Travel on Yangtze River Boats

[Understudy]

I'm headed back to China this summer, and at some point hope to make my way down to Sichuan and Chongqing. From there, I would like to take a boat downriver stopping at various other regions. I do not, however, want to take a tour boat. I'm not interested in getting a western experience, but would much rather ride with the local populations on any of the cheaper, more common boats. Does anyone have experience with such a thing, and if so, could you give me an idea of the cost of traveling on one of the local boats?

[abcdefg]

I do not, however, want to take a tour boat. I'm not interested in getting a western experience, but would much rather ride with the local populations on any of the cheaper, more common boats.

I did it earlier this month. Took the boat on the Yangtze 长江 from Chongqing 重庆 to Yichang 宜昌. Like you, I did not want a tour boat full of rich westerners. Most agencies and hotels try to book you into one of these because they are more expensive and they work on commission.

Several tricks are involved. First you need to know that the name of the kind of boat you want is a 客船 not a 游船。There are also 飞船 which are hydrofoils that make the trip in about 12 hours. But with those, you just sit in a seat most of the time and they often modify their schedules because of mechanical breakdowns. Don't think that's what you want.

The second trick is to find a place to purchase the ticket. A university student friend directed me to the right place in Chongqing; an agency that caters to Chinese university students traveling on the cheap. I'm not at home now, but will post their address and phone number for you early next week. I picked up one of their 名片。They were helpful if you knew what you wanted, but were not overflowing with first-timer advice. Bound to be other places to get a ticket as well.

The ticket I bought was 三等， which gave me a bunk in a four bed room. Cost about 500 RMB, for two nights and most of two days. Left Chongqing about 10 p.m. the first night and arrived early afternoon two days later. Accommodations were really primitive and the ticket included nothing except the ride and the bunk. I think 二等 cost 900 and had two people per cabin. Fourth class tickts put you in a six-bed room.

Someone cooked a simple breakfast for 5 Yuan consisting of 馒头， 粥， and a boiled egg. At lunch there was 快餐 for 10 Yuan (a bowl of rice with two or three vegetables and a spoon of meat.) Food was pretty unappetizing, but I did not get sick from it and this was not billed as a gourmet cruise, so no harm done. At supper you had to scrounge something up from the onboard store or grab something at a pier while they loaded additional passengers. I think you could have had the cook make you something to order for a little more. It's a good idea to carry most of your own groceries on board like you would if taking a long distance bus.

You will have plenty of time to rub shoulders with locals and hear their stories about what the river used to be like before the dam and such. It was a bare bones experience, but an interesting one. I was the only round eye passenger on board.

[Understudy]

Hey, thanks so much, couldn't have asked for a better write-up of an experience. Those stories from folks who remember the 'older days' of the river are really what I am after. This all sounds really good, and I'm all game for a bit of adventure in terms of food and cramped housing. If you do have information about places to find tickets, that would be amazing, as I have no contacts within Chongqing. Thanks so much for this post!

[abcdefg]

If you do have information about places to find tickets, that would be amazing

Sure thing. I am out of town now, exploring the "Cradle of Chinese Civilization" around the Yellow River, but will post it when I get back to Kunming on Monday. Glad to be of help.

[abcdefg]

Here's the place I bought the boat ticket in Chongqing. It was located near 朝天门码头。

Snapshots of business card attached. They also could book inexpensive rooms in Chongqing. A couple of students I met in Chongqing had used them for that. Not sure if Engllish was spoken, I stuck with Chinese.

[skylee]

Ahh~ the name of the company is in traditional Chinese... I like it.

[abcdefg]

Haha!

[Meng Lelan]

Yay for trads....I like it too.

Does China Youth Travel Service operate out of cities like Suzhou, Kunming, etc or is it specific to Chongqing?

[abcdefg]

Does China Youth Travel Service operate out of cities like Suzhou, Kunming, etc or is it specific to Chongqing?

I don't know if they have other locations, but I'm guessing it's just Chongqing. Could be wrong. You might have a look at their website. Sorry I don't have time to check it just now.

I thought it was pretty decent of them to help me out since I'm nowhere near qualifying as a "youth" anymore.

[jbradfor]

Maybe the employees are young?

[xuexiansheng]

Thanks for the 名片, i'll tell them abcdefg set me ;)

the website seems to have changed....

http://www.cqzql.com/

[abcdefg]

Thanks for the 名片, i'll tell them abcdefg set me ;)

That will surely get you a big discount! (Only joking.)

Hope the trip works out for you.

[jbradfor]

Any thoughts / suggestions on the 游船 version? Does it basically do the same thing (float down the river), but a lot nicer and a lot more expensive?

Just to confirm: the one you were on you basically stayed on the entire time, right? Are they any that are more like cruise ships (only a lot smaller!), in that they travel at night, and you tour in a new city each day?

[abcdefg]

Sorry, I only came across your questions today.

Any thoughts / suggestions on the 游船 version? Does it basically do the same thing (float down the river), but a lot nicer and a lot more expensive?

I didn't investigate this option carefully because I didn't want to be surrounded by a bunch of well-heeled foreign tourists who were hellbent on "doing" China in 10 days or less. "Yangtze today, Terracota Warriors tomorrow, Great Wall the day after" and so on. I was seeking a different experience.

Just to confirm: the one you were on you basically stayed on the entire time, right?

Right. There were a couple places where we had time to dash up to a nearby temple or some such, but not many people on this particular boat availed themselves of those opportunities. We never tied up for more than about an hour and that was mainly to take on or offload cargo.

Are they any that are more like cruise ships (only a lot smaller!), in that they travel at night, and you tour in a new city each day?

Not sure of the details. I did see some ships on line during the planning phase that made more leisurely progress to allow for short "on shore" sight seeing expeditions, and doing it that way might have been advantageous.

I'm not convinced the way I did it was the definitely the best way. It was a pretty spartan experience. I did, however, get to rub shoulders with some old timers who had made the trip several times over the years. Listening to them talk about how the river had changed was pretty interesting.

[jbradfor]

Thanks. If I had a lot of time in China, and were by myself, that cruise sounds like a great cultural experience (to do once!). However, with a wife and kid, and only 10 days to see China, I'll probably look for other idea -- after all, gotta go see those Terracota Warriors :-)

Anyone have other suggested Yangtze cruise ideas? I assume there are day trips? Are there some cities that it's better to do tours from?