School’s out. Well for some, maybe. Whatever the case, it’s time to start looking for things to do. For once again, the unstated, but official line is, “Please don’t leave Nanjing”. Yes, a stiff breeze on the mighty Yangtze River is the way to keep cool this year.
Stepping on to the Yangtze Victory, the challenge is not to immediately think of Titanic, the movie. For once off land, find yourself at the foot of the Grand Staircase. But it then takes just a split second to be reminded that this is China and everything need be made luxurious.
In retrospect, those steps are also a glimpse of things to come; that you’re in for a really rather special experience.
Starting from the Wumadu Cruise Terminal on Yongji Da Jie, the actual cruise has been around for many years, but the Yangtze Victory entered service as a vastly upgraded version more akin to an opulent cruise ship just a little more than a year ago.
And just as on Titanic, there are are also several decks with three classes of passage.
Let’s start with First Class. On the Yangtze Victory, this is on B Deck, and is the epitome of luxury. Afternoon tea is naturally the drink of choice, while lounging on expansive sofas and gazing out of the giant windows. On its trip on the River yesterday, 9 June, The Nanjinger did spy one fella actually sleeping away the once-in-a-lifetime experience, but there were suspicions that was the result of a liquid lunch.
Downstairs on C Deck is where you will find Second Class. Here the sofas are replaced by the kind of cloth-covered seats you find yourself plonked in at some conference. Dubbed a “multi-function hall”, here on a large LED screen plays a video documenting this stretch of the river’s history, etc.
Steerage on the Yangtze Victory is upstairs and open air. And the place where the majority of cruisers choose to sit, from where they may take photos unfettered by the glass reflections or glare of downstairs, and so that they may dash from one side of the boat to the other whenever something photo worthy comes along.
“Not enough by half actually”, was the movie’s reference to the lifeboats on Titanic. By comparison, on the Yangtze Victory, the situation’s positively dire. One solitary lifeboat. For a ship with a capacity for perhaps 300 persons.
But where the Yangtze Victory differs from the Titanic is in its ability to stay afloat and the fact there’s no vintage car usefully hidden down on the cargo deck. Mind you, an artist ready to whip out a few charcoals to surprise innocent, unsuspecting passengers wouldn’t go amiss.
So what does come along on this 2 hour trip up and down the Yangtze in Nanjing?
The “Changjiing River Trip” sets off by sailing a few kilometres downstream, passing Muyan Riverside Scenic Area (affording a great view of the Bodhidharma caves) and Yanziji, before turning around not too far from the Nanjing Baguazhou Bridge (formerly Nanjing Number 2 Bridge).
Then it’s on to the highlight of the cruise; the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge. And top of the bucket list for all on board is a pic of themselves in front of the first bridge spanning the Yangtze built without foreign help. It’s hard not to be touched by such a patriotic display. On a more practical level, the level of detail discernible on the bridge’s substructure will be a delight to any civil engineer, while nice touches are also afforded by the sign informing captains to “obey the law of the sea”.
As the Bridge recedes, we come upon Pukou Wharf, before once again turning around. Back on the right, going downstream again offers excellent views of Zhongshan Wharf and the former Nanjing Train Ferry Loading Trestle dating from the Republican-era that took trains across the River to the aforementioned Pukou Wharf.
Then we’re back under the big Bridge and headed home, past our city’s shipyards, one of which was said to be building Titanic 2 a number of years back. Her and her predecessor may not be today, but the Yangtze Victory’s cruise remains very real and one of the most enjoyable afternoons you will likely spend in Nanjing.
Tickets for the cruise on the Yangtze Victory are ¥128 on weekdays and ¥138 at weekends. Concession (¥118) and child (¥28) tickets available too. At time of writing, reservations were not necessary for a weekday trip. Simply turn up, show the proverbial codes and buy a ticket inside the terminal. The Yangtze Victory sails daily at 15:00, with an additional 10:00 sailing during select periods.
