Can anyone suggest what to do for 8 hours in Chonqging before boarding boat for Yangtze cruise. Thank you.
I have not posted on the Asia forum in ages. I was in Chongqing last March and I adore the city. My sister in law's family live here and we met for dinner. I was here for work and in our free time we went to a place at night that has a view of the city and river and I think a restaurant and bar in the building at the top. It was lovely and scenic.
Also if you plan to have a meal go to one of the Hot Pot places that are along the waterfront. Its cheap and cheerful and i paid about 25 euro for 6 people with beer, other drinks and about 10 plates of food. They seat you at a square table and light the stove underneath and add the hot/spicy broth until it almost boils. In the centre is a smaller bowl with soup. All the food comes raw and you drop it all in and it cooks and you fish it out with chopsticks. Best and most interesting meal I had in ages! It was called Morals Village Beauty hot pot restaurant. No 3 SHopping Street Longmenhao, nanbing Rd Nanan dist. Two gils usually are outside and then you are escorted by lift to the restaurant. Its worth the experience. Also go to the main shopping area its like an open marble plaza. Check out the side streets its a very beautiful and interesting city. People are really friendly here.
Also if you plan to have a meal go to one of the Hot Pot places that are along the waterfront. Its cheap and cheerful and i paid about 25 euro for 6 people with beer, other drinks and about 10 plates of food. They seat you at a square table and light the stove underneath and add the hot/spicy broth until it almost boils. In the centre is a smaller bowl with soup. All the food comes raw and you drop it all in and it cooks and you fish it out with chopsticks. Best and most interesting meal I had in ages! It was called Morals Village Beauty hot pot restaurant. No 3 SHopping Street Longmenhao, nanbing Rd Nanan dist. Two gils usually are outside and then you are escorted by lift to the restaurant. Its worth the experience. Also go to the main shopping area its like an open marble plaza. Check out the side streets its a very beautiful and interesting city. People are really friendly here.
Another vote for Dazu. It's amazing! We arranged for a driver and guide to pick us up at the airport, take us to Dazu and then to the pier for the Yangtze cruise. We even had time for a hotpot dinner.
Donnawolski -
Who did you go through to purchase your Yangtze cruise? I are debating whether we should go or not in July as we heard about the recent flooding. There also seems to be a lot of different cruise operators with pricing from very cheap to very expensive. We just want to make sure we have an enjoyable experience!
Who did you go through to purchase your Yangtze cruise? I are debating whether we should go or not in July as we heard about the recent flooding. There also seems to be a lot of different cruise operators with pricing from very cheap to very expensive. We just want to make sure we have an enjoyable experience!
Even though there are alot of options to choose from, it seemed to us that the biggest factor was whether to take the inexpensive all-Chinese boat or one that is western. We finally decided on the President Four - it's Chinese owned but western-style. It's 4 star and seems to get a mix of Europeans, Asians and Americans. The cost is less than some other choices - Victoria line, etc. but the recommendations from people who had taken it were very good. We just googled the boat name and looked at dozens of listings for it - including lots of travel agencies - they gave us a chance to compare it with a number of other boats.
Our final choice really came down to 3 factors: cost was a bit less than others - about $375/pp. Our final decision really came down to 2 things: it sailed on Sunday from Chongquing and that fit our itinerary. We are traveling independenyly so could have adjusted our schedule some to accomodate another sailing day but we really did not want to. And all (or most) of the cabins have private outside balconies and we think that will be pretty wonderful.
We could have booked this same tour with many companies but chose a guy named Michael Wu with CITS in Yichang becuase he was very quick and responsive to our questions. His email is [email protected]. The company website is
www.china-tourism.org.
We are going to China at end of August and will do the Yangtze cruise near mid-September. If you decide on President Four, let us know how it really is! Good luck.
Our final choice really came down to 3 factors: cost was a bit less than others - about $375/pp. Our final decision really came down to 2 things: it sailed on Sunday from Chongquing and that fit our itinerary. We are traveling independenyly so could have adjusted our schedule some to accomodate another sailing day but we really did not want to. And all (or most) of the cabins have private outside balconies and we think that will be pretty wonderful.
We could have booked this same tour with many companies but chose a guy named Michael Wu with CITS in Yichang becuase he was very quick and responsive to our questions. His email is [email protected]. The company website is
www.china-tourism.org.
We are going to China at end of August and will do the Yangtze cruise near mid-September. If you decide on President Four, let us know how it really is! Good luck.
Thanks for the information about President Four. It looks like it could be a great option for my trip (the dates work and prices are reasonable).
You're also right about Michael. He IS very responsive. He got back to me right away about the prices ($409 pp for balcony room) and even some options for getting back to Beijing from Yichang. I'll likely book the cruise through him but not the air tickets. I was able to find discounted air tickets on ctrip.com. If everything works out, I'll let you know President Four is. Thanks again!
You're also right about Michael. He IS very responsive. He got back to me right away about the prices ($409 pp for balcony room) and even some options for getting back to Beijing from Yichang. I'll likely book the cruise through him but not the air tickets. I was able to find discounted air tickets on ctrip.com. If everything works out, I'll let you know President Four is. Thanks again!
We will be in Chongqing in November to visit son who is there for a year. Any other suggestions on what to do in Chongqing? Is Chengdu a day trip from Chongqing or should we stay overnite? What is best way to travel between the two cities? Is it possible to hire a private guide for the day once we arrive in Chongqing and Chengdu? Son will not know his schedule until October. Thanks.
travelgo7
We also made our own flight reservations. Check the prices at 9588.com as well as ctrip and elong. prices were a bit better than the others and using the site wsa much easier. And the email confirmation was a fast as from Delta or other US airline site.
We are flying into Chongqing from Lhasa, arriving around noon. We booked a walking tour of the old city and Erling Park with a guide who will also meet us at the airport and then get us to the correct boat dock in time for boarding.
I asked Michael Wu if he could recommend a guide and heard quickly back from a woman in his office who arranged the guide for us. We didn't want a big group bus tour becasue most seem to include a vist to the pandas at the zoo and we will have already been to the panda perserve in Chengdu.
Instead we will visit Erling Park and take a walking tour of Ciqikow - the old town area before having dinner at a local hot-pot restaurant. Cost of transport and guide for afternoon is 550 RMB for 2 - plus dinner seems like a fair price. Ms. Wang's email is [email protected] in case you are interested in making loal arrangements.
We also made our own flight reservations. Check the prices at 9588.com as well as ctrip and elong. prices were a bit better than the others and using the site wsa much easier. And the email confirmation was a fast as from Delta or other US airline site.
We are flying into Chongqing from Lhasa, arriving around noon. We booked a walking tour of the old city and Erling Park with a guide who will also meet us at the airport and then get us to the correct boat dock in time for boarding.
I asked Michael Wu if he could recommend a guide and heard quickly back from a woman in his office who arranged the guide for us. We didn't want a big group bus tour becasue most seem to include a vist to the pandas at the zoo and we will have already been to the panda perserve in Chengdu.
Instead we will visit Erling Park and take a walking tour of Ciqikow - the old town area before having dinner at a local hot-pot restaurant. Cost of transport and guide for afternoon is 550 RMB for 2 - plus dinner seems like a fair price. Ms. Wang's email is [email protected] in case you are interested in making loal arrangements.
Thanks for the recommendations! I think your city tour and hot pot dinner sounds great.
I was also looking at options for for Chongqing and was considering going to the zoo for the pandas as I won't be going to Chengdu. The tour that was offered to me also included seeing the General Joseph W. Stilwell's residence. I'll need to look into it to see if it's worthwhile.
I was also looking at options for for Chongqing and was considering going to the zoo for the pandas as I won't be going to Chengdu. The tour that was offered to me also included seeing the General Joseph W. Stilwell's residence. I'll need to look into it to see if it's worthwhile.
Donnawolski -
I just got back from my China trip the end of July so I wanted to give you an update on the President Four boat. We ended up doing the 4 day/3 night cruise from Chongqing to Yichang. First of all, even though we had mixed feelings about taking the cruise, we're glad we did it. It was a unique way to see this part of China and the 3 gorges.
First of all, the boat is old but nice. We've heard that the rating scale was different in China and we found this to be true. While the boat was rated 4 stars, I would say it would probably be 2 1/2 or 3 stars by western standards but it was fine for the length of the trip.
We had reserved a twin room with a balcony but upon check in, was shown the deluxe room with balcony as a possible upgrade. The deluxe room had a king sized bed and own a/c which was really nice compared to having 2 twin sized beds. Initially they wanted $180 more for the room but we were able to negotiate it down to $100. Thinking back, we probably didn't NEED the upgrade but it was nice not to have twin beds. One warning though - I'm not sure if it's just my room but I had to leave my balcony door open to air out the room every day. They use ammonia to clean the bathroom and it's very strong! Otherwise, the room was comfortable. The beds are hard but I've found this typical in China.
For meals, they seat you with people based on language. At our table, we had people from Holland and Australia and they were very nice. You also do excusions with the people at your table so you'll definately get to know them.
We were told that we were very lucky that the weather cooperated when we went through the gorges. I guess it's usually cloudy. On the day we went through, it was very clear and the views were amazing. Overall - we had a nice time on the cruise. It ended up the most relaxing thing we did during our 3 week trip because there's really not much else to do on the boat! I gladly used the free time to read and relax. Let me know if you have any other questions. I think you will enjoy it as well.
I just got back from my China trip the end of July so I wanted to give you an update on the President Four boat. We ended up doing the 4 day/3 night cruise from Chongqing to Yichang. First of all, even though we had mixed feelings about taking the cruise, we're glad we did it. It was a unique way to see this part of China and the 3 gorges.
First of all, the boat is old but nice. We've heard that the rating scale was different in China and we found this to be true. While the boat was rated 4 stars, I would say it would probably be 2 1/2 or 3 stars by western standards but it was fine for the length of the trip.
We had reserved a twin room with a balcony but upon check in, was shown the deluxe room with balcony as a possible upgrade. The deluxe room had a king sized bed and own a/c which was really nice compared to having 2 twin sized beds. Initially they wanted $180 more for the room but we were able to negotiate it down to $100. Thinking back, we probably didn't NEED the upgrade but it was nice not to have twin beds. One warning though - I'm not sure if it's just my room but I had to leave my balcony door open to air out the room every day. They use ammonia to clean the bathroom and it's very strong! Otherwise, the room was comfortable. The beds are hard but I've found this typical in China.
For meals, they seat you with people based on language. At our table, we had people from Holland and Australia and they were very nice. You also do excusions with the people at your table so you'll definately get to know them.
We were told that we were very lucky that the weather cooperated when we went through the gorges. I guess it's usually cloudy. On the day we went through, it was very clear and the views were amazing. Overall - we had a nice time on the cruise. It ended up the most relaxing thing we did during our 3 week trip because there's really not much else to do on the boat! I gladly used the free time to read and relax. Let me know if you have any other questions. I think you will enjoy it as well.
We were there about 5 years ago and asked the guide to take us on a walking tour of the oldest part of town, ie old buildings where people still lived. It was quite interesting, not sure if that area still exists.
