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My 77 year old father had a major operation in May 2006, to remove a cancer tumor from his stomach. I had promised him to bring him to the cruise after he recovered. He fully recovered after 6 months.

He could only walk about 100m and climb upstairs less than 10 steps. So this trip was very challenging for us. I had to bring along the wheelchair. I travelled alone with my father, because I dislike going with tour groups. I speak fluent Mandarin, and I have previously traveled to many cities in China, so I didn't worry too much. The problem is getting the wheelchair into taxis and upstairs, since I am not a very strong woman.

I booked all hotels, air tickets, cruise online. We stayed at these hotels:
1. Intercontinental Chong Qing
2. Holiday Inn Shifu Guangzhou hotels

I booked directly from the hotel website, which guaranteed the lowest rate. My air ticket from Singapore - Guangzhou was booked on Singapore Airlines website. Domestic air tickets from Guangzhou - Yichang, and Yichang - Chong Qing, was booked with China Southern Airlines. They had the cheapest airfare online, but I wasn't able to install the proper software to do online payment. Websites in China require some special security software, which I couldn't figure out how to install. I called the airline, was told that I can do bank transfer. It was really a lot of hassle and phone calls to the China office, but I managed to get the online discounted price, and that really saved me a lot of money. If I buy the tickets from their office in Singapore, I would have to pay more than S$1000 for 2 adults, but now I paid only about S$400 !

The cruise was booked with Baicen Travel , a travel agency in Chong Qing. I emailed them to make a booking, but I had to pay using Western Union, since they don't accept international credit card. I find their service quite good and hassle free. They even provided me with a 24 hour telephone number, which really came in useful during my trip.

The cruise ship was MV Emperor, 4 nights from Yichang to Chong Qing, USD380 per person, including all meals and 3 shore excursions. I chose this ship because it is one of the very few ships on the Yangtze, that has an elevator.

*Day 1 (May 20 2007)*
On Day 1, we flew from Singapore to Guangzhou. At the airport, the staff helped to push my father on his wheelchair to the taxi stand. The staff and the driver helped me load the wheelchair into the taxi.

We stayed at the Holiday Inn at Shifu Road. The room was spacious, very clean and comfortable.

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