2nd-hand Yangtze Three Gorges report
May 25th, 2007, 09:45 AM
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2nd-hand Yangtze Three Gorges report
I know there are a lot of inquiries about what the Yangtze Three Gorges are like now, how it compares to before, whether it's worth going, etc, on this forum. Not many people have been there more than once, so there are few comparisons. My cousins just came back from a cruise, which is why I asked them some questions about it.
I went on a Yangtze cruise only once, with my parents and sister in 1985. They have since gone back twice, but not very recently. My cousins went in 2002, and then again late April of this year, so they are best to describe the difference.
1. They took a upstream cruise on the <b>President I</b>. It's not the newest ship (lauched in 1995), but still pretty nice. One thing they noticed is that most of the passengers are westerners, <b>which is very good thing</b>. On my parents' last Yangtze cruise, most are Chinese (mainland, Taiwan or HK), and those people would rush to the buffet and grab more than they could finish - not a pretty scene. On my cousins' cruise, breakfast and lunch are buffets, and no such problem.
2. I don't know if this is planned/known or not, but they didn't board the ship at Yichang. Instead they were bused to tour the Three Gorges Dam, and boarded the ship just upstream of the dam. So, no going through the locks at Gezhou and Three Gorges dams.
3. In general, compared to 2002, the vista was not as impressive, as the water level is now higher, so the gorges are not as deep. There's also no more tour of the "mini 3 Gorges" on small boats; instead, they were transfered to a medium sized cruise boat for a trip up another tributary (details not very clear, sorry). Lots of historical and interesting sites are now under water, as expected.
4. One advantage of the higher water level is that it's now much easier to view the hanging caskets, one of the more interesting and peculiar sites in the Yangtze Gorges.
Anyways, they still enjoy the trip. And I think if one has never been to the Three Gorges, it should still be quite interesting. But if you have been on a cruise prior, you may be a bit disappointed by the new view of the river.
I went on a Yangtze cruise only once, with my parents and sister in 1985. They have since gone back twice, but not very recently. My cousins went in 2002, and then again late April of this year, so they are best to describe the difference.
1. They took a upstream cruise on the <b>President I</b>. It's not the newest ship (lauched in 1995), but still pretty nice. One thing they noticed is that most of the passengers are westerners, <b>which is very good thing</b>. On my parents' last Yangtze cruise, most are Chinese (mainland, Taiwan or HK), and those people would rush to the buffet and grab more than they could finish - not a pretty scene. On my cousins' cruise, breakfast and lunch are buffets, and no such problem.
2. I don't know if this is planned/known or not, but they didn't board the ship at Yichang. Instead they were bused to tour the Three Gorges Dam, and boarded the ship just upstream of the dam. So, no going through the locks at Gezhou and Three Gorges dams.
3. In general, compared to 2002, the vista was not as impressive, as the water level is now higher, so the gorges are not as deep. There's also no more tour of the "mini 3 Gorges" on small boats; instead, they were transfered to a medium sized cruise boat for a trip up another tributary (details not very clear, sorry). Lots of historical and interesting sites are now under water, as expected.
4. One advantage of the higher water level is that it's now much easier to view the hanging caskets, one of the more interesting and peculiar sites in the Yangtze Gorges.
Anyways, they still enjoy the trip. And I think if one has never been to the Three Gorges, it should still be quite interesting. But if you have been on a cruise prior, you may be a bit disappointed by the new view of the river.
