Yangtze River
Yangtze is the greatest river in Eurasia and the main waterway of China. In the world ranking of the longest rivers of the planet, the Yangtze ranks third after the Amazon and the Nile. On the banks of the Yangtze there are ancient cities, neighboring with modern megacities. Both are worthy of travelers’ attention, vividly demonstrating the uninterrupted succession of thousands of years of development of Chinese culture.
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Video: Yangtze
Highlights
On its long journey from its source to the coast of the East China Sea, the Yangtze traverses 6,307 kilometers, crosses 10 vast provinces of the PRC, and receives more than 700 tributaries. The long course of the Yangtze is a natural geographical barrier between North and South China. The basin of the great river covers 1,808,500 square kilometers, occupying one-fifth of mainland China. The fertile Yangtze basin, known as the breadbasket of the country, is home to one-third of the country’s population of over 300 million people.
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The waters of the Yangtze are rich in ichthyofauna, the river is home to more than 400 species of fish, including the endemic Yangtze sturgeon, which reaches a weight of 300-400 kilograms. Freshwater seals are still found in the river, and Chinese alligators live in the delta. However, recently, due to the active construction of hydraulic structures and water pollution by industrial effluents, the river’s bioresources have begun to sharply decline. For example, the Chinese paddlefish, an endemic species of sturgeon that reached a length of 7 meters, was recently declared extinct.
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Since March 2021, fishing in the Yangtze has been strictly prohibited. But fish has not disappeared from the diet of local residents, and it is raised in numerous aquatic farms on the surrounding lakes and streams. River fish products are still the basis of regional cooking recipes.
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In the cities on the banks of the river, modern hotels and entertainment centers await tourists. Restaurants offer tastings of national cuisine from all regions of China. Airports and railroad stations, bus stations have been built in major cities. A dense transportation network connects the Yangtze Valley with all provinces of the country.
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History
Traces of cave sites of primitive inhabitants of the Yangtze coast indicate that people settled here as early as 35,000 years ago, and by the 5th millennium BC local people learned to grow crops and mastered pottery. In the mountainous upper reaches of the Yangtze, in the Chengdu Basin, archaeologists have discovered the ruins of the oldest man-made structures erected in the Neolithic era (about 5,700 years ago). They found the remains of settlements of farmers who cultivated rice on mountain terraces, made pottery and stone tools. Towns of several hectares were surrounded by circular earth ramparts, and dwellings were built of river reeds covered with clay. This location is known to historians as the “Baodong culture.”
One and a half thousand years earlier, the Hemudu culture emerged at the mouth of the Yangtze, with irrigated pottery found dating back 7,200 years. In local museums are kept beautiful bowls with images of animals, from the shards restored elegant vessels. Well-preserved plates of river turtle shells and animal bones with hieroglyphic signs reminiscent of the symbols of the famous “Book of Changes”. Probably, these artifacts, created about 3,600 years ago, were used in magical rituals and divination of soothsayers.
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Between the Yangtze and Huang He rivers is considered the cradle of the original Chinese civilization. The first state formations appeared here in the XXI century B.C. The very name Yangtze comes from the ancient kingdom of Yang, which once dominated the western part of the river valley. Today in the main dialects of China Yangtze is called “Chang Jiang” (“Long River”), “Da Jiang” (“Great River”) or shortly – just “Jiang” (“River”). By the way, the Chinese living south of the Yangtze speak ancient local dialects, incomprehensible to the inhabitants of the northern regions who communicate in dialects of Mandarin. There are 30 ethnic groups living along the banks of the river, and each has its own name for the great river.
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From ancient times, the Chinese believed that their country was at the center of the divine universe, so they called China the Celestial Empire or the Middle Empire. The rulers of disparate kingdoms fought with their neighbors for many centuries, expanding their possessions. The first emperor who united under his rule vast territories from the Himalayas to the Pacific Ocean, was the legendary reformer Qin Shihuangdi, who ruled in the III century BC His capital Xiangyang was located between the Yangtze and Huang He. Under him, the grandiose construction projects of previous dynasties were completed. Among them was the Great Wall of China, a network of navigable canals stretching across the Yangtze Valley for thousands of kilometers.
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In ancient times, travelers and merchants crossed the wide channel of the Yangtze on ferries and sailing junks. It is known from ancient Chinese chronicles that the first pontoon crossing of the great river was built by Sichuan commander Gongsun Shu during the war with Emperor Liu Xu in 35 A.D. The bridge stretched between the cities of Yichang and Jingmen, but soon it was burned by enemy troops.
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Short-lived crossings over the Yangtze were also built in the following centuries. For example, in 974, Emperor Tai-tzu, the founder of the Song Dynasty, ordered the construction of a 1,000-meter bridge near the modern city of Maanshan. The order was completed in just three days. The bridge consisted of many interconnected boats, with bamboo planking laid on top. The army of the emperor promptly crossed the Yangtze and captured the city of Nanjing, the capital of the rebellious kingdom of Tang. Chronicles report that the imperial troops attacked the enemy with newly invented secret weapons – powder grenades and rockets. The Tai-Tzu bridge did not last long, the current of the mighty river destroyed it in the first rainy season.
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Back in the early 20th century, ferries were used to cross the Yangtze. Only in the mid-1950s, in the early years of the People’s Republic of China, in the city of Wuhan the river was crossed by a capital bridge with a railroad and roadbed.
Curiously, back in the second half of the last century, the leader of Communist China Mao Tse-tung often made multi-kilometer swims along the Yangtze. Nowadays, however, it is not worth following the example of the Great Provider – tens of thousands of enterprises operating on the banks of the great river, pouring into the river dangerous to health industrial effluents.
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Geography
The source of the Yangtze is located on the vast Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, bordering the Himalayas. To the southwest, on the border of China and Nepal, the highest peak on the planet, Mount Everest, rises at 8,850 meters. In this region, on the slope of Geladandong Tangla Peak (6,621 m), lies the Jiangendiru glacier, from where a stream flows out, turning into a river with the Uighur name “Ulan-Moron” (the Tibetan name is “Tuotuo”). Geographers consider it to be the beginning of the Yangtze.
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Interestingly, other great rivers of Asia also originate in the glaciers of the frozen Tibetan plateau. Among them are the Mekong (4,350 km), the Indus (3,200 km), the Salween (3,289 km), and the Brahmaputra (2,896 km). There, on the slopes of the Bayan-Khar range, China’s second longest river, the Huang He (5,464 km), also begins.
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Having rushed eastward through narrow mountain gorges, the Yangtze turns sharply to the south, where the river twists and foams on rapids in deep canyons between the snow-capped peaks of the Bayan-Khar Mountains, rising 3,200 – 4,900 meters above sea level. For several hundred kilometers it is impossible to approach the shore, the turbulent flow of the river is limited by vertical stone precipices up to 3 km deep. From the height of the mountain river looks like an unsightly trickle at the bottom of the abyss. In these parts of the Yangtze runs parallel to the Mekong River, in some areas the distance between the channels does not exceed 25 km. Above the rocky ledges, local villages are occasionally visible. The local name for the Yangtze is “Jinsha.”
Then the Yangtze turns to the east again and rushes through winding valleys with steep slopes. Here a powerful tributary Yalong (1,571 km) flows into the river. The width of the Yangtze reaches 400 meters, the river enters a hilly plateau located at an altitude of 350 meters above sea level. Thus, the altitude difference from the source of the mountain river is about 5,000 meters. Here invisibly passes the conventional boundary of the upper reaches of the Yangtze 2,600 kilometers long.
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The middle course of the great river extends eastward for the next 1,100 kilometers. This stretch, with its scenic hilly landscapes and mild subtropical climate, is bounded by the coastal cities of Yibin in Sichuan Province and Yichang in Hubei Province. The region is also home to the major river port of Chongqing and dozens of industrial cities.
In its middle reaches, the Yangtze crosses the well-known Three Gorges region, which stretches for 300 kilometers. The winding gorges form steep limestone slopes rising 400-600 meters, densely covered with deciduous and coniferous forests. Elegant pagodas of ancient temples built by hermits hundreds of years ago can be seen among the trees above the rapids. The depth of the river in these places reaches 150-170 meters, which puts the Yangtze among the deepest rivers in the world.
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Not so long ago, sharp rocks and stone rapids were erected in the riverbed, hindering navigation. Today they are hidden beneath the waters of artificial lakes formed by giant hydroelectric dams.
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After passing the Xiling Gorge near the city of Yichang, the full-flowing Yangtze enters its lower reaches, crossing vast swampy valleys with many lakes and rivers. Large navigable tributaries of the Yuan (1,020 km), Xiangjiang (948 km) and numerous small rivulets flow into the Yangtze in this region.
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On a low gradient plain, the flow of the Yangtze becomes smooth, the channel widens to 800 m, and the depth exceeds 30 m. In the center of the lake region, at the confluence of its largest tributary, the Hanshui River (1,532 km) into the Yangtze, is located a large industrial city of Wuhan with a busy commercial and cargo port. The depth of the river’s fairway allows large ocean-going ships to call here.
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Below, on the plain of Jiangxi Province, south of the Yangtze, on the right bank of the river, stretches China’s largest lake Poyanghu with a water mirror area of 3,500 square kilometers. This body of water is connected with the Yangtze by a wide channel. It is known that in the Middle Ages, during the Tang Dynasty, the lake was twice as big, but the change in the direction of the Yangtze channel led to its siltation. In recent years, due to the construction of a number of dams and canals, the water balance of Poyanghu was once again disturbed, and the lake began to shoal. In the dry summer of 2012, Poyankhu “shrank” to 200 square kilometers, but in the following year, the volume of water was restored. Nevertheless, the populations of rare freshwater dolphins baiji and large Yangjing sturgeons living here were on the verge of extinction. In January 2020, a 10-year moratorium was imposed on fishing in the lake and 330 bank sections of the surrounding Yangtze tributaries.
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After passing Poyanghu Lake, the Yangtze flows out onto the expanse of the North China Plain. In the lowland banks of the river freely overflows, the width of the channel exceeds 1,800 meters. In this urbanized region there are several large cities – Anqing, Wuhu and Nanjing, which repeatedly served as the imperial capital. On the southern bank of the Yangtze is the city of Zhenjiang, founded in the IX century B.C. From here to the north in ancient times dug the Great Canal, reaching Beijing. The structure is 1,782 kilometers long, and ships still navigate its waters today.
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Beyond Zhenjiang, the current forms a delta of the mouth of the Yangtze up to 80 km wide. The delta on the coast of the East China Sea consists of dozens of arms, ancient channels, lakes and marshes. The impact of sea tides rising along the Yangtze channel can be felt even 400 kilometers upstream. To protect against floods, stone dikes totaling 2,740 kilometers have been built along the banks of the lower reaches of the river.
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In the delta there is a salt lake Tai with an area of 2,410 square kilometers, at its northeastern shore stands the city of Wuxi. The two largest branches of the estuary are navigable – the left, up to 10 kilometers wide, and the right, 15 to 25 kilometers wide. The deep-water fairways, through which ocean-going ships pass through the delta, reach a width of 2 km. In general, the Yangtze channel is navigable for 2,300 km from the mouth.
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Between the branches is an archipelago of islands, the largest of which is Chunming, its area is 1,267 square kilometers. The islands are reclaimed sand and other sediments carried out to sea by the Yangtze current, their size is gradually increasing.
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Near the mouth of the Yangtze is Shanghai, the showcase of China’s powerful economy, the largest port city in the world and one of the global financial centers, along with New York, London and Tokyo. The shipyards of Shanghai build military and civilian ships, here are produced cars of the largest corporation in China SAIC Motor. The population of the metropolis exceeds 24 million inhabitants, and with the suburbs is approaching 40 million people. Shanghai is crossed by the Huangpu River, which flows into the Yangtze, and the city agglomeration also includes sea islands in the delta.
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West of Shanghai, within the Yangtze Delta, is the city of Suzhou, founded in 514 B.C. Today it is a center of electronics and information technology, medical equipment, pharmaceuticals and light industry. Local factories also produce traditional goods, including the wonderful silk.
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Climate
On the glaciers of the highlands (about 5,000 meters), where the source of the Yangtze is located, the average annual temperature is – 5 ° C, in January the air cools to – 30 ° C.
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In the middle reaches of the river, near the city of Chongqing, the climate is mild and rainy. The average temperature in January is + 8-10 °С. Hot summer lasts here from May to September, the air warms up to + 29-36 °С. From October till April high humidity and industrial emissions into the atmosphere generate blue haze and dense fogs, complicating river navigation and air communication. The Chinese call Chongqing the Capital of Fog.
The mouth of the Yangtze is located in the subtropical marine monsoon climate zone. In winter it is damp and cold, air temperature fluctuates within + 3-6 ° C, sometimes there are short-term frosts to minus 10 ° C. In summer it is hot and rainy in the river mouth, typhoons with abundant showers and hurricane squalls often occur. From May to September the air warms up to + 24-27 °С, in July/August it can be + 30 °С. The highest temperature in the area of the Yangtze estuary was recorded in August 2013: + 40.8 °С.
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Bridges and tunnels
The Yangtze riverbed is crossed by more than 70 road and railroad bridges, and there are several tunnels under the riverbed. All the structures have a bright architectural appearance and serve as real decorations of the river scenery. The oldest pedestrian bridge across the Yangtze was built in Lijiang in 1880. Its light wooden canvas is suspended on iron chains.
The first bridge made of steel structures and reinforced concrete crossed the river in 1957 in the city of Wuhan. It is a two-tier structure with a length of 1.6 kilometers. The upper tier carries a four-lane highway, with the Beijing-Guangzhou railroad running underneath.
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By the end of the last century, 7 bridges had already been crossed over the Yangtze, and with the beginning of the economic boom in the 2000s, the river was crossed by dozens of new bridge crossings, because all of China’s transportation routes crossing the country from north to south must overcome the wide current of the great river.
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By the beginning of this century, the old Wuhan Bridge could no longer cope with the increased traffic. In 2008, the city built the first tunnel under the 3,630-meter-long Yangtze River. It takes only 6 minutes to cross it by car.
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Interesting places
In the middle reaches of the Yangtze, the riverbed is blocked by the colossal Three Gorges Dam, built in 2003. It is the largest dam in the world, with a height of 181 meters and a length of 2,335 meters. The generators of the Three Gorges hydroelectric power plant produce up to 22,500 MW of electricity.
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Behind the dam, a 600-kilometer-long reservoir with an area of 1,084 square kilometers was formed. Before the artificial lake was filled, 1.35 million people had to be resettled from the regions of the Yangtze Valley to be flooded, 13 coastal towns and 1,350 villages went under water. All the resettled people were provided with new housing. The construction cost was $31.76 billion dollars.
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Ships ascend into the reservoir through a five-stage lock. This epic spectacle is one of the highlights of cruise ship passengers traveling the river.
The city of Chongqing, known since 316 BC, is home to the Three Gorges Museum. The exposition tells about the events of the early history of the city, the showcases present archaeological artifacts, a collection of ancient porcelain and weapons, national costumes. A separate hall is dedicated to the stages of construction of the famous dam. The museum is open daily from 08:30 to 17:00, the entrance ticket costs 40 yuan ($5.90).
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In Chongqing, in the area of the coastal ridge Baiheliang, which means “White Crane Ridge”, in 2009 opened another unusual museum – underwater.
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Here, rows of fish reliefs accompanied by poetic stanzas and explanations with flood dates, as well as three images of Buddha and a crane, are carved into the vertical rock. These are ancient hydrographic signs that marked the water level of the Yangtze River for one and a half thousand years. The last inscription was made in the Tang Dynasty (VII-X century). During the construction of the Three Gorges Dam, the builders took care to preserve the images. Now they are hidden by the rising reservoir and are at a depth of 43 meters. A sealed room of the underwater museum is built near the rock, where one can descend by escalator in a specially dug tunnel and examine the ancient bas-reliefs. Unfortunately, many other monuments of antiquity, hidden by the reservoir, are lost forever.
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In the upper reaches of the Yangtze, in a mountainous subtropical valley is the ancient city of Kunming, the capital of Yunnan Province. The city has many historical sights, interesting museums. The Yunnan region is considered to be the birthplace of Chinese tea, here you can take tours of tea plantations with tasting of different varieties of the drink.
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A popular Chinese tourist bus and bicycle route known as the Yunnan Trail, which follows the G214 national highway, begins in Kunming. The starting point is 2,000 meters above sea level. The route leads north to the Tibetan plateau. Along the way, tourists visit historical villages and towns, nature reserves. Not far from the city of Dali is the Leaping Tiger Gorge, where travelers can see landscapes of stunning beauty. Here, the Yangtze River rages on stone rapids in a deep and narrow canyon. It is one of China’s best rafting destinations. The trail runs along the northern side of the canyon, about 2 kilometers above the riverbed. The rock that gave the gorge its name can be seen among the foam storms. According to a local legend, an emperor once hunted here in pursuit of a huge tiger. The mighty beast jumped over the Yangtze in two leaps, pushing off in flight from the Tiger Stone in the middle of the river.
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On either side of the legendary Leaping Tiger Gorge rise the glacier-topped peaks of Jade Dragon Peak (5,596 meters) and Haba Snow Mountain (5,396 meters). The whole location is included in the national park. There are mountaineering trails on the slopes of the mountains.
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In the final point of the trip, the high-mountain town of Deqin, located at an altitude of 3,350 meters, you can buy original souvenirs in the Tibetan style, which you can not buy in all of China. Popular are gold and silver jewelry of original design, Buddhist paintings in the Thangka technique painted on silk, fragrant aromatic sticks, Tibetan yak wool mats, sharp knives with carved bone handles. Connoisseurs buy healing potions and herbs from Buddhist lamas, but tourists unaware of the Tibetan pharmacopoeia should limit themselves to protective amulets carved from wood or cast from bronze.
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Local cafes serve dishes of the traditional Tibetan diet: strong salted black tea with yak milk butter, monk’s tsampa (tea mixed with barley flour), beef jerky with rice. Vegetable and meat dishes cost 15 to 20 yuan ($2.2 to $2.95).
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From the mountain village of Shenping, the road will take tourists to the high-mountain national park “Three Parallel Rivers”, located in the eastern foothills of the Himalayas. The three great rivers of Asia – the Yangtze, Salween and Mekong – flow parallel here for 300 kilometers. The upper reaches of the rivers are separated by narrow mountain ridges. Then the riverbeds diverge to the sides of the world. The Yangtze turns to the Leaping Tiger Gorge and heads into the East China Sea; the Salween irrigates Burma (Myanmar), separates it from the jungles of Thailand and flows into the Andaman Sea; the Mekong carries its waters through Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, crosses Vietnam and flows into the South China Sea.
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The Three Parallel Rivers Reserve, covering an area of 1,698,400 hectares, is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The region is home to about 6,000 plant species, many of them endemics. Among them are 40-meter ginkgo trees, which appeared about 190 million years ago and have long disappeared in other regions of the planet. Only here you can see in the natural environment relict palm ferns that grew in the mountain valleys in the age of dinosaurs, endemic rhododendrons, orchids and lilies. In the foliage of mountain forests and on the banks of rivers nest 417 species of birds – pheasants, grouse, cranes, ducks, etc.
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Of the 173 species of animals living in the protected region, many are found only here. Among them are the black Tibetan bear, the smoky leopard, the red panda, and the Indian otter. Endangered primates include black snub-nosed monkeys, graceful langurs, and short-tailed macaques. To visit the Three Parallel Rivers Park, you have to pay a fee of 300 yuan per person ($44.22). Tours are organized for 3-7 days with overnight stays at tent camping sites.
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There are roadside cafes, restaurants, hotels and inexpensive campgrounds all along the Yunnan Trail. You can spend the night in a youth hostel room for 25 yuan ($3.69), 3* hotels offer rooms for 80-200 yuan/day ($11.79-29.48).
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Yangtze cruises
You can experience the main coastal attractions on multi-day cruises along the great river. In the middle reaches of the Yangtze, the routes of motorboats pass through picturesque gorges and vast reservoirs, and excursions to national nature reserves are organized along the way.
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Six cruise companies offer tourists travel on the Yangtze aboard luxury multi-deck motor ships. These are floating hotels with a service level of 4*-5* with premium cabins and restaurants.
River cruises between the cities of Yichang and Chongqing are the most popular. Motor ships sailing from Yichang take 4 days to go up against the current. From Chongqing, ships go down the river for 3 days. The cruise costs from $429 to $1,769, depending on the class of cabin chosen.
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Chinese tour operators also offer longer trips. For example, tourists arriving in Beijing, a few days to see the sights of the capital, then make a flight to Xi’an, where they visit the world-famous tomb of Emperor Qing Shihuangdi with the famous “Terracotta Army”. From Xi’an tourists move to the ancient city of Guilin, here they are expected to tour museums and a boat trip on the picturesque Li River. From Guilin by high-speed train tourists go to Chongqing, from where they go on a cruise on the Yangtze. After arriving at Yichang Port, the group transfers by train to the mouth of the Yangtze and spend a few days sightseeing in Shanghai with accommodation in a luxury hotel. The two-week trip costs from $3,109.
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Shopping
Profitable shopping on the banks of the Yangtze River is offered by the port metropolis of Shanghai, where the first free trade zone in mainland China has been operating since 2013. The city is home to many shopping centers, department stores. Some of them are the largest in China, and Super Brand Mall is considered the largest in Asia. Here you can buy everything that is produced in the world, from stylish tie cufflinks to a Japanese home robot android with artificial intelligence. In jewelry salons, look out for magnificent silver jewelry made in cloisonné enamel technique, designer items made of jade and pearls, decorative painted vases made of the finest porcelain.
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Luxury storefronts shine in the city’s main shopping streets of Nanjing Lu, Fuzhou and Yan’an. Huaihai Lu Street concentrates fashion boutiques of international brands. You’ll need a few days to make your way around the hundreds of stores of the No. 1 Department Store Shopping Mall, which is at the intersection of Nanjing Lu and Xizang Streets. It sees up to 100,000 shoppers every day.
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In search of cheaper groceries, you should not go to the outskirts of cities or go to the bedroom communities. In China’s grocery stores, prices are the same in provincial capitals and mountain villages. For example, a kilogram of rice everywhere costs 6 yuan ($0.88), a kilo of sea shrimp or river fish – 15 yuan ($2.21), a bottle of local beer will cost 2 yuan ($0.29).
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Seasonal fruits and vegetables, fresh fish and meat are sold in the city’s markets at incredibly low prices. Here you can also buy many varieties of tea, sets of fragrant Chinese spices, and handicrafts.
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Cuisine
In the restaurants of the cities located on both banks of the Yangtze, you can taste dishes of all directions of Chinese cooking. For example, Chongqing is famous for its spicy Sichuan cuisine. Cantonese culinary delights contain less scalding spices. They are the recognized inventors of dim sum dumplings with various fillings. The basis of the cuisine of the coastal province of Shandong is seafood, among the delicacies offered shark fin soup, fried eel with sauce.
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A certain inconvenience for tourists is the table service: instead of forks and knives visitors are served with wooden sticks. However, it is easy to learn how to use them, and you won’t need a knife: all the ingredients of Chinese dishes are finely chopped. Even the famous Peking duck is first served whole and then served sliced thin.
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Most restaurants have menus printed in dialects of Chinese, and waiters rarely speak foreign languages. If you are going to dine without a guide-translator, then in the independent choice of dishes will have to be guided only by the pictures depicted on the menu pages. However, on the streets of any city you can find restaurants with European or American cuisine.
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Where to stay
Tourists traveling along the Yangtze will have no trouble finding shelter and a table in any coastal city or town. In the vast national parks, where sightseeing takes several days, hotels, transportation and tourist infrastructure have also been built.
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In Shanghai, the choice of hotels is incredibly wide. There are more than 7,200 hotels of all price categories in the metropolis. In the top ten most luxurious hotels – Banyan Tree Shanghai On The Bund 5 *, located on the waterfront in the historic district of the city, 10 minutes from the skyscraper of the Shanghai World Financial Center, the oceanarium and other attractions. Chinese and European restaurants, swimming pools, a fitness club, and a business center are available. Spacious rooms with panoramic windows have loggias and minibars. The highlight of the hotel is a 24-hour rooftop bar with amazing views of the river and the city. You can order excursions at the reception, and there are souvenir stores in the lobby. The range of prices for accommodation is 340-467 $/day.
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No less comfortable conditions are offered by Shanghai hotels of world chains Portman Ritz-Carlton Shanghai 5* (164-180 $/day), JW Marriott Hotel Shanghai 5* (157-179 $/day), Hyatt on the Bund Shanghai 5* (147-173 $/day), InterContinental Shanghai Jing’An 5* (142-182 $/day).
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Mid-range hotels ask $60-85 $/day for a room. Prices for overnight stays in guesthouses and hostels start at $15/night.
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Transportation
The Yangtze serves as an important transportation artery in China. Comfortable passenger motorboats and traditional Chinese junks ply the river, and coastal cities are connected by excellent highways with bus service. A dense network of railroads and highways crosses the river through dozens of bridges and tunnels. Cabs are available in the coastal towns, and car rental offices operate. The cost of renting a mid-range car is from $40/day, a standard SUV will cost $88/day, a 6-seat minivan can be rented for $95/day.
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How to get there
For foreigners, Yangtze travel often begins in Shanghai, home to Pudong International Airport, one of the largest in the world. The airport receives flights from most European capitals, as well as cities in the United States, Australia, India, Japan, Africa, South America, the Middle East and Southeast Asia.
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Pudong Airport is located 30 km east of the center of Shanghai. At quarter-hour intervals, high-speed maglev trains travel into the city. The average speed of the train is 300 km/h, the trip takes 8 minutes, and the ticket costs 50 yuan ($7.36).
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Shanghai’s city center and train stations can be reached from the airport by subway, as well as shuttle buses or cabs. Ground transportation is often caught in traffic jams, it will take about an hour to get into the city. The subway line runs to Shanghai Hongqiao Regional Airport, connected by air to Beijing and major cities in China.
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