shanghai to the the gorges

I have read all the postings on the Yangtze forum and am convinced that a river cruise is not worth the time. I was therefore wondering if its possible to get a ferry or hydrofoil or similar from shanghai , up the yangtze river and back either the same day or 1 night away. We are looking at doing this around september/ october and from what I have read here, the scenery is virtualy gone with the raising of the water levels.We are still keen to view anything in the 3 gorges area if its recommended and not going to take 3 or more days out of our itinerary. Ideally a quick ride there and back would be great. Any suggestions would be great.Other than that any other suggestions on how to spend a week ex shanghai would be great. I will have already done Shanghai and the water villages to the north so on this trip we are looking at something else that we can do ex shanghai. Love seing the villages, Ive been to zuizaighou and loved the scenery there so please, any suggestions will be welcomed.

shanghai to the the gorges

The Yangtze gorges are not near Shanghai - they are close to YiChang which is a 2 hour flight from Shanghai.

For more info: www.travelchinaguide.com/picture/yangtze/

shanghai to the the gorges

9plus

I%26#39;m very interested in your comment below:

I have read all the postings on the Yangtze forum and am convinced that a river cruise is not worth the time.

We are thinking of doing a tour of China including a 3 or 4 day Yangtze cruise later this year as we%26#39;ve read that the dam will be completed next year.

I%26#39;d like to read any posts that give pro/con views on a Yangtze cruise - but I can%26#39;t find the Yangtze (or Changjiang) forum.

Could you please point me in the right direction.

Cheers

I found the comments on this website by putting yangtze river cruising in the search window and it opened up a page with several comments..........none of which were favourable.If you cant find it let me know and I%26#39;ll see what else I can do to help you find it.

Hi 9plus

Thanks for the prompt reply.

I actually did the same search as you. My brain was half-sleep when I did the original post (clocks in the UK have gone forward an hour - it%26#39;s offically the start of Bristish Summer Time).

Lots of the posts were under different sub-forums (even Beijing %26amp; Xian) so I%26#39;ve spent the last few hours reading widely differing viewpoints on doing a Yangtze Cruise.

I know ellyse (expert on Shanghai) does not recommend it but I think from reading her posts (apologies ellyse if I%26#39;ve got this wrong) part of her disappointment was because she was on a Chinese boat (rather than a %26#39;Western-style%26#39; one) and the weather was cold.

What time of year did you do the Yangtze cruise, ellyse?

I%26#39;m still undecided about it.

Cheers

We took a Yangtze cruise in Oct 2006 and enjoyed it. The scenery is beautiful and the dam was interesting. It was a nice 3 day trip out of Shanghai for expats who live here. But I%26#39;m not sure that I would spend 3-4 days of a China vacation on it.

Instead I would pick Yangshou/Guilin - I haven%26#39;t been yet but I%26#39;ve heard the scenery is beautiful.

Nope, not possible from Shanghai. Too far!

Water villages ';to the north';? What did you mean?

How about trying Wuyuan in Jiangxi province, if you%26#39;re ok with going very off-the-beaten-path? If not, the Hui-style villages near Huangshan (Anhui province) will suffice, though more touristy.

I did the 3 Gorges cruise in January 2007. I%26#39;ll email you my full trip review and candid photos.

Prettypollycat: Just realised I don%26#39;t have your email address. If you still want the information, please email me directly at ellyse99@yahoo.com and put ';TripAdvisor'; and your own username (eg Prettypollycat) in the subject line.

ellyse

Thanks for the offer, but after reading lots of reports about the Yangzte cruise (on here and a couple of other websites), we%26#39;ve decided not to bother doing that so we%26#39;re now looking at alternative tours.

Regards

Polly

Good for you! :)