An eerie silence enveloped our ship as it slipped through the fog, heading down the mighty Yangtze towards the East China Sea.
Through the gloom it was just possible to make out rice paddies rising from the water’s edge, and above them the heavy, grey outline of tower blocks. But there was little sign of life, here in the most densely populated country in the world.
Every window was empty; no lights shone; no-one moved in the streets. Then came the realisation – the town through which we were passing was indeed a ghost town; its inhabitants had fled the rising waters that, in time, will flood their homes for good.
The Three Gorges Dam, being built across the river 620 miles away, had already forced the water level to rise 230 feet, swallowing entire villages. When the Dam is finished in 2009, the water will have risen a further 131 feet.
As our ship sailed on towards the Dam, the scenery became more rural, deserted towns giving way to lush green fields, and concrete tower blocks to traditional farmhouses. But all along the route the story was the same – red markers on the hills indicating where the water level will reach, showing that everything below will be lost.
The Dam was to be our ultimate destination on the three-day inaugural Viking River Cruise aboard the Century Star. Of the 60 cruise ships on the Yangtze, Viking claims the Century Star is the first to offer first-class accommodation and service. Although Chinese-built, it is operated by Europeans and offers European-style facilities and cuisine.
Viking has since added a sister ship, the larger Century Sky, with more upper-deck space and room for one third more passengers. It operates the traditional three and four-day cruises; while the Century Star offers a nine-night itinerary, sailing 1,430 miles from Chongqing to Shanghai.
A Viking cruise costs about 20% more than others on the river, but Royal Viking Line chairman Torstein Hagen said: “We are raising standards on the Yangtze and these are the only cruises that can truly claim to live up to the expectations of our European clientele.”
Travel Renaissance Holidays× said its 16-day tour, that incorporates the nine-night cruise, had gone down well. The firm, which acts as a general sales agent for Viking in the UK, expects “several” UK operators to feature the shorter cruises next year.
Travel Renaissance Holidays managing director Wendy Atkin-Smith said: “People have been waiting for a really good-quality ship on the Yangtze, and for a cruise of more than just three or four nights.”
Confident that the market will grow, Viking aims to have up to 10 ships on the Yangtze within the next four years. “There is a lot of pent-up demand for China,” said Hagen.
Viking is not alone in predicting that China will be the next big growth area for cruises. Gold Medal Travel expanded its China programme this year and added a 12-day group tour that includes a three-night cruise. Its Yangtze Splendour Tour has been Gold Medal’s fourth biggest seller in its Escorted Journeys portfolio.
For any Yangtze cruise, the highlight is sailing through the Three Gorges. With all the hype surrounding the opening of the second phase of the Dam in 2003 and the cries of “go now, before it’s too late”, you’d be forgiven for thinking the Three Gorges disappeared. They are shallower now but, for the time being at least, still spectacular.
Also, passengers can now transfer to smaller boats and spend a day cruising along the Lesser Gorges, which only recently became navigable thanks to the Dam. There is less mist here, the water is greener and you can spot monkeys swinging in the trees and gaze at the hanging tombs, the structures built into the cliff face by the ancient Ba people.
Controversial as the Three Gorges Dam might be, it is now another tourist attraction. This is where the shorter cruises end, and passengers can take a two-hour tour of the Dam to see the huge turbines that will replace 14 nuclear power stations, providing 10% of China’s electricity, lighting homes and powering industries thousands of miles away.
Interesting to some, perhaps, but not as inspiring as some of the scenery that will, sadly, be changed forever by the Dam’s completion.
