The upper Yangtze,betweentwo snow peaks.
One of the deepest river gorges in the world, an hour north of Lijiang on the road to Shangri-La.
Tiger Leaping Gorge is where the upper Yangtze drops three thousand metres between Jade Dragon Snow Mountain and Haba Snow Mountain. The rapids run two hundred metres below the road. Most travellers see it on a half-day from Lijiang and miss the part worth coming for. The upper trail, walked over two days, is what changes the trip.
Two days,
the high trail.
The middle rapids
Where the water is loudest.
The lower viewing platform sits at the narrowest point of the gorge. Day groups stop here for fifteen minutes and turn back. We stop here too, but we keep walking. From the upper trail you look down on the rapids from five hundred metres up, with the snow peaks behind.
Bend Naxi guesthouse
A night on the trail.
Halfway through the upper trail sits a Naxi family's converted farmhouse, walls open to the gorge, ten rooms. We book the corner room with the south-facing balcony. Dinner is whatever the family cooked, eaten with the other walkers, on a terrace above the river.
Dawn over Haba
The light, then the trail down.
Sunrise hits the east face of Haba Snow Mountain forty minutes before it reaches the gorge floor. The morning second of the trip is on that balcony with coffee, before you walk down to the road and the car onward.
Properly walked,
not day-tripped.
- We book a corner room at the Bend guesthouse months ahead, they hold ten rooms a night and the corner room is the one with the gorge-facing balcony.
- Our Lijiang partner team carries the overnight bag forward to Shangri-La so you walk the trail light, not under your full luggage.
- We pace the walk over two days, not one. Day trips do six kilometres in five hours and leave nothing for the view. We do four hours each day and stop where the photographs are.
- No silver-jewellery factory at the trailhead. No Bai-village shopping lunch. The walk is the walk.
Two days,
with the snow peaks above.
Two days does the upper trail properly: walk in from Qiaotou after a morning drive from Lijiang, sleep at Bend, walk down the second morning, car to Shangri-La by lunch. Most parties combine with two nights in Lijiang first and two nights in Shangri-La after. Less fit walkers can drive the gorge road and walk only the flatter middle section; we plan around your pace.
The Yunnan
loop, logically routed.
Lijiang Old Town
Three hours south by car. The Naxi old town as the rest before the trail, or the soft landing after it.
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Huashan
Two sacred mountains, a country apart. Tiger Leaping is the river view; Huashan is the cliff walk.
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The Yangtze Three Gorges
The same river, two thousand kilometres downstream. The upper rapids and the cruise gorges, one country.
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Your Yunnan,
sketched,
by reply tomorrow.
Tell us your party's walking pace and how many nights you have for the gorge. We'll send a first-draft route (Bend booked for the right night, the trail-pace matched to your party, the Lijiang and Shangri-La legs routed) and an honest all-inclusive price. No deposit, no obligation.
From US$360/day on a private 5-seater with driver.
Rolled into your journey quote.