LUXURY YANGTZE CRUISES 2012 & 2013

A Yangtze river cruise along China's formidable Yangtze will often begin with a few days hopping between various cultural highlights in the rest of the country, from the shiny metropolises of Beijing and Shanghai to the terracotta warriors of Xian and the Tibetan monks of Lhasa. Then it's time to head over to Chongqing for the start of the cruise itself, and the discovery of the roots of Chinese civilisation and the natural wonders of this awesome landscape.

The first port of call is Fengdu where you will explore the underground limestone labyrinth of Snow Jade Cave, from there you continue to Shibaozhai to tour the 12-storey temple dating from the Qing Dynasty. Soon it's back to the present with a bang as you explore the Three Gorges Dam, which plugs the Yangtze River in a massive hydroelectric engineering project only completed in 2008, and then tour the spectacular Xiling Gorge, the longest of the three.

Next stop on a Yangtze river cruise is the Dongting Lake, the second largest body of freshwater in China and home to the impressive Yueyang Tower and pavilions. Wuhan sometimes marks the end of a Yangtze River cruise and provides a great place to discover ancient artefacts in the Hubei Provincial Museum. Some may continue, however, to Jingdezhen, where cruisers can discover the art of pottery-making, the sacred Buddhist mountain of Jiu Hua, home to a number of temples, before arriving at Nanjing, from where you can explore Suzhou - the 'Venice of the East'.

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