We have pretty much finalized our trip to China.

Only thing we would like some advise on is Chengdu.

We are told there are some incredible natural scenery to see nearby.
Panda sancturary of course and we are thinking about taking a cruise down the river to see the Three Gorge Dam.

Has anyone done this cruise? It is worthwhile to spend three days on?

Thanks in advance for your input.

I did it years ago back when there were gorges. Frankly, assuming you don't have young kids in tow (but, maybe you do, given the interest in pandas), I think there are much cooler ways to approach the area. It's possible to knock down a lot of the best spots in Sichaun and Yunnan (Jiuzhaigou, Lijiang, Dali, Shangri-la, etc) over the course of a week (without killing yourself).... but, you will need to spend a lot of time on busses in order to make it happen. Chengdu and Kunming are interesting in and of themselves, but the places I parenthesized above --along with some of their peers-- are truly pristine. While the river cruise is more hands off, the over land journey provides significantly better scenery, adventure, and flexibility IMO.

I try to do trips like that several times per year and always come back delighted beyond belief, even if also tired and hungry. However, one thing that works in my favor, is that I always have time to spare (i.e. no preset "return to work" date). My computer comes along and I do the GPRS thing so I can be just as productive onboard a train/bus as I can back in my office (though I do miss out a few meetings, of course).

I traveled thru Yunnan province in May 2006 (after stopping in Chengdu by air because I like the city so much) and thru Sichaun two years ago (with several days in Chengdu). I haven't been to Chongqin, but I would guess that this other large city of Sichaun would be the natural start point for any river cruises.

First of all, Moondog's China knowledge greatly exceeds mine and most peoples' because he works there, and I'm am, at best, a once-a-year visitor.
However, I have a low tolerance for vacations with lots of brief city-to-city travel ("If it's Tuesday, it must be Paris" kind of a thing.). I would never attempt a ground travel thru both Yunnan and Sichuan over even two weeks because of the distances and the rural bus connection may not exist. For example, Lugu Lake in northern Yunnan is a great scenic destination from Lijiang by an all day bus ride. Wolong (nature reserve and China's most famous panda breeding center) is an even longer bus ride from Chengdu from the opposite direction. Yet Wolong and Lugu Lake are pretty close as the bird flies thru the Sichaun mountains. But there is no easy way to get from one to the other directly!

So, I would do separate trips: Sichuan with Chengdu as a base, and northern Yunnan with Lijiang as a base. Coming out of Lijian, Lugu Lake, Dali, Zhongdian (aka Shangri-la) are all separate trips by bus via different highway. Going to Zhongdian, one has the option of getting off the bus to do the two-night easy-if-you-are-fit or the one-night hard-as-hell trek thru Tiger Leaping Gorge (I recommend two or three nights.).

There are direct flights between Chengdu and Lijian. Chengdu has a number of in-City attractions, but the surrounding county is pretty unattractive until one travels a lengthy distance by bus. Lijian has a pretty amazing old town. Guessing between the two, I would think most people would prefer a vacation seeing the sights out of Lijian over Chengdu, but I haven't been to Jiuzhaigou, which is world-class natural beauty. The budget-class "Traffic Hotel" in Chengdu (that's it's name; any cabbie can find it) has an excellent travel agency inside on the first floor who can help you with ground tours and continuing domestic travel (cash only).

I agree with this, to an extent. Trips like that can be tiring to the point that the term "vacation" doesn't really apply. On the other hand, if you have the ability to adapt your intinerary on a dynamic basis, the results can be fruitful.

I know lots of people that block off a month or more during the summer and use Beijing, Shanghai, or Hong Kong as a base, before heading west. Most have only a vague idea of where they want to go at the outset, but all end up doing interesting things.... and when their bodies break down, they simply come back to "developed China" and hang out till it's time for them to go home.

While the idea of setting out on a trip you know --beforehand-- is going to knock you out, the educational (and eye-openning) intangibles can be tremendous. You can see things and meet people that the PRC government would prefer that you didn't know about.

IMO, doing so provides a much better snapshot of China than the more common Beijing-Xi'an-Shanghai deal.

Much thanks for the input. It gives as food for thought.

First of all you are all very right, no kids and we do not want to do the typical Beijing Xian Shanghai thing. Thus after much research we really want to try this cruise from Chong Xing down to Yi Chang. With the Three Gorge Hydro Electric Project as its climax.

We wanted to use Chengdu as our base but it sounds like it is a long and uncomfortable(?) bus ride to get to each location.

Further question, is there an airplane that goes from Beijing to Chong Xing directly so we can bypass Chengdu?

Then after the cruise is over, it finishes at Yi Chang. What is Yi Chang like? Is there a way to get to Chengdu? or Hong Kong? Beijing?

We are aware that Chong Xing is big enough to have a JW Marriott then it should be a pretty big city but from the looks of it, Yi Chang looks like its in the middle of nowhere.

Assuming you mean 重庆 (Chongqing or Chungking), then absolutely; it's currently China's biggest city in terms of population (when they made it a municipality several years back, they annexed a bunch of surrounding cities and towns, which allowed them to win this accolade).

I don't know much about Yichang, but it looks ok enough based on its LP write-up.

Chongqin is a such a large City, I sure you can fly there from most anywhere. I remember even seeing flights between Chongquin-Chengdu, which is a very short airline flight. If you want to go Chengdu anyway, you would have the option of taking a bus to Chongquin from Chengdu. I don't really want to discourage you from making Chengdu a base and taking bus trips to places like Wolong from there. From Chengdu, you can arrive late in the day, stay overnight at the hotel next to the Panda Breeding Center, spend the ENTIRE next day seeing Pandas, and leaving early on the third day to return to Chengdu as there, a least two years ago, was only a singe bus arrival to and from Chengdu. Maybe there's more options now.

If you exhaust sights around Chengdu, nothing wrong with catching a flight to Lijiang or most anywhere else in China. I certainly would not limit one's self to the Beijing, Xian, Shanghai highlights circuit. For example, I found Hangzhou, an easy train or bus ride from Shanghai, to be just as worthwhile in its own right. Great night market, and a slower pace place to spend some lazy time at the big lake there.

I don't know anything about Yi Chang.

Chengdu is at the edge of the Sichuan Province, so it's not far from the mountains. A short flight to the north (or 1.5 days by road) are the world-class national parks of Huanglong and Jiuzhaigou. [Unfortunately, it also has super world-class crowds in the summer, and is mostly inaccessible in winter.]

Closer by, beside the Erlong Panda Reserve Center, there is the Qingcheng Shan (Shan = mountain) area, which is more or less the same direction. Day trip material.

Towards the Southwest, there's the Leshan giant buddha and then Ermei Shan. Good for a two-night trip.

And of course, most flights going to Lhasa still departs from Chengdu, so many who go to Tibet stop at Chengdu first.

There is really nothing in Yichang.It is one middle sized cit in China as the capital or water power.The airport is far far far away from downtown and being a very down market one.

I do suggest you to take a cruise from Chongqing to Wuhan. Which is more civilized.And from Wuhan you may take the flight back home via Shanghai/Hong Kong/Beijing/Guangzhou.

Alternatively it is one 4 hours drive from Yichang to Wuhan.You may take the bus which would cost you USD$13.

Travel from Chengdu would be more expensive if you choose your base as Chongqing.To compite with the HUB of Chengdu, Chongqing government paid airline to open new route and add frequency.Some route eg. to Beijing, Shanghai, Jiuzhaigou Chongqing would be much cheaper than Chengdu.

Personally I think Chongqing is more Chinese than Chengdu.Chengdu is becoming a Chinese version of Singapore.Too much Singaporean influency.Only Panda is worth to see.Besides that Leshan Budda is about 3 hours away.Dujiang Dam is 1 hour away with one beautiful mountain called QINGCHENG Mt.

To go to Jiuzhaigou you may depart from either Chongqing or Chengdu.It requires you to have local knowlodge.if you have kids with you it can become quite diffcult.

Thank you all for your insight. You have no idea how informative your experiences are for our trip.