D1 Chongqing

Go to Chongqing. You will be driven to the dock and start your deluxe Yangtze River Cruise tour.

Meals: Not included

Accommodation: 5-star cruise

D 2 Three Gorges

First stop is the town of Fengdu. For this shore excursion, you’ll climb  many stairs to the Temple of the Emperor of Hell. This area is filled with temples and garish statues of demons and devils. An interesting part of this shore excursion is comparing the partly-submerged rubble of the old town of Fengdu with the shiny new housing across the water, where the Fengdu inhabitants were re-housed.

Join the captain in the evening for welcome drinks and dinner.

Meals: Lunch & dinner

Accommodation: 5-star cruise

D3 Three Gorges

Rise early this morning and be on deck as you sail through the towering cliffs and mountains of the gorges Qutang and Wu Gorge. In the afternoon, you will be transferred to smaller boats for a trip up a tributary of the river. An interesting 3 hour shore excursion, Shennong Stream is an area of the Yangtze that has changed considerably since the water level has risen. Where the gorge widens slightly, you transfer into smaller boats pulled by teams of "trackers" who wade thigh-deep through the water. Trackers were once the main method of pulling boats along parts of the Yangtze River.

Later, enter Xiling Gorge

Meals: Lunch & dinner

Accommodation: 5-star cruise

D4  Three Gorges/Yichang

Visit the site of the enormous Three Gorges Dam Project. At any given time, up to 30,000 laborers are involved in the dam’s construction. This project is China’s biggest hydraulic engineering project, located in the middle section of Xiling Gorge. Its completion in 2009 will flood 20 towns and involve the relocation of 1.3 million people. Return to the boat after the excursion and journey one and a half hours to Yichang. Disembark

Meals: Lunch

Accommodation: Not included