Adventuring in Yichang with Kids! These 3 Pitfalls Made Me Want to Jump into the River for the Moon

Sisters! Spent 3 days trekking through Yichang with my 6-year-old—the gorges were breathtaking, but the mishaps were soul-crushing! My kid had his lollipop snatched by monkeys at Three Gorges Tribe, and I face-planted into the mud at Longjin Stream... Here’s my tear-stained survival guide to save you buckets of sweat‼️ ♦️ **Action-Packed Itinerary (Copy This!)** **Day1⃣️**: Yichang downtown 👉 Scream-sprinting at Huangbaihe Pier 👉 Sob over bridal customs at Three Gorges Tribe 👉 Butt-slide at Longjin Stream 👉 Monkey brawl at Monkey Mountain **Day2⃣️**: Three Gorges Tourist Center 👉 Cruise gazing at cliffs 👉 Chasing rainbows on G348 Highway 👉 Collecting red leaves at Canal Park 👉 Spicy tears at CBD Night Market ✅ **Three Gorges Tribe & Longjin Stream** A real-life fairy tale! The stream was so cold my kid curled his toes into chicken claws 🐾. A Tujia bride’s embroidered ball bonked his head—he froze, then yelled, “I’ll marry her!” 👰 An old man rowed a bamboo raft, humming tunes, while my kiddo “caught rainbow fish” with an empty net... ✅ **G348 Highway** Road-trip heaven! Every turn screamed “WOW” 🌄. At Gangouzi Bridge, we snapped wild-west shots—my kid shouted, “Mom! Dinosaur footprints on the mountain!” Sunset at Lianhuopan Bridge turned his Ultraman toy gold ✨. ✅ **Canal Park** Autumn’s masterpiece! We played hide-and-seek in reeds and waded through knee-deep ginkgo leaves 🍂. My kid tossed leaves like “confetti,” declared himself “Autumn Prince,” and tried to haul 10 pounds of leaves back for his “coronation” (ahem... school exhibit). 💣 **Bloody Lessons Learned**: 1⃣️ **Hide snacks at Monkey Mountain**! Three monkeys mugged us for a lollipop—my kid wailed about tattling to Sun Wukong. 2⃣️ **Don’t cut it close for cruises**! Arrive 20 mins early, or you’ll gawk like a stranded duck 🦆 as the ship sails off. 3⃣️ **Radish dumplings = spice grenades**! One bite had my kid chugging water and headbutting the table, yelling, “My brain’s on fire!” 🍜 **Food Hall of Fame/Shame**: ✔️ **Kang potatoes at Jiefang Road Night Market**: Crispy outside, soft inside with plum powder—my kid invented “potato disco eating.” ✔️ **Cruise’s Diaozi fish**: Fresh river fish so good he licked the bones thrice. ✔️ **CBD’s chili oil buns**: Secretly licked the filling, cried from spice, then claimed his “eyes were leaking strawberry juice.” ✖️ **Viral “Liangsha” dessert**: Queued 30 mins for sugar-water with “wormy” texture—kid called it “tadpole hell.” 📸 **Instagram Gold**: 1⃣️ Longjin Stream bamboo rafts (wave nets for martial arts vibes). 2⃣️ Monkey Mountain suspension bridge (action shots of monkey chases). 3⃣️ G348 rainbow road signs (epic highway backdrops). 4⃣️ Canal Park reed boardwalks (hanfu-clad autumn MV). 🏨 **Hotels: Hits & Misses**: ✔️ **Three Gorges Project Hotel**: Free toy ships, bubble baths with river views 🛁. ✔️ **Lichen Hotel**: Kids’ tent room, breakfast noodles with 10 toppings. ✖️ **A “river-view” homestay**: Reality vs. photos = Taobao scam, with a toilet begging for a plunger. ⚠️ **Life-Saving Gear**: ✔️ Kid leash (crowds = zombie apocalypse). ✔️ Foldable trekking pole (Longjin’s rocks = ice rink). ✔️ Sealable snack bags (monkey-proof, kid-proof, klutz-proof). On the train home, my kid blurted, “Mom, the Yangtze’s wrinkles outnumber Grandma’s!” Though our clothes shed sand like hourglasses, his diary’s “Monkey King battle comics” made it all worth it! (💡 **Final Tip**: **Grip-ready water shoes!** Longjin’s rocks have 800 tricks—we wiped out in 18 styles...)