This luxury cruise line has returned to sailing around China

China’s travel industry endured three long years of border closures due to the pandemic, only fully reopening to inbound visitors in early 2023.

While pundits say tourism in China won’t fully recover until some time in 2025, the country’s coast carries some good signs.

Viking has returned to cruising China and its first trip back was completed in Shanghai with much celebration in September. Viking was in Chinese domestic waters for 15 years before COVID-19 put a stop to its operations, and those of others, there and elsewhere.

Viking Yi Dun, formerly Viking Sun, cruising into Victoria Harbour, Hong Kong.

The return of non-Chinese-flagged cruise ships is huge for a market that was, pre-pandemic, the world’s fastest growing.

Viking’s 930-passenger Viking Yi Dun, formerly Viking Sun, is now running new China itineraries that include rarely visited destinations. It traverses the Chinese coast, skirting the South China Sea, East China Sea and Yellow Sea. In some ports, Viking is the sole commercial leisure cruising company with access.

The 20-day Classic China Discovery sails from Hong Kong to Beijing and in addition to the classic sights such as the Great Wall of China, and Xi’an’s Terracotta Warriors, it takes guests to Dalian on the Liaodong Peninsula in Korea Bay, a port the British and Japanese each controlled at various points in history.

A welcome celebration in Pingtan for guests of the Viking Yi Dun.

Other itineraries combine China and Japan, such as the 15-day Beijing-to-Tokyo Jewels of Japan & China cruise exploring the German heritage of Qingdao, the modern marvel of Shanghai and in Shimizu offers views of Japan’s Mount Fuji.

Viking Yi Dun has 465 all-verandah staterooms and features Scandinavian-inspired design and multiple dining options.

Before reopening to international homeporting, China allowed some port calls. Holland America Line’s Zuiderdam visited Dalian, and Hong Kong accepted international cruise ship calls from the beginning of 2023.

MSC Cruises was the first international cruise line to homeport in China post-pandemic, with the deployment of MSC Bellissima in March this year. Royal Caribbean returned to China in April, with Spectrum of the Seas.

See viking.com