1890 Beijing treaty, Chongqing was turned into a commercial port. British businessman Lide built a small wooden shell steam turbine with a length of17m in Shanghai, entered Sichuan in February 1898 and arrived in Chongqing in 25 days. This is the first ship in the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River.
This is extremely difficult. The Yangtze River cargo transportation was very prosperous in the 1920s and 1930s. The liner from Shanghai to Chongqing, sailing to Wuhan, has to be replaced by a boat to complete the rest of the voyage to Chongqing. However, when sailing in the canyon, you have to push and pull through the beach station to get through the danger. The navigation area above Yichang of the Yangtze River is inland river and rapids. Rocks and shoals are densely covered, so it is impossible to sail in winter and dry season, let alone at night. During this period, most foreigners who came to China were businessmen and few tourists.
1949 After the establishment of People's Republic of China (PRC), the Yangtze River waterway has been fundamentally rectified. From year-round navigation to night navigation The establishment of Gezhouba has further improved the shipping conditions. From 1950s to 1970s, there were regular liners in Shanghai, Wuhan and Chongqing. All passenger ships are built in China, and their passenger capacity is less than one-load freight. At that time, the east-west traffic in Central China mainly relied on the Yangtze River, and the transportation and freight industry flourished. At this time, during the Cold War, there were not many contacts between China and the world, and there were not many overseas tourists visiting the Yangtze River. Even if there is, it is also an official administrative reception.
After China's reform and opening up from 65438 to 0978, the economy developed rapidly, the transportation infrastructure was gradually improved and standardized, the highways were increasingly developed, and the Yangtze River shipping was gradually shrinking. On the contrary, the number of new tourist boats has increased, and the first to open up the Yangtze River cruise business is the charter of Lindbrett Travel Agency in the United States.
Century star
The "Kunlun" on which Mao Zedong once rode opened the American tourism market. At that time, there were few cruise ships, and most foreigners who came to visit the Yangtze River took the second class (no first class) of Chongqing-Wuhan Rongban ship to visit the Three Gorges.
The operation of 1983 "Yangtze River Tourist Boat" marks the diversification of the Yangtze River tourism pattern and the Yangtze River tourism has entered a new stage of development. 1989, the number of tourists in yangtze river international dropped sharply. With the construction of the Three Gorges Dam in 1992 and 1993, the tourism of the Yangtze River has developed rapidly.
At present, there are nearly 100 cruise ships of various types on the Yangtze River. Except for the three cruise ships of Li Hui Cruise Company, which were built by Germans, the cruise ships of other shipping companies were built by China people themselves, and more than 40 of them have been approved by the Ministry of Communications to receive overseas tourists.
In order to standardize the service quality of cruise ships, the National Tourism Administration has organized the star rating of 1996 and 1997 Yangtze River cruise ships. At present, 17 cruise ships have obtained 2-5 star certificates.