Three gorges cruise down the Yangzi River

Nature
The wow factor for nature - does it show nature at its best? Doesn't need to be the wildebeest migration or diving with hundreds of hammerheads. Rather make you pause as you realise just how awesome the natural world can be
8
Culture
How much does this experience showcase some of the better and finer things that us humans can offer? Sure, it can be ancient ruins and renaissance churches, but it can also be festivals or soaking up some of the great modern cities of the world
5
Fun factor/activity
Very simple - was it fun? This is usually linked in with doing some kind of activity - i mean, walking along some cliffs is nice, but paragliding from them, now that is fun. Its a vastly underrated factor in a truly great experience
6
Avoid the crowds
Big tour groups and being surrounded by loud fellow tourists can sap the life out of even the greatest of travel experiences. This score is to reflect just how much you can avoid this. But. . . The score also takes into account if the crowds actually add to the experience, such as with a party town or a bustling local market
2
World famous
How world famous is the experience?
7
unique
How hard is it to have a similar experience in other places round the world?
9
Overall TE Score
The overall travel experiences score:  fun factor + avoid the crowds + (best of nature or culture) + (best of world famous or unique). Then convert into a score out of 100
62 *What the scores mean and where do they come from
RANKING
How this travel experience ranks compared to all the other experiences on this site, based on the travel experience (te) score
260th/454
Top 60%
continent
Asia
country
China
Length of time
3-4 days
Typical daily price
This gives you a rough idea of the daily price based on 2 people travelling where they can split costs like accommodation. It excludes travel there and back, and factors in inflation the numbers in brackets show the price range for the full time of the experience (so not necessarily daily). It is a range to reflect different budget vs higher end
$160 ($250-$800 in 2025 prices)
Time of year visited
July
Primary Tags
Click on any of the tags to see all travel experiences with the same tag
Boat trip Dam River Experience
All Tags
Big city Canyons Cliffs
Wow Factor
The wow factor reflects just how much you’re likely to say “wow”. As there’s a lot of experiences in the world, and a lot of wows, i’ve gone with a simple ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ to ⭐️ score, and a separate category for the truly "gash"
⭐⭐⭐⭐

Summary

Taking a boat down the Yangzi River through the heart of China is a great, if very Chinese, experience.

The Yangzi is the longest and mightiest river in China, and the 3rd longest in the world.  This part of the trip focuses only on the journey from Chongqing – a giant of a city with 31m people – to Yichang further to the east in a route that is around 20km and takes around 40 hours / 3 nights (leaving Chongqing in the evening).

The impossibly steep sides of the canyons, the beauty of the Little Three Gorges, and the ghost towns formed by the world’s largest dam make this a truly unforgettable experience.  Truly mega wow.  The only reason it doesn’t get the top wow score is just how busy it gets.  But, hey, that makes it a true Chinese experience!

 

Three gorges cruise down the Yangzi River

 

Stop in the Little Three Gorges, Yangzi River, China

 

Tip #1 – take time to shop around for the right cruise companies

You’ve broadly got two categories of options:

  • International cruise companies – high level standard and expect to pay US$500-US$800 for a cabin in 2025 prices.
  • Local cruise companies – 100% catered towards the Chinese market.  This means public tannoy systems, early starts, the classic megaphone-flag-style tours and typically more crowded.  Bear in mind that the average Chinese person has ZERO understanding of personal space) compared to what you are used to.

We went with the local boat option because we were living in China at the time, a bit money conscious and wanted the full blown experience.  On balance, I’d say that if you can afford it, go with the international cruise company.  I’m hesitant to say it is “better”, but you’ll most likely have a more relaxing and serene experience . . . without the megaphones and not having to wait for your ears to recover.

 

Room on a Chinese Three gorges cruise down the Yangzi River, china

 

Tip #2 – triple check what you are paying for with the cruise company.

The key things to check are:

  • Individual tickets to the individual temples along the way – they are a bit dull and samesy after a while and you can buy the tickets when there.
  • If the cruise includes a trip through the Little Three Gorges – the international ones will, but the local Chinese ones will often expect you to have arranged and paid for it.

 

The route map for a cruise down the Three Gorges - from Chongqing to Yichang, China

The route map down the Three Gorges – from Chongqing to Yichang

 

Table of Contents

Highlights

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#1 Taking one of the separate boat tours through the gorgeous Little Three Gorges

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#2 The journey itself - being on the boat with 200kms to cover and sharp sides of the gorge practically the entire ride

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#3 Seeing the colossal Three Gorges Dam, the largest in the world and, initially, generating 10% of China's electricity

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#4 The huge gorges as you drift through the main section of the Yangzi's Three Gorges

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#5 Wandering through some of the ghost towns long deserted to make way for the giant dam

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#6 The local boat itself - amazed it stayed afloat!

Some broader tips for travelling through China

I lived in China for 2 years or so, and have now been living in Hong Kong for 10+ years.  I’m fascinated by what is such an awe-inspiring and vast place.  Here are 3 tips I would give to any first time visitor:

 

China is vast, try to get some context – huge in terms of its sheer land area, population, economy, but also its history and culture.  You could spend a lifetime travelling what is effectively like another continent and still only scrape the surface.  To help start to get your head around it, it helps getting some context.  For this, I would really recommend the book Wild Swans by Jung Chang, which tells the true story of 3 generations of women living in China from 1909 to modern day.  Highly recommend.

The Chinese people – it’s often difficult to interact with locals in China.  There are certainly strong cultural differences that go deeper than you would experience in most other parts of the world, but the main problem is of course the language.   Get out google translate for simultaneous translation.  You’ll be surprised how keen the locals will be to speak to you, and just how interesting you may find their stories.  It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to suggest those conversations could be the highlight of your whole trip.

Frustrations – travelling in China can often be difficult.  Scream-out-loud, pull-all-your-hair-out, call everyone a a f***ing ****, never-ever-going-back style difficult.   The language barrier, the often radically different way of doing things, the combo of an often world leading digital country mixed in with archaically manual processes can all make it feel at times like a challenge rather than a joy.   My advice is simply to go with it it’s all part of the adventure, and above all don’t lose your temper.  Shouting at someone or generally showing frustration will just be viewed by the Chinese as embarrassing and, at worst, a loss of face for them.  Which means you’ve got very pretty much zero chance of them helping you.  Patience, politeness and a smile will often see them wanting to help you.  They’re not trying to be difficult . . . most of the time 🙂

 

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Score Detail

The scores above are the real point of this site.

Over 20+ years and 100+ countries, I’ve tried to rank the world’s best travel experiences — from genuinely mind-blowing ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ to the properly gash.

Every one of the 500+ places on this site has both a Wow Factor rating and a more analytical Travel Experience (TE) score based on the things that actually make travel memorable.

If you're curious about the thinking behind it, head to the About page.

Otherwise, explore the map above or on the Home page and see which places truly deliver maximum wow.

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