China Cruise Tours

CHONGQING

Upon your arrival in Chongqing you will be transferred to your hotel for check in. You may enjoy your time in the hotel for refreshment, or explore the city at your leisure. Chongqing is the largest municipality in the western part of China with its cultural heritage and tourist attractions. Besides the wonderful scenery of the Three Gorges, you may also visit the UNESCO World Heritage Dazu Grottoes, or the 2-hectare Panda House in the Chongqing zoo which is an undoubted highlight for visitors.

Overnight: Superior Room, Chongqing InterContinental

CHONGQING

Breakfast will be served at the hotel. You are free to explore the city at your leisure. After check out transfer from the hotel to Chongqing pier, where you will embark the Sanctuary Yangzi Explorer to being your Yangzi River cruise journey.

Overnight: Sanctuary Yangzi Explorer

FULING

Start your morning with an early bird tea or coffee and a traditional Tai Chi lesson, led by our certified Tai Chi Master and work up an appetite for the buffet breakfast.

This morning, choose between a visit to an intriguing, secret project, hidden in the mountains of Fuling - The 816 Underground Project or the White Crane Ridge Underwater Museum and a local market tour.

The 816 Underground Project is the world’s largest artificial military cave. Over 50 years ago, more than 60,000 constructers, came to Jianzishan, an uninhabited place among mountains and forest, to start work on a top-secret construction project of a monumental scale. The work continued for 17 years and was nearly completed when the government decided to suspend it, before any nuclear material could be produced. Now as the secrets of military caves are revealed, you will be able to look at the true face of 816 project hidden for 50 years.

Alternatively, you can choose to visit to the White Crane Ridge Underwater Museum and local market tour. The museum will take you some 148 feet under water to admire the river bed and the intricate ancient rock carvings left there many years ago. Learn about the Yangtze river, it’s flora and fauna, while enjoying this fascinating museum. Your next stop will be the local market, where you will gain insight into the region’s rich culinary culture. This is a daily market where farmers meet to buy and sell a variety of goods, ranging from fruit and vegetables to fish and meat, and of course a whole array of pickles - which Fuling is famous for.

Return to Sanctuary Yangzi Explorer for a lunch buffet in the Dynasty Dining Room, followed by demonstrations such Chinese foot reflexology and traditional Chinese medicine in the Tang Theatre.

Learn about beautiful pearls in this afternoon’s lecture, Pearls of the World. This is followed by the Captain’s welcome reception, complete with complimentary canapé’s.

Tonight, you have a chance to attend an epic open air live action show*, dramatizing the lives and battles of feudal lords and their armies from the ancient Han dynasty. Based on the famous 14th-century novel ‘The Romance of the Three Kingdoms’, the story is part historical, part legend, and part mythical. The show includes battles on horseback, light and aquatic special effects, 3D holographic projection and fireworks, with the Yangtze River as the background, and a 180-degree all-swivel auditorium.

For those who choose to disembark at Zhongxian County for the Three Kingdoms Open Air Show, a late buffet dinner will be available upon their return. Guests who decide to remain onboard can indulge in an a la carte dinner before guests reconvene for karaoke and a live band performance.

Overnight: Sanctuary Yangzi Explorer

THE THREE GORGES

Today is all about the striking Three Gorges; Qutang, Wu and Xiling.

Enjoy a tea or coffee and practice your Tai Chi before the commentary on the Qutang Gorge begins on the Explorer Deck.

A breakfast buffet is served before guests return to Deck 6 as we pass through the Wu Gorge. Through the commentary, discover the myths and facts that make each gorge unique as we pass through them.

Experience a unique ride along the Shennong Stream on a sampan - a traditional longboat rowed by expert Tujia boatmen. As we gently float through this stunning riverine gorge flanked by verdant forest, you’ll see evidence of early settlements in the form of hanging coffins stowed high within the limestone cliffs.

Before returning we will visit a traditional trackers village, where you will have a chance to get a fascinating glimpse of the traditional, rural Chinese community. You’ll find mud huts as homes, basic kitchens where the meat is dried on hooks and coffins in the bedroom. And, while there are satellite dishes, villagers still pride their heritage.

This evening we have prepared a special farewell dinner, ‘A Taste of China’, followed by Three Gorges Project lecture and a live band performance.

Overnight: Sanctuary Yangzi Explorer

the three gorges dam project & WUHAN

Arrive at the Three Gorges Dam Project site and embark on a tour of the area (this tour will serve as a general introduction to theproject site, which, currently, is the world's largest engineering project). The dam is the largest dam on earth, and is 1.2 miles in length. Once in operation, the dam will generate enough clean energy to reduce China's reliance of highly polluting coal by up to 50 million tons annually. After the viewing of the dam, you will then be taken to an exclusive visit to the exhibition centre where a large size scale model and other interesting models are available for enjoyment. 

After the tour, you will be transferred by private vehicle to the train station to take the train in first class seat to Wuhan. You can enjoy your time in the hotel for refreshment and leisure.

Overnight: Superior Room, Marco Polo Hotel Wuhan

WUHAN

Breakfast will be served at the hotel followed by check out. You will be transferred from hotel to the Airport by private vehicle for your departure flight.