CHIBI, China — The tourist park here beside the Yangtze River was bustling on Monday with cruise ship passengers on a port of call. They strolled through the lush grounds, laughing and taking pictures. Some sat next to a lake and a line of toy cannons pointed over the water.

“There were more than 400 people here that day in the park,” said a man sitting next to the cannons on Thursday who gave only his surname, Zhou. “Some of them fired off these cannons. They were happy playing here.”

Those were the among the final peaceful moments in the lives of about 440 people who are now presumed dead after their ship, the Oriental Star, capsized 12 hours later, farther upstream by the town of Jianli. The ship, also called the Eastern Star, tipped upside down during a raging thunderstorm that struck after 9 p.m. There were 456 people on board, and only a handful are known to have survived.

Their last port of call was this small town in Hubei Province on the southeastern bank of the Yangtze, about 72 nautical miles from where the boat capsized, or 95 miles by car. Chibi is known across China as the site of the pivotal Battle of Red Cliffs in the ancient legend of the Three Kingdoms. Many Chinese learn about the battle from childhood. Chibi is a regular stop on riverboat tours of the Yangtze; it lies east of the famous Three Gorges and the large dam built in that area, considered the highlight of such tours.