Yangtze Three Gorges 长江三峡Cháng Jiāng Sānxiá

Why go to Yangtze Three Gorges

Between Chongqing and Yichang, the Yangtze cuts through the mountains in three gorges, Qutang, Wu and Xiling, where limestone walls rise straight from the water. A multi-day river cruise is the classic way to see them, with side trips up narrower tributary gorges and a stop at the vast Three Gorges Dam.

The story

Kuimen, the rock gateway at the head of Qutang Gorge, is so iconic that it appears on the back of the 10-yuan banknote. Just upstream, Baidicheng is the starting point of Li Bai's famous poem about racing downriver past chattering monkeys to reach Jiangling in a single day.

What to see at Yangtze Three Gorges

• Fengdu Ghost City 丰都鬼城: A hilltop complex of temples and shrines about 170 km downstream of Chongqing, dedicated to the afterlife and its judges. Cruise boats dock at its pier, and a vehicle and an escalator take most of you up the hill.
• Shibaozhai 石宝寨: A red wooden pavilion, built against a steep rock outcrop in 1819 and later raised to twelve storeys, leads up to a temple on the summit. Some downstream itineraries stop here at Zhongxian; others skip it.
• Baidicheng 白帝城: A fortress-and-temple hill about 8 km east of Fengjie, now an island joined to the bank by a bridge since the reservoir rose. Li Bai and Du Fu both wrote about it, which earned it the nickname City of Poems.
• Qutang Gorge 瞿塘峡: The first and shortest of the three gorges at about 8 km, and the narrowest, entered through the rock gateway of Kuimen just below Baidicheng.
• Wu Gorge 巫峡: A 45 km gorge of steep ridges, among them the Twelve Peaks of Wu Mountain; Goddess Peak is the most admired, and legend makes it a goddess who helped Yu the Great tame the floods.
• Three Gorges Dam and ship locks 三峡大坝与船闸: Near Yichang in Hubei, where most cruises end, the dam holds two flights of five-stage ship locks that lift vessels over it in about four hours. A ship lift added in 2016 carries smaller vessels in a fraction of that time; the dam visit is a shore excursion, often with the lift as an optional extra.

How to visit Yangtze Three Gorges

Most visitors take a downstream cruise from Chongqing, which takes about four days and three nights: usually a shore excursion to Fengdu on day two, then Baidicheng, Qutang and Wu gorges and sometimes a side trip up a tributary such as the Shennong Stream on day three, and the Three Gorges Dam on the last day. Shibaozhai and the optional extras vary by operator, so check what your ship includes. Cruises finish at Yichang in Hubei.

How to get to Yangtze Three Gorges

Cruises run between Chongqing and Yichang, taking about three nights downstream. From Yichang you can also visit the dam and Xiling Gorge on a day trip by bus or boat.

Where to stay

Most visitors sleep aboard the cruise ship. Otherwise, base yourself in Fengjie for Baidicheng and Qutang Gorge, or in Chongqing before or after the trip.

What to eat

• Fengjie navel orange 奉节脐橙: Fengjie is a major navel-orange growing area, and the fruit is sold fresh on the riverside in season.
• Wushan crisp plum 巫山脆李: A crisp local plum counted among Chongqing's featured products, grown around Wushan.

Tips for visiting Yangtze Three Gorges

• Downstream cruises (Chongqing to Yichang) are shorter than upstream ones.
• Qutang is the shortest and most dramatic gorge; check that your itinerary passes it in daylight.
• Bring binoculars and a light jacket for the deck; mornings on the river are often cool and misty.

Nearby

• Enshi Grand Canyon 恩施大峡谷 80 km
  A limestone canyon with a 150 m rock pillar, a cliff plank road and a waterfall floor
• Shennongjia 神农架生态旅游区 90 km
  Primeval forest and alpine meadow on the roof of central China, a UNESCO forest reserve

Also within 30 km: White Emperor City (Baidicheng) & Qutang Gorge 白帝城·瞿塘峡 (under 10 km), Kuizhou Museum 夔州博物馆 (under 10 km), Three Gorges Summit (Sanxia Zhidian) 三峡之巅 (under 10 km), Wushan Museum 巫山博物馆 (30 km), Three Gorges Light Night Cruise 三峡之光 (30 km).

On the map

Open Yangtze Three Gorges on the illustrated map to see the terrain around it, what else is close, and to add it to a trip and plan the days.

Learn more

• Wikipedia
• Wikipedia (Chinese)