and after some stairs, you would enter another room, which is like having fun with the hide-and-seek. Since the complicated structure for new people, they may easily enter the stilted houses, but feel difficult finding the exit. Moreover, the covers of the house roofs are made from various materials and with different says, however, people there would say it with good words and opinions because they have optimistic attitude and love for the life. Visiting this place in Tribe of the Three Gorges, your time will be filled with good mood.
Local Residents & Stilted Houses at Mountain-top Tribe
Stone Tablet
The Stone Tablet is 32 meters high, with the top of 12 meters wide, bottom of 13 meter wide and weighing about 4,300 tons. This pure white stone is vertical like a blade. Also, the surface of the stone is so smooth like having been elaborately made into a tablet by people, forming a strange geological wonder. There is a folk tale says that this stone tablet is the holy tablet coming from the Jade Emperor who is the Supreme Deity of Taoism, with duty to protect and bless the people on earth. Locals say it really works for praying and so it becomes the holy place for people to worship for good fortune, wealth and other wishes.
Shadow-play Stones
The Shadow-play Stones at Tribe of the Three Gorges actually is consisted with 4 rocks, which seem extremely the four characters in the famous “Journey to the West”. Every time when it comes to the sun set, the four rocks look like those figures performing the shadow play. Therefore, the rocks have the name of Shadow-play Stones. And among all the four rocks, the most well-known is the Monk Sha Rock that is reputed as the “No.1 Stone on the Yangtze River”. Appearing in the shape of a mushroom, this stone weighs over 100 tons with only a supporting point of only more than 200 square centimeters, in another word, there is 0.5 ton weight on every one square centimeter averagely. You would visit to see why this so “thin” rock can stand there for tens of thousands of years without any change so that it could be called a “wonder of the world”.
Local Wedding Custom Performance
The wedding custom performance is one of the must-sees if you visit Tribe of the Three Gorges. This special custom of local Tujia ethnic group represents their featured value and opinion about wedding and marriage. About half to one month before the wedding ceremony, the girl begins to cry for the marriage, which not only shows her unwilling to live far away from her birth family, but also expresses her delightfulness for the upcoming marriage with her loved boy. In this performance, the bridegroom comes to the bride’s home to escort her back to the wedding, with the jubilant composition of the drums and gongs. Everything is well prepared with red and other lucky colors to celebrate this festival day. Thus, you could go to the Marriage House at Longjin Stream to watch the joyous wedding performance and know more about the local custom and be influenced by the humorous and happy atmosphere.
Join in the Jubilant Wedding Custom Performance
Besides, there are many other worth-seeing attractions at Tribe of the Three Gorges Scenic Area, like the Mingyue Cave, Shadow-play Cave, Frog Spring, Stone Tablet Anti-Japanese-war Memorial Hall, and so forth. If you have enough time, you can visit those places to enjoy more natural sceneries, savor more interesting culture and know other stories happened there in the past times.
Location & Transportation to Tribe of the Three Gorges
Tribe of the Three Gorges is situated in the northwest side of Yichang City in Hubei Province.
Usually, it is arranged as an optional shore excursion site for Yangtze River cruise travellers, so cruise visitors can travel to this charming place during your cruising time. Since local guide would lead you from the ship to the scenic area, you do not have to worry about how to get there, and you would have more time and energy to focus on the highlights.
Customer Choices | Best Yangtze River Cruises with Fengdu Sightseeing
In the year of 2025, there are over 20 cruise ships sailing between Chongqing and Yichang. And here at below are the most popular ones, recommended by professionals and our delighted Yangtze River cruisers, with reasonable prices, high standard facilities, great services, tasteful food and beverages, amazing shore excursions, rich onboard activities and so forth.
For other visitors, you could arrive at the Tribe of the Three Gorges by various means of transportation from many places in Yichang.
From Yichang Sanxia Airport
If you arrive in Yichang by air, you could reach the scenic area by a taxi for about 1.5 hours for about 64km long distance.
From Yichang Railway Stations
From Yichang Railway Statio, the most convenient way is to take a taxi for about 1 hour and 10 minutes. Besides, you could also take the bus No.10-1 or others to get there for about 2 hours.
If you get there from Yichang East Railway Station, you could take a taxi for about 1 hour and 15 minutes.
From Yichang Downtown
The city downtown is about 30km from the scenic area, and you could take a local taxi to get there for about 1 hour and 10 minutes covering about 36km long distance. Also, you could take the local buses to get there for about 2 to 2.5 hours.
Useful Tips for Traveling Tribe of the Three Gorges
Wedding performance: in the wedding custom performance, sometimes the bridegroom may toast to visitors with the local corn wine, if you do not drink, you could refuse politely.
How to Plan a China Yangtze Tour?
♦ 2025 Yangtze River Cruise Routes:
- 4 Days Chongqing to Yichang; 5 Days Yichang to Chongqing;
- 4 Days Wuhan to Nanjing; 4 Days Nanjing to Wuhan;
- 10 Days Chongqing to Nanjing; 10 Days Nanjing to Chongqing;
- 11 Days Chongqing to Shanghai; 12 Days Shanghai to Chongqing. More about 2025 all yangtze river cruise routes & itineraries >>
♦ Best Time to Visit:
- Spring and Autumn are two peak seasons for the comfortable weather and best splendid sceneries of the Yangtze River. More about Yangtze River Weather & Best Time to Visit >>
♦ Transportation Tips:
- Flight to Chongqing/Yichang from Beijing/Guangzhou/Shanghai/Hong Kong……
- High Speed Train to Chongqing from Xian/Chengdu/Guilin/Guiyang/Beijing……; High Speed Train to Yichang from Wuhan/Changsha/Beijing/Shanghai……
- Drive from Yichang to Zhangjiajie/Shennongjia/Enshi…… More about How to Get to Yangtze River Cruise Ports >>
Over 90% cruiser would choose the classic Chongqing-Yichang Three Gorges Itinerary, which only takes 4 to 5 days, as their first encounter with the Yangtze River. Then, they will leave some time to visit surrounding highlights or explore famous landing cities. So, a China Yangtze tour can extend from 4 days to a month, or even more.
To/From nearby Hot China Destinations (Chongqing, Chengdu, Zhangjiajie, Guilin…)
— Chongqing(重庆) is known as the most essential starting point for a classic Yangtze River cruise. The city has gained international recognition in recent years for its unique tridimensional cityscape, 8D transportation system, and cyberpunk-style buildings and architecture, which have attracted a growing number of tourists to the city. Usually, a leisure landscape tour in Chongqing city requires 2~3 days. It’s recommended that you extend your journey to the surrounding UNESCO heritage sites like Wulong - the famous Karst Landscape in blockbuster Transformers (1-2 days) and Dazu - the last monumental works in the history of world grottoes art (1 day).
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Useful Links: 1~3 Days Chongqing Tours 2025 | How to Plan a Chongqing Tour >>
Our Guests Take a Photo with Hongya Cave
— Chengdu(成都), a 1~1.5-hour high-speed train from Chongqing, is known as the hometown of the Giant Pandas and UNESCO’s City of Gastronomy. Take 1~2 days to meet these cuties and keep yourself in the “laid-back” living pace like a local while wandering around parks, museums, ancient pedestrian streets, and temples in the downtown area, you will probably understand why people say Chengdu is a city you don't want to leave. Moreover, Chengdu is the gateway to so many UNESCO world heritage sites, including Jiuzhaigou (3 days), Mount Emei (2 days), Leshan Giant Buddha (1 day), Dujiangyan (0.5-1 day), etc., and astonishing hidden plateau - Western Sichuan (3~7 days).
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☛ 8 Days Beauty Tour to Jiuzhaigou & Yangtze River
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Giant Panda Breeding Research Base in Chengdu
— Zhangjiajie(张家界), a 4.5-hour two-train transfer from Yichang, offers the most distinct and iconic landscape of the Hollywood blockbuster Avatar. Let along adrenalin-pumping Zhangjiajie Glass Bridge and frightening skywalks and sharp zigzag driving roads at Tianmen Mountain National Forest Park, the uncanny natural wonders in Zhangjiajie (3~5 Days) attracting countless adventurers and travel addicts from all over the world!
☛ 7 Days Nature Tour to Yangtze River & Zhangjiajie
Useful Links: 3~5 Days Zhangjiajie Tours 2025 | How to Plan a Zhangjiajie Tour >>
Chona from Philippines visited Tianzi Mountain, Zhangjiajie
— Guilin(桂林), located 4-5 hours away by high-speed train from Chongqing, is renowned for its breathtaking scenery, making it a must-visit destination in China. Generally, Li River, Yangshuo County, and Longji Rice Terraces are the three most popular and separate destinations. For most travelers to Guilin, 3-5 days is enough to cover the highlights by using a private car.
☛ 7 Days Idyllic Guilin & Yangtze River Cruise Tour
Useful Links: 3~5 Days Guilin Tours 2025 | How to Plan a Guilin Tour >>
Claire from UK visited Yangshuo Countryside
From/To Classic China Destinations (Beijing/Shanghai/Xian/Hong Kong/Guangzhou…)
Guests who are visiting China for the first time probably would choose Beijing (the capital of China, recommended travel days: 3~4 days), Shanghai (the largest and most developed and populated city of China, recommended travel days: 2~4 days), Guangzhou (the third biggest city in China, recommended travel days: 2~3 days) or Hong Kong (a convenient transit hub with mainland China, recommended travel days: 2~3 days) as their first stop, as all these four destinations process excellent infrastructure and multi-dimensional transportation networks connecting the whole of China. How to arrange your travel route? Our top-pick China Yangtze Tour itineraries may bring you some inspiration!
☛ (Beijing/Xian/Chongqing/Yangtze Cruise/Yichang/Shanghai) 11 Days China Golden Triangle Tour with Yangtze River Cruise
☛ (Beijing/Xian/Chengdu/Yangtze Cruise/Zhangjiajie/Shanghai) 15 Days China Best Treasure Tour with Yangtze Cruise & Zhangjiajie Landscape
☛ (Hong Kong/Guilin/Chengdu/Chongqing/Yangtze Cruise/Yichang/Shanghai) 12 Days China Splendid Tour from Hong Kong
☛ (Shanghai/Yichang/Yangtze Cruise/Chongqing/Chengdu/Lhasa/Xian/Beijing) 17 Days China Yangtze Tour with Tibet & Giant Panda Visit
☛ (Hong Kong/Guilin/Chengdu/Yangtze Cruise/Zhangjiajie/Shanghai/Xian/Beijing) 21 Days China Holiday with Yangtze River Cruise Tour
Useful Links: Yangtze River Cruise Tour from Beijing | Yangtze River Cruise Tour from Shanghai | Yangtze River Cruise Tour from Hong Kong >>
Check more details about 2025 Top China Yangtze Tours >>
Alexia visited Mutianyu Great Wall
Terracotta Warriors, Shared by Chris
Lujiazui, Shanghai
Travel Yangtze River with China Discovery
Have your own ideas of where and what to discover before, during and after the Yangtze River cruise tour? We China Discovery offers many popular and valuable private China tour packages with Yangtze River Cruise vacation taking you to enjoy wonderful exploration of the best highlights of Three Gorges, Chongqing, Yichang, Zhangjiajie, Chengdu, Xian, Guilin, Wuhan, etc. And our professional travel team with experienced travel expert, local English-speaking travel guide and driver and non-smoking comfortable licensed private vehicle will help you throughout the trip from the planning, navigation, hotel arrangement and scenic spot visiting. So you will have the much better travel experience on and around the extensive Yangtze River. You can check our tour packages to get some inspiration. All tours can be tailor-made according to your group size, time, physical condition, plan, interests, budget and any other special need! Please feel free to contact us to customize your own China Yangtze River Cruise trip or if you need any help!
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