China's vast maritime territory encompasses the Bohai, Yellow
and East China seas in the east and the South China Sea in the
south. While the Bohai Sea nestles in the arms of the mainland, the
Yellow, East China and South China seas are linked with the Pacific
Ocean. The country's long and winding coastline is clustered with
harbours, such as Shanghai, Tianjin, Guangzhou, Yantai, Qingdao,
Qinhuangdao, Dalian, Beihai, and Hong Kong. All these harbours are
set in beautiful surroundings, and operate global cruises, which
bring the travelers to the world's famous seaboard cities.
International Maritime Shipping Lines: The New
Jianzhen, a luxury passenger and cargo liner operated by the Sino
Japanese International Ferry Company, sails once a week from
Shanghai to Japan's Kobe, Osaka and Yokohama,with a one-way trip
lasting for about 45 hours. The Yanjing is a passenger liner run by
the Jinshen Steamboat Company which shuttles once a week between
Tianjin and Kobe. The Daren passenger and cargo liner owned by the
Daren Steamboat Company of Dalian sails twice a week between Dalian
and Inchon of the Republic of Korea, with a one-way trip taking 15
hours. Operated by the Weihaiwei Eastern Shipping Company, two
luxury passenger liners, the Xinjinqiao and Xiangxuelan, sail three
times a week from Weihai and Qingdao respectively to Inchon. A
one-way trip along either route lasts for 14 hours.
Domestic Maritime Shipping Lines: China's port
cities are linked to each other by a labyrinth of maritime shipping
lines. The most important of these are the Shanghai-Dalian,
Dalian-Tianjin, Dalian-Yantai, Shanghai-Qingdao,
Shanghai-Guangzhou, Beihai-Guangzhou, Shenzhen-Zhuhai, and
Zhuhai-Hong Kong lines. Sailing along these well-arranged domestic
maritime shipping lines are many luxury cruises and passenger
liners.
Inland waterway: The continent of China is
crisscrossed by rivers 226,800km in aggregate length, and 136,000
km of these have been opened up for inland navigation.
Better-known inland waterways: (1) The 146.6-km
Suzhou-Hangzhou section of the Grand Canal, enabling the passenger
to feast his eye on the natural beauty of this water-bound land
south of the Yangtze River. (2) The Grand Canal-Yangtze River-Lake
Taihu route, providing a most idyllic traveling experience for the
passenger, who is also able to savour freshwater delicacies right
on board a ship. (3) The 83-km-long Guilin-Yangshuo route, which
runs through the postcard perfect scenery along the major section
of the celebrated Lijiang River. (4) The Shanghai-Chongqing
navigational line along the Yangtze River, extending for 2,399
kilometers. On a given day the waters of the Yangtze River Three
Gorges are plied by more than 50 luxury tourist cruises sailing
along this line. Star rated by the China National Tourism
Administration, these pleasure cruises are operated by
international travel services or cruise companies, responsible for
oversea publicity and group reservations. (5) The waterway from
Guangzhou to Guiping (Guangxi) along the Xijiang River, offers
regular passenger liners that shuttle between three national scenic
resorts: Guilin, Lijiang and Zhaoqing. (6) In northeast China,
passenger ships sail from Harbin up the Songhuajiang River to
Qiqihar or downstream to Jiamusi, Tongjiang, and Khabarovsk
(Russia). Both lines meander their way through some of the most
amazing scenic spots of the great northeast.
(www.airchina.com.cn)