Shennong Stream, Hubei, China

5LaVonya F 5:00 PM Aug 9, 2014

Hardest working men!
Our Shennong Stream adventure was an excursion from our Victoria Cruise Line downstream Yangtze River cruise. From our cruise ship we boarded a large wooden vessel which took us on a relaxing journey along some of the smaller tributaries of the Yangtze ,namely the Shennong. On this very relaxing voyage we were privy to beautiful views of the wildlife and natural landscape of that area, we even spotted a group of wild monkeys playing along the reeds and rock formations. Once we reached our destination on the Shennong ,we left the larger vessel and boarded wooden long boats which held about 12 passengers each. Once we donned the provided orange life jackets, we were off! These long boats were propelled by a group of amazing men known as the Zangtze Boatmen. This group of petit , somewhat scantly clad men ,exhibited brute strength and coordination as they propelled us against the flow of the stream. There was a young woman at the front of our boat who sang and gave narration on the region along the way. Sure, we passed waterfalls and beautiful natural scenery, even a few caves and caverns along the way. There was also a man made rope bridge across the stream, said to be built and used by the natives. But, in my opinion the main show was the sheer talent and skill of these boat men. To navigate our boat some often had to get off, run up onto the rock formations and pull the boat along difficult areas with ropes. They worked in synchronicity like a well oiled machine. The return trip back to the docking area was easier on them as it was with the flow of the stream. Once we arrived back are the docking site, we removed our life jackets , got off the long boats, bid the boatmen farewell, and re boarded the larger vessel for our return trip to our cruise ship. This truly was an amazing experience which I highly recommend.

4Kathryn E 5:00 PM Nov 20, 2014

Go straight to the performance hall on arrival
We went on the Shennong Stream as part of our Cruise up the Yangtze River. We enjoyed this trip in a smaller boat, although we didn't get the opportunity to go in a rowing boat mentioned in some reviews. We struggled to see the hanging coffins, but managed it in the end, perhaps it's worth looking them up in advance to see what we are actually looking for. When we arrived at the destination our guide said go straight to the performance hall, which was good advice. We were sat on the front row and had a brilliant view. Once the performance was over though we had to get back on the boat and didn't have a chance to visit the shop so I can't comment on that.