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Cruising the Yangtze

by Kerry van der Jagt | 05 Sep 2013

Yangtze river cruiseIt’s the longest river in Asia, flowing from the glaciers in Tibet and emptying into the East China Sea at Shanghai, and a cruise down the Yangtze River is considered the thrill of a lifetime.

Gorges three

A swirling mist has enveloped the Yangtze River as the Victoria Queen threads its way through Wu Gorge, the second of China’s famed Three Gorges. Ahead of us the mountains look like violet-coloured cutouts, the soaring peaks as delicate as tissue paper.

As we drift through the gorge the pointy peaks play hide and- seek with the fog, one minute you see them, the next minute they’re gone. You could be forgiven for thinking you are sailing along the submerged spine of a mythical dragon. In fact, according to Chinese legend, the Yangtze is a dragon, with the tail beginning at the source in the mountains of Tibet and its mouth extending all the way to Shanghai.

Cruising the Yangtze River is a must-do addition to any China trip. Helen Wong’s four-day journey begins in the city of Chongqing, a megacity of 32 million people.

Leaving the madding crowd in its wake, Victoria Queen travels some 660 kilometres through the most stunning section of the Yangtze River – the daisy chain of jewels known as the Three Gorges (Qutang, Wu and Xiling) – before finishing at Yichang.

In between shore excursions there are opportunities to learn more about Chinese culture with Mandarin classes, tai chi lessons, Chinese dynasty shows, dumpling demonstrations and talks on traditional medicine and river ecology.

Lore and legends

The Three Gorges region has long inspired poets, writers and painters and has been the scene of many great historical quests as well as mythological ones.

Along Wu Gorge there are twelve unique peaks, the most prominent being the Goddess Peak. Looking like the sculpture of a girl gazing upon the river, the figure is actually the embodiment of Yao Ji, the youngest daughter of the Heavenly Mother sent to protect people from the Yangtze’s floods and also to guide sailing boats through the gorge.

According to legend, when Chinese people die their souls are transported to Fengdu, the City of Ghosts, to be tried and tested. Hideous sculptures show what happens to those who fail; liars are stretched on the rack, drinkers are boiled in oil, thieves are sawn in half through the groin.

On a sweeter note, the area surrounding Shennong Stream is known as the Fragrant Stream, due to the rose-scented tears of Wang Zhaojun, the most beautiful woman in ancient China.

Ghosts, ghouls and a grand new dam

One shore excursion is to Fengdu, the so-called City of Ghosts, which sits perched above the river like a devil's lair.

Dating back 2300 years to the Ba Kingdom, this tangle of temples and pagodas was seen as a final pit stop for human souls before judgement day.

Inside, visitors are faced with conundrums at every turn: a choice of three bridges to cross, depending on whether you value health, wealth or happiness; a rock to shift to prove your fidelity and a selection of pebbles to predict your future. Apparently I’m coming back as an emperor, my friend is going to hell and coming back as a cockroach.

Another excursion takes passengers on a narrow offshoot of the Yangtze, the Madu River, transferring first to a ferry and then to a traditional sampan.

Huddled inside the wooden boat, with the oarsman singing a love ballad, passengers get an intimate sense of a way of life that has existed for centuries. In some sections 2000-year-old coffins can be seen poking out of hillside cliffs.

From the ancient past to the present, the 2335m-long, 185m-high and 130m-wide Yangtze River Dam is the hydrological equivalent of China’s Great Wall.

Built to end the terrible flooding that has killed more than one million people in the past century, while providing energy for China’s ever-growing population, a tour of the site provides a rare insight into the engineering marvel, while allowing visitors to make up their own minds about its environmental consequences.