We safely arrived in Yichang, a fairly nondescript town with what seemed a disproportionately large Red Light District (we were looking for an internet cafe, honest). Our plan was to book a Yangzi river cruise to Chongqing, but in the end we opted for one which would return us to Yichang. The main reason was that this was considerably cheaper (by a factor of three in fact). The disadvantage was that it was a cruise designed for Chinese tourists, not Westerners. Despite the low cost, our six-bed cabin was, as ever, furnished with China's favorite two items - a TV and aircon. However, we did have to pay a little extra for the VIP lounge, which contained the only viewing area located at the prow, and the only vaguely comfortable seating. A worthy investment. Much of
... read more
