Kate Burden

My husband and I are planning to go to China this summer. It will be my first time in Asia. It's likely to be our last long-haul trip for some time, as we want to start trying for our first baby soon. In all likelihood it may end up being our one and only trip to China. With this in mind, I'd like your advice on what to see. We have around 10 to 14 days, and would ideally like to spend a few days in Hong Kong at the end. We feel that we should include a Yangtse river cruise, seeing as it's all going to be underwater soon. But having looked up some of the previous comments about Yangste river cruises on this board, I'm not too sure that people would necessarily see it as a real "must do" for a once-in-a-lifetime trip to China – or do they?<BR><BR>The trouble is that given our relatively short time frame, we would start off with a few days in Beijing, and then the Yangste river cruise would end up being the centrepiece of our holiday. Would we better off going to Xian, Shanghai etc – and maybe getting a feel for the Chinese countryside some other way, doing a short trip down the Li River maybe? I would be so grateful for any advice on all this.<BR><BR>Best wishes<BR><BR>Kate

Philip

<BR><BR>Kate,<BR><BR>My wife and I just returned last week from our 2nd vacation to China (we live in Texas). This trip was to Beijing, Yangtze River and Shanghai. The last vacation was Hong Kong and Beijing. Everybody is looking for something alittle different in a vacation. Our top two priorities in China were looking for "antique hunting" and "wonders of the world". Big cities and souvenirs were not what we were looking for. We have enjoyed ~ very much ~ our two trips.<BR><BR>OUR CONCLUSION: Take the 14 days. You can see the highlights of Beijing in 4 full days. If you do Yangtze River cruise, 2 days travel and 3 on river (do downstream). We would give cruise 3 stars out of 5. Positives ~ beautiful scenery, the cruise ship itself (Victoria Cruise) (boat much better than we expected, food good and service outstanding). The river will rise almost 450 feet next year (more later in the decade) taking away much of the beauty. We had a four hour drive after cruise ended (Yichang to Wuhan) to catch Shanghai plane. We did get to see countryside. We were lucky because the Canola (sp) was in bloom making the countryside a beautiful yellow. Negatives ~ travel time, pollution & poverty. <BR><BR>You can see the highlights of Hong Kong in 3 full days. We would not make special trip to Hong Kong again because it is very modern city. Same thing about Shanghai. Both cities have wonderful antique shopping (no comment on authenticity). I think prices for so called "antiques" are better on eBay.

Dave

Kate - I haven't been there yet, but my feeling is that a Yangtze trip is a must. However, with only 14 days maximum, you would not have time for much else, but they will always be around, whereas the Yangtze won't. If you do take a boat, go downstream 4 nights maximum. Please write again with what you choose.<BR><BR><BR>Philip- As I understand it, the Victoria cruises usually end in Wuhan, as we are scheduled to do in May with Uniworld. Was there some reason that you got off in Yichang, or was that scheduled? Which Victoria boat were you on? Thanks.

Philip

<BR><BR>Dave,<BR><BR>We were on the Victoria Prince and, as I mentioned above, the boat was very clean and modern (certainly not luxurious). I mentioned the service ~ for example, I called maintenance because the shower head broke and before I could hang up the phone, they were replacing.<BR><BR>Actually, all passengers disembarked at Yichang as scheduled by Victoria. Unless there was something interesting (hopefully not) on river that we missed, we enjoyed seeing the country side. Hope this is helpful. <BR><BR>FYI ~ we used private guides in Beijing and Shanghai. Was very helpful because we wanted to spend more time looking for older ceramics, etc. We were on the boat 4 nights (1st night you get on late and dinner was a few dollars extra).

Peter N-H

Kate Burden's note suggests that she may have seen earlier comments on this site, and amongst them mine, putting the view that on a brief visit to China, sailing on the Yangtze is not time well spent.<BR><BR>Those who argue above that they enjoyed their trips (or, in one case, will enjoy it) are entitled, of course, to their opinions. I enjoyed my trip, too. But then I've spent more than three years in China altogether, and wasn't obliged to give up visiting other places in order to do it.<BR><BR>But if anything the rise in the waters (not as rapid next year by itself as is suggested above, but travel agents and tour companies have been flagging every year as 'last chance to see' since about 1997--the truth is not of interest to them) will improve the scenery in some ways, which is anyway of modest charm compared to many other areas of China. It's a pleasant enough trip, and the boats are of adequate quality with adequate service--which is to say, impressive by Chinese standards, but fairly straightforward by world ones. If you're taking a longer trip in China, the cruise can be a few days of relative peace. But spending a third of a brief trip to China cocooned from it doesn't seem to me a good idea.<BR><BR>But even if the whole thing were to disappear tomorrow (and, quite honestly, there'll be Yangtze cruises for the rest of our lifetimes for sure) it wouldn't matter. The real excitement of the trip and which gave it its fearsome reputation disappeared last century with the dynamiting and dredging projects of the British, and later the appearance of Chinese-built dams. The real Yangtze experience disappeared likely before most reading this were born.<BR><BR>If you are interested in seeing scenery from a boat, the equally ersatz Li River trip will do just as well, and takes only a day. The scenery is more memorable, and is fairly constantly so throughout the trip. <BR><BR>So instead select instead the mountain villages of Yunnan, the forest parks of Sichuan, Lhasa in Tibet, the minority villages of Fujian, the ancient merchants' mansions of Shanxi (on the way from Beijing to Xi'an), the former imperial resort of Chengde (a half-day northeast of Beijing), Confucius' home town of Qufu in Shandong (on the way to Shanghai), the canal-laced villages around Shanghai, travel northwest from Xi'an to the caves of Dunhuang, etc. All rather more unforgettable and more immediate experiences than the Yangtze.<BR><BR>Peter N-H<BR>http://members.axion.net/~pnh/China.html

Kate Burden

Thanks so much for your replies. I really appreciate you going to the trouble of trying to help me out. Peter, you've put my mind at rest. I guess I was hoping that someone would write in saying what you did – which, deep down, was what I wanted to hear. I think 3 days of my trip cooped up on a bog standard cruise boat will be too much for me, and especially so if the scenery isn't seen to be worth that kind of effort. I'll take your advice and do the Li River cruise instead.<BR><BR>Thanks and best wishes<BR><BR>Kate B<BR>

Doyle Little

My adopted chinese son says the Yantze Cruise is overpriced, overpromoted,over rated and less atractive than the Li river trip, Lijiang etc. He says a tourist in China has a lot of better choices about where to spend their time and money<BR>Doyle

steven

I have to say that both the yangste and the Li are wonderful, unforgettable experiences, just differnet from one another. Ignore any negative comments.We had 14 days, and did both. Guilin-Yangshou with a wonderful CTS guide Mo, [email protected],was the best part of our entire trip. Do the motorcycle sidecar tour of the countryside to see the China of 2000 years ago. The boat ride from Guilin is well woth it, you can drive back from Yangshou to get to the Guilin airport. And seeing the scenery from the river as opposed to the land is very different. Why drive both ways? See the cormorant fishing in Guilin.

JBX

Any other opinions on this cruise issue?<BR><BR>