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Travelling the River
The Yangzi. This name alone projects a flair of adventure and misterious
ferry crossings in the night. I dare to say that everyone has at one time
heard the name in connection with an adventerous story.
Reality is as always a bit of a letdown, but it is still one of the
best river trips you can take. And probably the longest of them all.
A boat from Shanghai upriver to Chongqing takes about seven days, and
even the quickest way through the Yangzi gorges downstream from Chongqing
to Wuhan takes about two days and nights.
Boats and Ticketing
There are special tourist boats that are rather luxurious and fairly
expensive for China. CITS will gladly provide you with tickets for those
but I would say that this is really only interesting for tour groups or
if you just don't want to be bothered with the hassles of everyday
life in China.
I very much recommend the regular passenger boats going up and down the
river all the time. They are cheaper and there's a chance to meet with
Chinese over a couple of days of slow river travel.
One warning: Those passenger boats are cheap enough to afford second class
or at least third class! Don't even think about fourth or fifth class
tickets if you want to enjoy this trip.
Tickets for the regular Yangzi boats can be bought at CITS and usually also
at the ticket office at the boat dock. Bring a phrase book and ask the staff
at the hotel to write your destination on a piece of paper to show at the
ticket office. Usually tickets can be bought on the day of departure, but one
day ahead should always be enough.
Some views...
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One of the big passenger boats cruising the Yangzi.
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The Yangzi in Wuhan. About 600 km upriver from the
sea, the river here is still 1 km wide.
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