Difference between revisions of "Along the Yangtze River"

Revision as of 13:31, 23 April 2009

This article is an itinerary.

The Yangtze (Chang Jiang) is China's greatest river and a historic transport route. It is over 6,000 km, just under 4,000 miles, long.

Understand

The Yangtze has been an important transportation route with major cities along its banks for several thousand years.

Chinese civilization first developed along the Yellow River (Huang He) and shortly thereafter spread to two other major areas — the lower Yangtze basin and the rich agricultural lands of Sichuan a thousand km. or more up the river. As the main link between those areas, the Yangtze has been important through most of Chinese history.

The Western name "Yangtze" comes from the stretch of the river from Yangzhou to Zhenjiang, called the Yangzi (扬子) in Chinese. This was the name first heard by Western missionaries and traders, and it stuck.

Cities

Many of China's greatest cities lie along the Yangtze. Except for Shanghai — which was unimportant until the 19th century China trade made it one of the world's great cities — all of these have existed for millennia. Listed from the mouth up the river, they are:

• Shanghai, great trading port, financial and fashion capital of modern China
• Wuxi
• Yangzhou
• Nanjing, national capital under several dynasties, rivals Beijing for historical importance, capital of Jiangsu
• Wuhan, important in 19th century trade and modern industry, capital of Hubei
• Yichang, gateway to the Three Gorges
• Chongqing, one of China's largest cities

The river extends far beyond Chongqing; its headwaters are deep in the Tibetan mountains. Few tourists doing the Yangtse route follow the river much beyond Chongqing. However, travelers on the Yunnan tourist trail see some of the upper reaches of the river near Lijiang.

Several other ancient and important cities are not actually on the Yangtze, but readily accessible from it:

• Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang — near Shanghai and connected by the Grand Canal to Suzhou and Wuxi
• Suzhou, famous for gardens and canals, abode of scholars, painters and poets — between Shanghai and Wuxi
• Chengdu, capital of Sichuan — near Chongqing and on one of the Yangtze's tributaries

Of course there are dozens of smaller cities as well.

Prepare

Get in

Shanghai has a major international airport with connections to almost anywhere. The other major cities on the route have airports and good connections within China, but not many international flights. However, KLM flies Chengdu-Amsterdam, Lufthansa Frankfurt-Nanjing and Korean Air has flights from Seoul to several of these cities.

From Southeast Asia, the only discount flight into the region is Air Asia Kuala Lumpur to Hangzhou.

Go

The most famous part of this route is the sensational boat cruise through the Three Gorges area between Chongqing and Wuhan. With the recent enormous Three Gorges Dam project, this route has changed considerably but it is still definitely worth doing. However be careful of the different types of boats and classes within those boats. Traveling on a Chinese tourist boat in 'first class' may not be your idea of 'first class' (one traveler complained of "rats everywhere"). In addition, the only choice for food may be the boat itself for up to 3-days. As such, bring supplies, particularly snacks and drinks for the voyage.

While one reviewer suggested not to take the Chinese Tourist boat (since they stop at destinations at 6am, expecting all passengers to get out and look at the scenery, then arriving at 4am at the final destination and throwing everybody off the boat), another reviewer had a positive experience despite not speaking any Chinese.

Other tips:

• Rent a private cabin if possible (handy for the many relaxing and lazy periods traveling down river)
• Bring supplies to wash and dry clothes (detergent and clothes line with clothes-line pins) as this will be convenient in your room (although clothes will dry slowly with the humidity.)
• Take photos/ video at dusk or dawn when the haze from air pollution is not as pronounced.
• Research the route before traveling so that you have some idea about the sites your boat will stop at and their significance (e.g. Fengdu, the City of Ghosts.)
• Keep a "day bag" packed for those unexpected times when the boat stops for a site (rather than having to look for your camera, etc. and possibly missing the trip with your fellow boat travelers)

One company at the high end of the market is Orient Royal Cruise.

Yangtze river cruise sailing dates and prices can be obtained from Discover Yangtze River Tour.

The lower Yangtze areas — from Wuhan down through Nanjing and Suzhou to Shanghai — traveling by boat is also an option, but here it is not essential. There are good rail and road connections throughout the area. See High-speed rail in China for Nanjng-Wuxi-Suzhou-Shanghai-Hangzhou routes.

Stay safe

General precautions against common scams and pickpockets are advisable anywhere in China.

Be especially wary of thieves on the cruise boats, using any technique from picking pockets to crawling in portholes to rifle luggage.

Get out

Chengdu is a hub for visiting southern China. From there, you can:

• fly to Lhasa, Tibet
• head Overland to Tibet
• head South toward Kunming, Yunnan by road or rail
• swing north by road or rail to Xian, or join the Silk Road further west at Lanzhou