Welcome to Tiger Leaping Gorge
Gingerly stepping along a trail swept with scree to allow an old fellow with a donkey to pass; resting atop a rock, exhausted, looking up to see the fading sunlight dance between snow-shrouded peaks, then down to see the lingering rays dancing on the rippling waters a thousand metres away; feeling utterly exhilarated. That pretty much sums up Tiger Leaping Gorge (虎跳峡; Hǔtiào Xiá), the unmissable trek of southwest China.
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Tiger Leaping Gorge activities
Lijiang Private Full-Day Highlight Trip with Black Dragon Pool
In the morning, you will be picked up from your centrally located hotel in Lijiang at 8am. It will take about 60km from Lijiang to First Bend on the Yangtze River. It has the amazing gorge scenery, and the Iron Chain Bridge in the Stone Drum town. The village of Stone Drum got its name from a large, cylindrical, marble tablet shaped like a drum. The scenery is magnificent as the road running through the Lijiang valley which is filled with wheat fields and drying haystacks.After that ,you`ll enjoy an authentic Chinese lunch in the restaurant. Continue to drive another 40 km and you will arrive Tiger Leaping Gorge, the deepest gorge in the world. With 34 rapids of the Yangtze River, it is called the Jinsha, it is because there is rumor to say that you are able to find gold in the river. In the upper part of Tiger Leaping Gorge, you can walk about 2.6km to Tiger Leaping Rock. It is a nice walking along the Jinsha River and Marble trail, the view is breathtaking. In the afternoon, you will head to Black Dragon Pond Park and Museum of Naxi Dongba Culture. Black Dragon Pond Park is a famous pond in the scenic Jade Spring Park (Yu Quan Gong Yuan) located at the foot of Elephant Hill, a short walk north of the Old Town of Lijiang in Yunnan province, China. It was built in 1737 during the Qing dynasty and offers a spectacular view of the region's tallest mountain, Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, over its white marble bridge. At the Museum of Naxi Dongba Culture, you can learn Naxi pictograph character and explore the rich Naxi minority culture in the museum. If you want, you can also attend the Naxi Orchestral and Show in Dongba Palace(at your own expense). Your tour will end by dropping you off at your centrally located hotel in Lijiang.
NORTHWEST YUNNAN
ItineraryDay 1: LijiangStop At: Old Town of Lijiang - China, Lijiang, Yunnan We will fly into Lijiang in the morning and stay the night in the old town of Dayan. For over a decade the Naxi old town of Dayan has been a World Heritage Site and quite commercialized as a result. But the reconstructed buildings are still in the old traditional style, the town’s layout is the original one and the Old Stone Bridge is still intact. In the evening we have the option of a classical Naxi orchestra performance.Duration: 1 dayNo meals included on this day.Accommodation included: Overnight at Eagle Guesthouse(老鹰客栈) at Shuhe Ancient TownDay 2: Tiger Leaping GorgeStop At: Tiger Leaping Gorge (Hutiao Xia), Shangri-La County, Yunnan On our second day we leave Lijiang for the countryside, passing Lashi Lake and then turning up the Jinshajiang, the River of Golden Sand, to Tiger Leaping Gorge. Here the river rushes through a steep, narrow chasm between Haba Snow Mountain, 5396 meters high on the northern side, and Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, 5596 meters high on the southern side. Its name comes from the legend of a tiger escaping its hunters by leaping over the river to the other side of the gorge. We will stay the night in Walnut Grove, a picturesque Naxi village near the north end of the gorge. A waterfall and scenic views of the river are within a short distance.Duration: 1 dayNo meals included on this day.Accommodation included: Overnight at Walnut Grove Day 3: SanbaStop At: Haba Village, Shangri-La County, Yunnan On our third day we drive to Sanba, a small Naxi town near the unusual natural phenomenon called Baishuitai—White Water Terraces. Looking like a big blob of white stone in the middle of a forest, on closer inspection Baishuitai is a series of natural terraces, water flowing from one pool to the other. Over many eons, the white carbonate of lime deposited by the waters of the spring above formed into the terraces. Local Naxi tradition says their gods created Baishuitai to show the people how to farm the hills. The Naxi dongba tradition also originated near Baishuitai. We will spend the afternoon exploring the terraces, Sanba and Naxi villages, Hui and Tibetan mosques and spend the night here.Duration: 1 dayNo meals included on this day.Accommodation included: Over night at Haba Guesthouse(雪域飞鹰客栈)Day 4: Shangri-LaStop At: Shangri-La Highland Craft Brewery, Shangri-La County, Yunnan On our fourth day we drive from Sanba north to Shangrila, passing out of the Naxi-inhabited area, through Yi territory with villages of log cabins, and eventually reach the Tibetan-dominated Shangrila plateau. We will make a short stop on the way at Dabao Temple, a small but attractive rural Tibetan monastery. Then we will go on to Shangrila city, where we will spend two nights. The rest of the day we will take walks through the reconstructed old town.Duration: 2 daysNo meals included on this day.Accommodation included: Overnight at Sky Valley Cottage（谷野村舍） at Napa LakeDay 5: Shangri-LaStop At: Shangri-La Highland Craft Brewery, Shangri-La County, Yunnan The old town has been commercialized to the same extent as Dayan, but it has attractive temples and museums, while the outer neighborhoods still feature the local style of traditional Tibetan domestic architecture. The temple on the hill in the southern part of the old town, featuring a colossal prayer wheel, provides a good panoramic view. The new city is interesting for the extensive use of Tibetan architectural motifs, like wide roofs with minimal angles, carved and painted window screens and so on, for new buildings, both government and commercial.Duration: 2 daysNo meals included on this day.Accommodation included: Overnight at Sky Valley Cottage(谷野村舍) at Napa LakeDay 6: BenzilanStop At: Shangri-La Highland Craft Brewery, Shangri-La County, YunnanOur sixth day begins with a morning visit to Shangrila’s market, where we can see baskets and other items of split bamboo and wood, brass and copper ware, yak cheese and a surprising array of fruits and vegetables. Then we will visit Songzhanlin, a Tibetan monastery village, home to Guihua Temple, the largest and most spectacular monastery in the county. Afterwards we will proceed to Napa Lake just north and then to Nixi, a Tibetan craft village specializing in black ceramic objects. From here we continue north to Benzilan, a Tibetan town overlooking the Jinshajiang, where we will send the night.Duration: 2 daysNo meals included on this day.Accommodation included: Overnight at Benzilan GuesthouseDay 7: DeqinStop At: Meili Snow Mountain, Deqin County, YunnanOn our seventh day we drive up to a point overlooking a sharp bend in the Jinshajiang and then go on to Dongzhulin, a large and important Tibetan monastery. From here we continue northwest through the Baima Mountains, a preserved forest of both evergreen and deciduous trees. Nomad herders bring their yaks to pastures here in the summer, while autumn colors splash the forests with red, orange and yellow. We next stop for a visit in Deqin city, the county’s biggest city, almost thoroughly modernized, but with an interesting mosque that serves Tibetan Muslims, not Chinese Hui. They are descendants of Tibetan converts during the heyday of Hui-organized caravans on the ancient Tea and Horses Road. We will spend the night in the environs of Feilai Monastery, a little outside of the city.Duration: 2 daysNo meals included on this day.Accommodation included: Overnight at Feilaisi GuesthouseDay 8: CizhongStop At: Cizhong Church, Deqin County, YunnanThe morning of our eighth day we will drive north to the Meili Snow Mountain viewpoint. At a height of 6740 meters, Meili is the tallest mountain in Yunnan. A long glacier slides down the front face below the peak. Just to the south rises Taizi Snow Mountain, a triangular peak of 6054 meters. Both mountains stand on the other side of the Lancangjiang, the river that flows into Southeast Asia to become the Mekong. Next we turn south down the scenic Lancangjiang Valley as far as Cizhong, just above the county boundary.Cizhong is the site of a famous Catholic church, the legacy of successful French Lazarist missionaries in the 19th century. Made of stone, combining French and Chinese characteristics in the building design and its interior, built in 1921, the church replaced an earlier one in Cigu, a few km south, that was burnt down during a Tibetan insurrection in 1905. The church is still active, serving a community about 75% Tibetan, 20% Naxi and 5% Han, and holds evening services three times a week, plus its Sunday morning Mass. We will stay three nights in the area.Duration: 3 daysNo meals included on this day.Accommodation included: Overnight at Hongxing's Lodge(红星驿站)Day 9: Above CizhongStop At: Cizhong Church, Deqin County, YunnanThis is our day for a hike in the mountains. We drive for thirty minutes up to our starting point at 2700 meters altitude on a trail that has been connecting people from both sides of the mountain for centuries and was the route used by Western explorers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. We make a gradual ascent to 3200 meters at a moderate pace, passing by a huge spruce tree with a Catholic shrine chiseled into its trunk to scare away ghosts. Our hike terminates at Hongxing’s Lodge, a simple wooden hut in a meadow overlooking a valley.Duration: 3 daysNo meals included on this day.Accommodation included: Overnight at Hongxing's LodgeDay 10: Return to CizhongStop At: Cizhong Church, Deqin County, Yunnan In the morning we will retrace our hike back down the mountain and return to Cizhong. In the afternoon we will learn about the local wine production, another legacy of the French missionaries, and visit families involved in the process.Duration: 3 daysNo meals included on this day.Accommodation included: Overnight at Hongxing's LodgeDay 11: Weixi or TachengStop At: White Horse Snow Mountain National Nature Reserve, Weixi County, Yunnan On our eleventh day we head south and cross into Weixi County, where the demographics change, with Naxi living along the river and Lisu in the highlands. Our first stop is the riverside Naxi town of Yezhi. From here we ascend the mountains for a look at Tongle, a village of log cabins sprawled along a ridge and then proceed to Shouguosi, a 17th century Tibetan monastery of the Karmapa (Back Hat) sect. An elegant redwood building more in the Han style than like those in other parts of the prefecture, the temple has wonderful wall murals, some restored, some originals, ceiling paintings, carved posts and brackets and a host of interior decorations. The temple serves a mixed community of Naxi, Tibetan, Lisu and Han.After lunch in Kangpu, the town below Shouguosi, we will proceed to Xiaoweixi, about 12 km north of the junction of the Langcangjiang with the Yongchun River. Xiaoweixi is the site of another Catholic church set up in 1870 by the same Lazarist missionaries who worked in Cigu and Cizhong. This church, also still active, is the original, Chinese-style building. From here, depending on the time, we have the options for our overnight stay to go to Weixi city, a quickly modernizing city lying on a long ridge with good mountain views, or further north, along the Pula River to Tacheng, a smaller town with a Tibetan neighborhood and temple.Duration: 2 daysNo meals included on this day.Accommodation included: Overnight at Weixi/Tacheng GuesthouseDay 12: LimingStop At: Mt. Laojun Mountain National Geological Park ,Yulong Liming, Yulong County, Yunnan We begin our final full day with a visit to the Tibetan quarter of Tacheng and then head for the sanctuary for the snub-nosed monkey, an endangered species animal and Yunnan’s mascot. We then head east, passing Damo Temple, a monastery built in a cave on a mountain high above the road, and then down to the Jinshajiang, where we turn south and follow the river through the Naxi town of Judian to the turn-off to Liming, where we will spend the night. Liming is a Lisu village, though very much Naxi influenced, set in a unique red rock canyon.Duration: 2 daysNo meals included on this day.Accommodation included: Overnight at Liming GuesthouseDay 13: Return to LijiangStop At: Old Town of Lijiang - China, Lijiang, Yunnan In the morning we will drive back to Lijiang., with a stop at Shigu, at the first bend of the Jinshajiang. We will arrive in Lijiang in time for afternoon flights to Kunming or other destinations in China.For those groups who do not wish to make the overnight trek above Cizhong we offer three alternatives. The first is to drive up the mountain and take a shorter, less strenuous hike back down to the valley, with a stop in a traditional village. We return to Cihong for the night and spend the next night in Yezhi and the eleventh in Tacheng. The second choice is a drive above Cizhong to the high-altitude lakes of Nanjieluo, return by car to Cizhong, stay the night there and the next night in Yezhi. The third option is to stay in Cizhong one night, spend the ninth night in Yezhi, the tenth in Weixi and the eleventh in Tacheng, with more time for the sights along the way.Duration: 2 daysNo meals included on this day.No accommodation included on this day.
2-Day Tiger Leaping Gorge Private Trekking Tour from Lijiang
Day 1 Lijiang- Qiaotou - Halfway Guesthouse At 8:00, pick you up at your hotel in Lijiang downtown. Drive to Qiaotou Town, it takes 2 hours on the trip. Tiger Leaping Gorge hike tour is one of the most beautiful trekking tour of Yunnan Province. Your hiking trip starts from Qiaotou.About two hours trekking in the upper Tiger Leaping Gorge, you will arrive at Naxi Family and have lunch there.It is easy trekking from Qiaotou to Naxi Family, but beautiful scenery. After lunch, a trekking from Naxi Family to 28 zigzagging turns will be a challenge for you .From the top of "28 turns" on the high path further uphill to a place of altitude above 3000m, you can have a view of the panorama of the entire Gorge. The go pass Tea Horse Guest House (5 hours) and arrive at Halfway Guesthouse (2500m) to finish today's trekking. The total trekking route is 26 km, and it takes about 6-8 hours. Meals: Lunch Accommodation: Halfway Guesthouse Day 2 Bendiwan Village-Hetaoyuan-Lijiang In the early morning, continue hiking to Tina's Inn (2 hours) after another hour walking down the steep cliff to the bank of Jinsha River to the Middle Gorge (Middle Hutiao or Middle Rapids), worship the dangerours shoal of "Starriness", it is the most narrow part of the gorge, where a tiger can easily jump over the Jinsha River. From Half way Guesthouse to Middle Hutiao or Rapids will take between 3 to 4 hours. Then climb up the gorge to Walnut Grove (Woody’s Guesthouse) using either the Tianti or Yixiantian route. Depending on how tired, choose the one to suit on the day. So from Middle Hutiao to Walnut Grove will take 2 or 3 hours and hence the total for the day from Halfway Guesthouse to Walnut Grove will be about 5 to 6 hours. Transfer back to Lijiang via the upper Tiger Leaping Gorge. Drop you off to your hotel in Lijiang downtown.Service ends.Meals: breakfast, Lunch Accommodation: none
4 Days Shangri-La Circle Tour and Three Parallel Rivers Adventure Start from Shangrila
Day 1 - Shangri La - DeqinOur driver and tour guide will pick you up at 8am from your hotel, drive 6 to 7 hours to Deqin County (3400m altitude) which is 187km away from Zhongdian through Baimang Snow Mountain Nature Reserve, you will be able to view Baimang Snow Mountain if the weather is clear, pass the top part of today at 4292m altitude at 156km. After traversing mountain ranges, you will make a short stop and have lunch at Benzilan town, take some shots on the first bend of Jinsha(Yangtze) River, Dongzhulin monastery and Baima (white horse) Snow Mountain. The view along the way is fantastic with different kinds of trees, streams down the valley, prayer flags and stupas, and Tibetan villages.Stay at Feilaisi(Note: hotel will be managed by yourselves).Day 2 - Feilaisi-Meili Snow Mountain-CizhongEnjoy the sunrise view of Meili Snow Mountain, visit Mekong Grand Canyon between Baima Snow Mountain and Meili Snow Mountain; trek 2 hours to visit Mingyong Glaciers and Mingyong Village.After lunch,drive to Cizhong Village and visit Cizhong Catholic Church.Stay at Cizhong Village(Note: hotel will be managed by yourselves).Day 3 - Cizhong-Weixi-TachengDrive to Tacheng and visit Tacheng National Snub-nosed Monkey Park and Lisu ethnic villages.Stay at Tacheng Town(Note: hotel will be managed by yourselves).Day 4 - Tacheng-Shigu-Tiger Leaping Gorge-LijiangDrive along the Yangtze River to Shigu Old Town, visit the First Bend of Yangtze River;Drive to visit Tiger Leaping Gorge;Drive to Lijiang.Drop you to Lijiang Airport. Service ends.
2 Days Shangrila City Tour from Lijiang
Day1 - Lijiang-Shigu-Tiger Leaping Gorge-Shangrila From Lijiang, you'll drive about 60KM to the First Bend on the Yangtze River with imposing gorge scenery, visit the Iron Chain Bridge,the Red Army's Long March Memorial Monument in the Shigu Old Town. The town of Stone Drum got its name from a large, cylindrical, marble tablet shaped like a drum. The scenery is magnificent as the road running through the Lijiang valley which is filled with wheat fields and drying haystacks. Visit the Tiger Leaping Gorge, the deepest gorge in the world. With 34 rapids of the Yangtze River, it is called the Jinsha in this area because you can find gold in the river. Afternoon, you'll head for Shangri La, the former Zhongdian which is well known as the paradise destination for every tourist. Upon arrival in Shangri La, you will have entered the Tibetan cultural area and a landscape of barley fields and yaks scattered in the valleys. Walk around Dukezong Ancient Town, an important town of the Ancient Tea horse Trade Caravan from Yunnan to Tibet and India. Walk up to the top of Guishan Hill or tortoise Hill, you will see the largest Prayer Wheel of the world and have a panoramic view of shangrila county and Dukezong Ancient Town. Stay overnight in Kersang's Relay Station guesthouse.Day2 Shangrila-LijiangIn the morning, visit the Ganden Sumtseling Monastery, the largest Tibetan monastery in Yunnan. Songzanlin Monastery has another alias - 'the little Potala Palace ', so named because the whole monastery is in the traditional style with mysterious atmosphere.Drive around Napahai Lake and visit some Tibetan villages and families. Then drive back to Lijiang.Service ends.
Private Day Trip to Yangtze River First Bend, Shigu Ancient Town, Tiger Leaping Gorge from Lijiang
Tour Guide and driver will pick you up from your hotel at 8am after your eat breakfast, then drive around 1.5 hours for the first stop: The First Bend of Yangtze River: The Yangtze River Bend, as its name denotes, is the spot where the south running river suddenly turns northward due to changes in the shape of the nearby mountain ranges which form a mammoth V shape at this spot. The second sport is Town Shigu. Town Shigu is one of the most famous ancient town at the river bank of the upper reaches of Yangtze River. As there is a drum-shaped stone tablet carved with white marble, hence the source for name of the town. The diameter of the stone tablet is 1.5 m and the thickness is 0.7 m. It is said that if the society is unrest, the drum will go crazy, but when the society is peaceful again, the drum will close. Lunch time, you might enjoy your food at local restaurants. After lunch, you will visit Tiger Leaping Gorge, which is one of deepest gorge in the world, you might feel the power of nature, we spend 1 hour in Tiger Leaping Gorge and drive 1.5 hours back to Lijiang for your hotel.