Tourists get a bird's-eye view from a glass bridge built on a 1,123-meter-high cliff in Yunyang county, Chongqing. [Photo by Liu Junfeng, Xiong Bin and Zhu Xiyong/China Daily]

Cruising ahead

The expansion of luxury fleets has made Yangtze cruises as popular as those along the Nile, the Mississippi, the Rhine and the Danube.

Yangtze cruises have become more interesting and comfortable, says Liu Jianbin, general manager of the cruise business at Tuniu, one of China's biggest online travel agencies.

"It's like a moving five-star hotel on the river," he says.

"It's safe and stable. Nobody gets seasick."

The dam is also a major attraction.

"Everyone goes out onto the deck when the boat passes the dam," Liu says.

Chongqing hosts 17 cruise companies, while Hubei has four. They run a total of 85 ships, China Travel News reports.

Over 100 million tourists visited the region's 15 districts and counties last year, Chongqing's tourism bureau says. Cruise passengers increased 17 percent over 2014.

Cruises are popular among middle-aged and elderly travelers. Most international guests hail from Europe and the United States, Liu says.