Chongqing - Du Chongxin, 73, has a long-cherished wish: to find the children he once witnessed being born on the Yangtze River. "If I'm lucky enough to find them, I would like to treat them to a ride on a Three Gorges cruise ship, to sail the Yangtze again."

Du Chongxin standing at the helm of the cruise ship. (Photo by Zou Fei)

He spoke those words standing on the deck of the Apollo Cruise, docked at Chaotianmen Wharf in Chongqing. The river breeze tousled his hair, just as it had when he first became a captain, full of vigor, 43 years ago.

His often-repeated motto: "Before you navigate a ship, learn to be a person; hold everything in reverence."

The Captain Who Never Forgot the Babies Born Aboard

Du Chongxin now captains a Three Gorges tourist vessel, making dozens of trips up the river each year.

Few people know that in his more than half a century of sailing, besides carrying millions of passengers, he has personally witnessed the arrival of more than a dozen newborns.

From 1985 to 1993, Du was captain of the Jiangyu No. 17 passenger ship, which plied the route between Chongqing and Shanghai. In almost every year, at least one woman gave birth on board. Du explains that in those days, water transport was the main artery along the Yangtze, and while deliveries on ships were unusual, they were not unheard of; many pregnant women were simply hurrying to their destinations.

The ship's infirmary was small and had only one doctor. In case of an emergency labor, the crew would broadcast a call for any medical personnel among the passengers, while stewards rigged up temporary delivery rooms with spare sheets and coordinated with port hospitals when docking.

The babies arrived to the sound of cries mingled with the lapping of waves and the ship's whistle.

Whenever a birth occurred, Du would ask the head cook to prepare a bowl of brown-sugar poached eggs, served in a porcelain bowl, and personally deliver it to the new mother to help her regain strength.

"In my eyes, they are all children of the Yangtze," Du says. In the trade, there is an old saying: "New life calms the waves." It was believed that a baby’s first cry brought good luck and safe passage.

All told, more than a dozen children were born safely on Du's ships. Some parents even asked him to give the babies nicknames.

He chose names like Jiangsheng ("River-born"), wishing the child a life as vigorous and ceaseless as the Yangtze’s currents, and Chuansheng ("Ship-born") or Hangsheng ("Voyage-born").

With communications limited back then, most passengers disembarked and were never heard from again. But the old captain never forgot them. "I want to find these children, at my own expense, and take them on a Three Gorges cruise," Du says. They were born when the river was still wild with rapids and shoals; today, the gorges are a peaceful lake behind the great dam.

He hopes to give these "children of the Yangtze" a gift: to relive those unforgettable days, witness the transformation of the Three Gorges, and hear stories of the river from his lips.

This is the deepest confession of an old captain to his river.

In his younger days, Du Chongxin took photos of the Yangtze River. (Photo by Interviewee)

Four generations bound to one river

Du Chongxin's bond with the Yangtze spans his entire life. His ancestral home is Zigui in Hubei Province, and his forebears were boatmen for generations. Since the Qing dynasty, when boats had no engines, the family had lived off the river.

"Without exaggeration, I grew up on a boat. The Yangtze is my home," he says proudly. While others remember streets and playgrounds, he remembers decks; while others heard cicadas, he heard whistles and waves.

Following his captain father's advice, Du returned to the Yangtze in 1974 after being demobilized from the army. He worked on deck by day and studied navigation theory at night; while others memorized channels, he committed to memory over a thousand shoals and hidden reefs along the river. He rose from seaman to helmsman, then to third, second, and first officer, and finally to captain, a journey that took a full decade.

His greatest pride: "In all these decades, I have never had a single major safety accident, and I have never let my passengers down." To him, the title "captain" carries a weighty responsibility—the lives of everyone on board.

On the river, he occasionally crossed paths with his father, Du Changyuan, who was also a captain. They would wave to each other across the surging water, their most tacit and closest moments.

From perilous rapids to placid lakes

Du Chongxin has witnessed nearly all the major changes in Yangtze shipping. The old Chuanjiang (the Sichuan section of the river) was a different world. Names like Qingtan, Xietan, and Konglingtan struck fear into every sailor. Passing through the rapids at night, without GPS or electronic charts, relied solely on searchlights and sheer experience.

Today, the river is wider, the rapids are gone, and 10,000-ton freighters can sail all the way to Chongqing.

Standing at the helm, Du says with a smile: "In the old days, sailing was a battle against the river; now, it is about quietly appreciating the river. My mindset is completely different."

The era has transformed the Yangtze, and he has witnessed every bit of that transformation.

Du Chongxin in his younger days. (Photo by Interviewee)

A lifelong devotion to the Yangtze

Though past 70, Du still regularly gives lectures to young captains, passing on his decades of experience without reservation. He has trained 27 captains, each fully capable of commanding their own ship.

Lv Biyun, a younger-generation captain, says: "Whenever the weather or channel changes, as long as Captain Du is around, we feel we have a talisman, a steady anchor."

Du often tells the younger crew: "Before you navigate a ship, learn to be a person; hold everything in reverence. As long as the river flows, never lose the mariner’s original heart."

In his spare time, he loves taking photos of the Yangtze, the Three Gorges, and the cruise ships, and posting them online, telling young people stories of the river. Not long ago, he took part in filming the documentary New Three Gorges.

When asked when he plans to finally step ashore, the old captain laughs: "My father didn't leave the ship until he was 76, so I will try to match him!"

A cruise ship sounds its whistle and slowly departs from the wharf. From treacherous rapids to a placid lake, from steam-powered passenger ships to luxury cruise liners, Du Chongxin's life is almost a living history of Yangtze navigation. Standing at the helm, the place he knows and loves best, he sighs, "I belong to this river, for all my life..."

(Zhang Xuege, as an intern, also contributes to the report)