Yellow River (Huang He)

Explore just how huge the Yellow River is on a boat ride. Some tours combine a boat trip with a visit to Shaolin Temple, where you can see the famous monks (of all ages) go about their daily business and check out the Pagoda Forest. Yellow River day tours often stop at Longmen Grottoes to see Buddhist artifacts. Day tours run from Zhenghou and sometimes from further afield in places like Xian.

• Book a guided tour that includes a boat ride, making for a hassle-free experience.

• Not all boats have life jackets, so ask your tour operator if these are provided.

• Tours often stop at souvenir shops, so bring money to buy something.

The Yellow River crisscrosses all over China, so plenty of ways exist to reach it. It starts at the Tibet-Qinghai plateau and ends in the Yellow Sea. Many river tours leave from Zhengzhou, which can be reached by train. From there, a private car and driver or organized tour are your best bets for getting to the Yellow River.

The Yellow River (Huang He) traverses China, covering lots of different terrain. Generally, spring and fall are the most temperate in China, and it gets colder the more north you travel or warmer when you move south. Summers are the warmest, but also when more tourists are on the move. Winters are generally cold in areas where the Yellow River flows, so that time of year is not ideal for a boat ride.

Tours to the Yellow River also visit the Shaolin monks, who are well worth seeing. Learn all about Chinese kung fu at the monk's Shaolin temple and walk in the Pagoda Forest nearby. Watch a kung fu show while you’re there, too. One of the highlights is seeing the hundreds of students, some quite small, doing their routines like washing dishes, washing clothes, and being responsible for daily chores.