The 8 Best Things to do in Taixing, Jiangsu

Reviewed By the_stoddarts - Sydney, Australia

We booked this via our travel agent and travelled as a couple not in a group. All booking requests including my pescatarian requirements were all noted by the company and on board. As we were solo travellers we booked a taxi from our hotel in Yichang armed only with some printed directions (including not to arrive before 5pm) and, thankfully, a contact phone number. It was an hour’s drive from our hotel and we knew we were close when we could see large ships moored … we called in at what we thought was the pier but all closed .. and we believe not currently operational. Our driver had a couple of conversations with someone on the phone, a number of u-turns were made and we finally turned into a ‘derelict’ parking area just after 5pm. Very underwhelming and not quite the welcoming reception we expected! Staff from Yangzi Explorer then appeared and the inclinator was turned on in time for us (and all our cases) to go down ????! From here on, everything on board was wonderful. Welcomed with ‘tea’ and hot towels and shown to our room – 509. Beautiful. Then Kris explained the two Luxury Suites were available as an upgrade and would we like to see them. We ended up taking the Celestial Suite which consisted of the huge lounge/dining area with floor to ceiling windows – table with four chairs, settee and side chairs around a tv, two other chairs by the window, side cabinet and lovely wall and table lights. Leading into large bedroom with four-poster bed, side tables, tv and into very large bathroom. Gorgeous shower, big sink and great dressing gowns and towels. It was, however, the large open private deck that completely sold us – and was well used throughout our cruise. FABULOUS!!! Breakfast and lunches were buffet-style and excellent with great choices for me. Dinner was a set menu with, again, great choices and excellent meals. Wine and beer were included at lunch and dinner and the wine was good. On our second night after dinner we were surprised with an anniversary cake with sparklers – so cute! Back to the room and two swans and a teddy all made from the twisted towels on the bed made by Linda, our excellent room attendant. Gorgeous. As part of our ‘suite package’, we had “A Gourmet dinner in your suite”. Alan (our waiter from the restaurant) served us all the courses, poured our wine and really looked after us. Absolutely fabulous experience. I only made the 6:30am Tai Chi class once, but it was good and there was a fabulous sunrise. Our first tour was to the Tribe of the Three Gorges. Lovely walk along the river and great representations of the tribal life – boats, people, water wheels, etc. A small waterfall at the end before watching a wedding ceremony. Monkeys only in the distance. Some very aromatic food stalls including some excellent-looking fried fish. The afternoon’s tour was to the Three Gorges Dam Project and a walk around the Exhibition Centre learning more about the Dam, five locks and ship elevator. Next day there were two tours starting with the Shennong Stream in the morning. 8am boarding onto a ferry for where we sailed through the Gorges on the top deck. Fabulous trip through gorges, spotting some Chinese characters, a wooden coffin high in a cliff and small villages along the cliffs. Off-loaded to 18-person longboats and ‘rowed’ along the Shennong Stream stopping at a local Tu Jia Village. At one point, two of our three crew members jumped off the boat to walk along the cliffs and pull us along. We all climbed up a steepish road to one of the many villages ‘resettled’ on higher ground with the Dam was created flooding all their villages about a hundred metres below. Lovely location with a small store, lots of cherry trees, canola, etc. Long boat and ferry back to the ship to warm up in time for another excellent buffet lunch and the sun came out for a short time making it very hot sitting on our balcony as we cruised through Wu and Qutang Gorges. We took the optional afternoon tour to the White Emperor City .. started with walking through passageways of four ships all docked side by side, walk across a ‘bridge’, up steps to a bus (very crowded), ten-minute drive, walking, escalator final 360 steps to the top. Few statues, marble tablets (poem including one written by Chairman Mao), and great sunset views. Lovely walking back through closing shops with overhead lights coming on and repeated journey back to our ship. Our final full day was a chance to relax through the morning sailing before our last afternoon tour to the 816. Underground Nuclear Project (an unfinished Chinese underground nuclear weapons production facility and the largest man made tunnel structure in the world) which was very interesting. Thankfully the project never went into production and is now well presented (loved all the lighting effects) and we had an informative guide. Lots of steps though for some people; good for our Fitbits! It was then Chinese night for dinner with all the staff dressing up. Started with two lions in the lobby and a Chinese-themed dinner. Early start and time for breakfast before checking out and time to leave … off the ship to another completely underwhelming dock … dirty and derelict as we followed our porter up the steps to a bland wide road with very few signs of taxis. A man asked if we needed a taxi and what else to do but say “Yes” so ended up in an old Mercedes van with cases stacked in the back; thankfully all good and an hour later we were at the Chongqing West railway station in time for our very fast train to Chengdu and The Pandas!! Final Note: It would appear that a lot of people on the ship travelled as part of a group. If, like us, you travel independently it is important to arrange transport to/from the ship as the docks are hard to find/depart from.