4D3N Yangtze River Cruise: Chongqing to Yichang by Century Cruise

Three gorges, one comfortable river journey. This four-day, three-night cruise gives you a calm way to see the Yangtze, with three included shore excursions, all meals listed in the package, and a Chinese five-star ship carrying you downstream from Chongqing to Yichang. I like the excellent mix of scenery and sightseeing, especially the passage through Qutang, Wu, and Xiling gorges. I also like that the ship handles luggage and provides a bilingual Chinese and English guide onboard.

The main caution is that the exact three excursions can change with the ship schedule. You should also budget for the CN¥200 cruise service charge, the optional excursions, your taxi to the pier, and a 75 percent single-room supplement if you want a cabin to yourself.

Five details to know before you book

• The ship depends on your departure day: Century Victory generally sails on Wednesdays, Century Oasis on Saturdays, and Century Glory on Sundays.
• The Three Gorges are the main event: You pass Qutang Gorge, Wu Gorge, and Xiling Gorge during the cruise, with the best views coming from the river itself.
• Three shore excursions are included: The planned stops are Fengdu Ghost City, Shennong Stream, and the Three Gorges Dam, though the final three sites can change.
• The cruise begins late: Boarding at Chongqing Chaotianmen Pier runs from 6:30 pm to 9:00 pm, with departure scheduled around 9:30 pm.
• Solo rooms cost more: The advertised $768 price is based on a standard twin-sharing cabin. A private cabin costs about 75 percent more.
• The ship is praised for its upkeep: The vessel and its appointments have been described as first class and consistently immaculate, with a friendly crew.

Why this Yangtze cruise is worth considering

A Yangtze cruise works best when you want scenery without changing hotels every night. You unpack once, settle into a cabin, and watch the river carry you through some of central China’s most famous river corridors.

At $768 per person, the price is not a budget trip. But it covers three nights of cruise accommodation, three breakfasts, two lunches, three dinners, luggage handling, a bilingual onboard guide, and three shore excursions. For a four-day journey on a five-star Chinese cruise ship, that is a reasonable package, provided you are comfortable with the extra charges.

The strongest part is the rhythm. Your days combine open river views, short land visits, and time aboard ship. You are not rushing from one city hotel to another. You can sit on deck, attend the captain’s welcome reception in smart casual clothes, and let the scenery change at its own pace.

The trade-off is control. The ship schedule determines when you stop and which three excursions operate. If you have your heart set on one particular site, confirm the final program before departure.

Choosing among Century Oasis, Victory, and Glory

Century Cruises uses three ships for this route: Century Oasis, Century Victory, and Century Glory. The ship you receive depends on the departure date. Century Victory generally operates on Wednesdays, Century Oasis on Saturdays, and Century Glory on Sundays.

That schedule matters more than the ship name if you have fixed plans in Chongqing or Yichang. Check your dates before arranging hotels, trains, or flights. Confirmation is normally sent within 48 hours of booking, but it remains subject to availability.

The available details emphasize a five-star cruise setting, a well-kept ship, friendly crew, and clean appointments. You should expect a proper cruise atmosphere rather than a basic river ferry. The captain’s welcome reception also gives the trip a slightly formal touch, so pack at least one smart casual outfit.

The standard price assumes two people sharing a cabin with two beds. If you are traveling alone, you may be paired with another person unless you pay the single-room supplement. A private room costs 75 percent more than the shared rate, and a solo passenger cannot share a room above the upper floor. Suite-level rooms may be available, but you must ask about them before booking.

Chongqing Chaotianmen Pier and the first night

Your starting point is Chongqing Chaotianmen Pier. Boarding runs from 6:30 pm to 9:00 pm, with the ship scheduled to leave Chongqing at about 9:30 pm.

You receive the exact boarding location in both Chinese and English. That is useful because large Chinese cities can have several nearby piers, and showing the Chinese address to a taxi driver is often the simplest option. Hotel pickup and pier transfer are not included, so allow enough time to reach Chaotianmen on your own.

The first evening is mostly about getting settled. You handle boarding, luggage, cabin arrangements, and dinner, then begin the downstream journey after dark. Do not expect much sightseeing from the river that night. The value of this first evening is practical: you move into your room and wake up already underway.

The group size is capped at 15 people for the activity. That is small enough to make shore arrangements more manageable, although the ship itself can carry more people than the tour group.

Fengdu Ghost City on day two

After breakfast on the second day, you visit Fengdu Ghost City on an included shore excursion. The visit is scheduled for about two hours.

Fengdu is presented as a 1,900-year-old site with a strong connection to Chinese ideas about the afterlife. Its name can sound more dramatic than the actual visit, but the stop offers a useful look at traditional beliefs, religious imagery, and local storytelling.

The two-hour length is a good fit for a river cruise. You get off the ship, see the main area, and return without losing the whole day. The limitation is that a short excursion cannot cover every part of a large cultural site. You should treat this as an introduction rather than a full archaeological visit.

Your bilingual onboard guide is especially useful here. Cultural references at Fengdu may not be obvious if you simply walk around on your own. The guide can explain what the buildings, figures, and symbols mean in a way that makes the visit easier to follow.

After the shore visit, the ship returns to its main job: carrying you through the Yangtze. This balance between a planned stop and unhurried time onboard is one of the reasons the cruise format works well.

Qutang and Wu gorges on day three

Day three brings the scenery you probably came to see. The ship enters Qutang Gorge, the first of the Three Gorges. It is the shortest of the three, but it is known for its dramatic, narrow passage and steep sides.

From there, the route continues into Wu Gorge. Wu Gorge is associated with lofty mountains and more extended river views. The cruise gives you time to see the gorge from several angles, rather than arriving at one viewpoint, taking a photograph, and leaving.

The quality of the experience depends heavily on where you spend your time onboard. Use the open viewing areas when available, but also keep an eye on the changing schedule. Weather, river conditions, and ship operations can affect exactly when the best views appear. Have your camera ready, but do not spend the entire passage looking down at it.

The gorge section is also where the cruise feels most different from a standard sightseeing tour. You are not simply being taken to a viewpoint. The river is the route, and the scenery unfolds gradually. That slower pace gives you a better sense of the scale of the cliffs and the waterway.

Shennong Stream and the small-boat excursion

The planned day-three shore excursion is at Badong, where you board a smaller pea boat for a ride along Shennong Stream. The stream originates on the southern slope of Shennongjia, and the scheduled visit lasts about two hours.

This is a pleasant contrast to the large cruise ship. You leave the main vessel and move onto a much smaller boat, getting closer to the water and the stream’s banks. The setting is described as clear and scenic, with the smaller craft providing a more intimate view than the main ship can offer.

The name may appear as Shennv Stream in some schedules, while the description refers to Shennong Stream. Because the exact excursion program can change by sailing, confirm the final wording and route before departure.

The two-hour visit keeps the stop manageable, but it also means you should not expect a long independent exploration. You will be following the boat excursion’s timing and returning to the cruise ship according to the group schedule.

This is one of the most distinctive parts of the trip because it breaks up the large-ship routine. I would give this stop extra weight when comparing the cruise with a simple scenic sailing. You get both the broad views from the Century ship and a closer look from a smaller boat.

Xiling Gorge and the Three Gorges Dam

The river journey continues through Xiling Gorge, the longest of the Three Gorges. By this point, you have seen the three major sections in sequence: Qutang, Wu, and Xiling.

The final morning begins early. After breakfast, you disembark at Maoping Pier in Yichang’s Zigui County and join the shore excursion to the Three Gorges Dam Project.

The dam is described as the largest water power project in the world. Its importance is not only visual. It reshaped the river, changed navigation conditions, and made the Yangtze a major subject of modern engineering and national development. Even if large infrastructure is not normally your first sightseeing choice, the scale makes this a worthwhile final stop.

The included excursion lasts about two hours. A golf-cart ride at the dam costs an additional CN¥10 per person, so keep a little local currency available if you want that option. The tour ends at Maoping Pier, not necessarily at your hotel or airport, so arrange your onward transport from Yichang separately.

An early start is the main drawback. You should have your luggage ready the night before and avoid planning a tight connection unless you have confirmed the disembarkation timing.

Meals, guiding, and life onboard

The package includes three breakfasts, two lunches, and three dinners. That covers most meals during the four-day cruise, though the supplied details do not specify menus or dining arrangements.

Having meals included makes budgeting easier. You are not searching for food each time the ship moves or stops. Still, I would bring small snacks if you prefer particular foods or need something between scheduled meals.

The professional bilingual guide speaks Chinese and English and works onboard. That support is valuable during the shore visits, especially at Fengdu Ghost City and the Three Gorges Dam, where context adds much to what you see.

Luggage handling is also included. It is a small detail, but an important one on a cruise. You do not need to carry every bag through each transfer point yourself.

The trip has a formal note that is easy to miss: smart casual clothing is required for the captain’s welcome reception. You do not need evening wear, but shorts, flip-flops, or very casual sightseeing clothes may not be suitable for that event.

What the $768 price really covers

The advertised price is $768 per person. It is based on a standard cabin with two people sharing. That distinction matters. A solo passenger who wants the cabin alone pays about 75 percent more, which can change the total substantially.

Included:

• Three nights of cruise accommodation
• Breakfast on three mornings
• Two lunches
• Three dinners
• A Chinese and English-speaking guide onboard
• Luggage handling
• Three shore excursions, subject to schedule changes

Not included:

• Taxi or other transport to Chongqing Chaotianmen Pier
• Hotel or pier drop-off after the cruise
• Optional excursions
• Single-room supplement
• CN¥200 cruise service charge per adult aged 12 and older
• CN¥10 golf-cart ride at the Three Gorges Dam

For two people sharing a standard cabin, the package offers a fair amount of coverage. I would compare it with the cost of three nights of accommodation, meals, local transfers, and separate sightseeing in Chongqing, Fengdu, Badong, and Yichang. The cruise will not be the cheapest possible way to see the river, but it saves planning time and keeps the scenery continuous.

The non-refundable booking rule deserves serious attention. You cannot cancel or amend the booking for a refund. Since the ship schedule and room availability matter, confirm your dates before paying.

Who will enjoy this cruise most?

I would recommend it to you if you want to see the Three Gorges without organizing several separate hotels and transfers. It suits people who like a measured pace, guided shore visits, and the comfort of returning to the same cabin each evening.

It is also a good match if you value ship quality. The available feedback gives special praise to the clean, well-appointed vessel and friendly crew. That praise matters because the ship is your base for three nights, not just a means of transport.

You may want another style of trip if you prefer a tightly controlled itinerary. The three excursions can change, and the departure schedule is tied to specific ships and weekdays. Independent explorers may find the set program restrictive.

Solo passengers should calculate carefully. The shared-cabin price is attractive only if you are comfortable sharing. The private-cabin supplement is large enough to affect the overall value.

Should you book the Chongqing to Yichang Century Cruise?

I would book this cruise if your priority is a comfortable, organized trip through the Three Gorges, with major sightseeing included and little hotel-changing hassle. The strongest reasons are the clean five-star ship, the friendly service, the bilingual guide, and the combination of gorge scenery with Fengdu, Shennong Stream, and the dam.

Before paying, confirm three things: the exact ship, the final three excursions, and the full price after service charges and any private-cabin supplement. If those details suit your plans, this is a solid way to experience the Yangtze at a steady pace, with enough structure to keep the trip easy and enough river time to make it memorable.

FAQ

How long is the cruise from Chongqing to Yichang?

The cruise lasts approximately four days and three nights.

Where does the cruise begin?

It begins at Chongqing Chaotianmen Pier.

What time is boarding in Chongqing?

Boarding is available from 6:30 pm to 9:00 pm, with departure scheduled at about 9:30 pm.

Where does the cruise end?

The cruise ends at Maoping Pier in Zigui County, Yichang, Hubei.

Which ships operate on this route?

The cruise company may use Century Oasis, Century Victory, or Century Glory.

Which days are associated with each ship?

Century Victory generally operates every Wednesday, Century Oasis every Saturday, and Century Glory every Sunday.

Are shore excursions included?

Three shore excursions are included, but the exact sites may change according to the ship schedule. The final three excursions are provided before the tour.

Is transport to the Chongqing pier included?

No. River pier and hotel pickup and drop-off are not included. You need to arrange your own transport to Chaotianmen Pier.

Is a private cabin included in the $768 price?

No. The price is based on a standard cabin with twin sharing. A private cabin requires a single-room supplement of about 75 percent.

Is the Three Gorges Dam golf-cart ride included?

No. The golf-cart ride costs CN¥10 per person and is paid separately.