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Li Jing

Cruising China’s Yangtze River has grown increasingly popular among elderly Chinese.
The cruise ships’ safety records have not been perfect even before the Dongfangzhixing, or Eastern Star, capsized on Monday night, but many were still drawn by the tours’ relatively low costs and slow pace of travel.
The vessels either operate between Nanjing in eastern Jiangsu province and the southwestern city of Chongqing, or take a shorter route between Chongqing and Hubei provinces.
The cruises offer passengers views of the Yangtze River, especially the Three Gorges section near the massive hydroelectric dam, and allows them to disembark to tour scenic spots nearby.
A 10-day trip for one in the first-class cabin costs about 3,000 yuan (HK$3,800) and is mostly targeted at elderly Chinese.
The Chongqing Daily reported there were about 80 ships offering similar cruises on the Yangtze River, ferrying about 1 million guests a year.

Chongqing Dongfang Ferry Company – which owns the Eastern Star, which capsized on the Yangtze River near Jianli, Hubei province on Monday night – was among China’s first operators offering such cruises.
The firm built six luxury cruise ships in the 1990s, each at a cost of millions of yuan, according to a Southern Weekly report.
At the time, Yangtze River cruises were highly popular among the Chinese as they rushed to bid goodbye to a section of the river before it was dammed in the early 2000s to build the Three Gorges Dam, the world’s largest hydroelectric power station.
But the firm fell heavily into debt in recent years, reporting more than 180 million yuan in liabilities over assets of less than 90 million yuan last year.
One of its six ships, the Dongfangwangzi, or Eastern Prince, was stranded near Chongqing’s Fuling district in 2000 after it collided with rocks. All 436 people on board were brought to safety.
In April 2013, a cruise ship owned by another Chongqing firm caught fire near Wuhan in Hubei province. There were no reports of casualties among its 415 mostly-elderly people on board, but the ship was completely burned down.
 


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Yangtze cruise ship sinking

Yangtze River cruises popular among China’s elderly despite imperfect safety record

Rescuers search for those still missing after the Dongfangzhixing, or Eastern Star, capsized in China's Yangtze River. Photo: Xinhua

Rescuers search for those still missing after the Dongfangzhixing, or Eastern Star, capsized in China's Yangtze River. Photo: Reuters

Cruises along China's scenic Yangtze River have been popular among the country's elderly for years because of their relatively low cost and slow pace of travel. Photo: SCMP Pictures

Yangtze cruise ship sinking ‘worst maritime disaster in China’s modern history’ with more than 400 still missing

Rescuers stand in the bottom of the sunk ship. Photo: Simon Song

A survivor is helped from the overturned passenger ship in the Jianli section of the Yangtze River yesterday. The ship capsized after it was caught in a storm. Photo: Xinhua

Rescuers save a survivor from the overturned passenger ship in the Jianli section of the Yangtze River. Photo: Xinhua

A family member of passengers cries outside the closed office of Xiehe Travel in Shanghai. Photo: Reuters

A rescue vessel alongside the capsized passenger ship. Photo: EPA

A rescue vessel alongside the capsized passenger ship. Photo: AFP

The ship was reported to be carrying 406 passengers, five travel agency workers and 47 crew members. Photo: Xinhua

Search and rescue efforts after the ship sank at the Jianli section of Yangtze Rive. Photo: Reuters

The vessel, which measures 76.5 metres in length, is capable of carrying up to 534 people.  

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (left) chairs a meeting to direct search and rescue work as he takes a plane to the site. Photo: Xinhua

A Chinese rescue team head out to search for survivors of a passenger ship. Photo: AFP

Rescuers work near the ship sinking site. Photo: Xinhua

Search and rescue efforts after the ship sank at the Jianli section of Yangtze River. Photo: EPA

A 65-year-old woman was pulled alive from the wreck, although state media had earlier given her age as 85. Photo: Reuters

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (front) gives instructions on search and rescue work on a ship. Photo: Xinhua

Rescuers carry a body recovered from the capsized ship. Photo: Xinhua

A surveillance camera on another ship on the Yangtze captures footage of the ill-fated Eastern Star (top left corner), less than 40 minutes before it capsized. Photo: Xinhua

Premier Li Keqiang at the scene of the disaster. Photo: SCMP Pictures

Premier Li Keqiang views bodies brought to rescue barge. Photo: Chinese Government's Weibo

Parents wait to see their parents in ICU. Photo: chinanews.com

Relatives of some of the missing wait anxiously for news. Photo: Chinanews.com

Relatives of missing passengers from Fujian province arrive in Wuhan as they travel to the scene of the disaster. Photo: Chinanews.com

Staff in Jianli funeral parlor prepare ice coffins for victims who were travelling on the Eastern Star. Photo: AFP

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang calls upon Zhu Hongmei, a 65-year-old survivor of the overturned ship, at a hospital in Jianli, Hubei. Photo: Xinhua

Two women hug each other in a hotel for the relatives of the passengers on a capsized tourist ship, in Nanjing, Jiangsu. Photo: EPA

Rescuers carry victims' bodies along the Yangtze River. Photo: EPA

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New | Yangtze River cruises popular among China’s elderly despite imperfect safety record