The Yangtze, stretching over 6,300 kilometers, is China’s longest river. Like Egypt’s Nile or India’s Ganges, it has long served as a backbone of civilization — shaping agriculture, trade, belief systems, and poetry for over three millennia.

 

This journey begins in Chongqing — a mountain metropolis of futuristic skylines, suspended monorails, and mist-filled ravines. The city’s vertical terrain gives it a surreal, sci-fi atmosphere, earning it the nickname “cyberpunk city.” Yet beyond its cinematic skyline lies something deeper: a living city where modern China rises directly from ancient terrain.

 

About an hour beyond the city, we visit the Dazu Rock Carvings — Chongqing’s only UNESCO World Heritage Site. Carved into hillside cliffs over 1,200 years ago, these open-air sculptures blend Buddhist, Daoist, and Confucian symbolism into a remarkably preserved gallery of spiritual life.

 

From there, the route flows downstream to Yichang. Today, the Yangtze cruise is one of Asia’s last great river journeys. Along the way, travelers will pass ancient port towns, Taoist ghost cities, riverside theaters, and enter the stone folds of the Three Gorges. This is also a rare opportunity to witness Earth's geological story: layered rock formations over 200 million years old, towering cliffs, and landscapes that tell of the planet’s deep past.

 

We created this route not just to show you what’s visible — but to give shape to what’s often felt: that beneath China’s speed lies sediment, structure, soul.