Everything worked.  Thank God for the AC.  Craftsmanship and finish details.....well, they're still working on it, but those things aren't essential for enjoying this trip.

Go in July or August, like we did, so you can experience the clothes-drenching sweat you'll work up while climbing, and climbing, and climbing in 90 (32C) degree heat. You won't be going far if you're really out of shape or have any difficulty walking. Nice views, but we didn't catch any Mongolian hordes off in the distance.  Shade is non-existent, and so were breezes for the most part.  Another place where you can experience, first hand, the difference in crowd behavior customs between Chinese nationals and Americans.  My wife, who is Chinese, actually DID get into a lengthy verbal altercation with several Chinese tourists at this site, accidentally recorded on her iPhone so the rest of us could enjoy the incident.  The highlight of the visit.

Could possibly have been a pleasant experience with about 50,000 fewer people and temperatures under 95 F (32 C.)  In addition, most Chinese tourists (and most of the tourists at this site are from China,) have radically different manners in large crowds than Americans.  Caucasians are clearly treated better than Chinese, but my wife is Chinese and nearly got into a fight with one of the workers.  If you're really interested in the Forbidden City, the Viking River Cruise guide was full of information that fascinated most of the folks on our group tour.  For those of us less interested, it was a 2 hour long grind of gigantic open courtyards and buildings that all looked the same.

30 of us crowded into a very small living room with temperatures in the 90's (30's C.)  Host very pleasant and accommodating.  Chinese-style public restrooms that are cleaned......very occasionally.  Interesting look through Hutong life, but any activity done with 30 of your cruise-mates lacks intimacy with local folks and their lives.  On different days in Beijing we walked through different Hutongs on our own.  Much more interesting than the visit with the herd.

(Looked more like Tian an men rectangle to me.)  Walking through a big open public area to admire a gigantic poster of Chairman Mao. If that doesn't excite you, I don't know what will.

Have no interest in museums.  My wife went and liked it, but mostly because the kids inside were cute.  Enjoy the long entry lines.

One of the few excursions on our 2 week trip through China where it wasn't over 90 degrees (32C.) Interesting skyline.  If you're interested in the history of the area, the Viking River Cruise guide held other cruise-mates rapt attention.  Otherwise, 15 minutes on the Wikipedia page would suffice.

Unlike most people, I am actually interested in plants, so I held out some hope that this segment of our tour might be interest me.  In it, we learned the theory behind the construction of Chinese gardens.  Plants themselves are low on the priority list in Chinese gardens.  If you, like me, are also interested in plants, you won't find anything interesting here.  Chinese gardens are more about architecture, water spaces, bridges and 'spaces for contemplation.'  Certainly not for the contemplation of plants and flowers.  Surrounding the garden is an extensive tourist trap area, a kind of Disneyland with Chinese-looking buildings.  Along with the usual shops for blowing your cash on trinkets and overpriced clothing and artifacts, there are a few shops selling food and  a Starbucks.  We had buns (bao) served with straws.  We had to see why they were served with straws.  Pretty good, but extremely hot, soup inside the bao.

We were able to get off the boat on 3 of the 5 days:  once to walk through the edge of a small city towards a temple while dodging a 4 block long gauntlet of aggressive local merchants who see American tourists as walking dollar bills, once to walk a few hundred feet to another tour boat where you sit for another hour and a half going through scenery, and the last time to finally do a little walking (after still more sitting on a bus ride) on the way up to the 3 Gorges Dam.Only a few of us actually used those facilities, so for most people taking this cruise, the quality and condition of those facilities won't matter.

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Yangtze River Cruise Wuhan to Chongqing

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