Tiger Leaping Gorge 虎跳峡 Hú Tiào Xiá
THIS IS A MUST DO! The scenery in Tiger Leaping Gorge is one of the most scenic places that I’ve ever been or seen. If you’re into nature you will absolutely love this place. It is very beautiful, remote, quiet and surprisingly not heavily trafficked. Tiger Leaping Gorge is a hike through a ravine adjacent to the Jade Dragon Snowy Mountains. There are several different hikes that you could take
- The 1/2-day hike- the van driver will drop you off at a point near to the gorge where you can descend and see the site of where the tiger supposedly jumped from one side of the gorge to the other. You spend a few hours there and then return to the van, which will take you back to Li Jiang.
- The 2-day hike- On this hike the van driver will drop you off at the beginning point of the ravine and then you will hike all the way to the gorge where the tiger leaped across. This is a long hike but it is worth every minute of it.
- The 4-day hike- On this hike you will be dropped off at the beginning of the ravine and will hike all the way to Shangri-La. This is not the rumored city of gold, it just has a similar name. This is a Tibetan town that is said to be a very peaceful and quaint place. The scenery is said to be very beautiful. This is also one of the few places outside of Tibet itself that you can see and experience Tibetan culture. From my understanding of this hike it will be 3 days of hiking and a return to Li Jiang on the fourth day.
When I took this embarked on this trail I did the 2-day hike. Thus, I will go into detail about all of the legs of this trail. However, I would recommend, time permitting, that anyone reading this take the 4-day hike. I have spoken with a few travelers that completed the 4-day hike and all of them had the same positive feedback.
Tiger Leaping Gorge in 2 days
Day 1
You will start off this hike at the beginning of the trail. It will take anywhere from 2 1/2 – 3 hours to get to the starting point of the hike from Li Jiang. That will make it somewhere between 10 or 11 by the time you start the hike. It will take you the entire day (until the sun goes down) to make it to the halfway point, where the guesthouses are located. It is a great hiking opportunity filled with a nice and semi-challenging trail great views and few people. The trail is mostly easy to follow, and there are not a lot of opportunities for you to get lost along the way.
The Donkeymen
Be aware that at the start of the trail you will pass a few locals riding donkeys. If you notice the lower left hand side of the picture above you will see what these people look like. These people will not stop following you from the time you start the hike until you have reached the 28 bends, which is around the 3/4 mark of the first day of hiking.
The reason these donkeymen will follow you so resolutely is because they often come into contact with travelers (of all ages and sizes) that overestimate their hiking ability and endurance. These hikers may start out strong but due to either a lack of experience (not having the knowledge to pack enough food or water or hiking in boots that were not broken in properly) or their physical endurance not being conditioned enough, they eventually reach a point where they give into the donkeymen and decide to pay a large sum of money to take the donkey the remainder of the trail to the guesthouse. The donkey rides (I’ve been told) can be up to 800RMB.
These donkeymen are in no way dangerous. They may be a bit annoying because they’ll ask if you want a ride every time you stop to drink water or eat something but other than that they are fine people. Also, you can utilize these people as a sort of tour guide to show you the way if you ever are unsure about the direction you should go while on the trail. As I said the trail is pretty straightforward (literally) but if you would just like some confirmation on the direction the donkeymen can be accommodating. You are under no obligation to pay the donkeymen but if your donkeyman has been helpful, not too annoying and has followed you for the better part of the day you can always give him a tip so that he doesn’t head home making no money for the day. This is their livelihood.
Items of Varying Legality
So, I am not sure where this blog can be accessed from, however, in order to not put anyone’s livelihood at risk I will just say that on this trail there may or may not be certain things that can be bought. In some states in the U.S. these items are legal in other they are not. In all other parts of China drug crimes are persecuted and punished very harshly. Not saying that there are any drugs on this trail, but you may or may not be in for a pleasant surprise if you are into that sort of thing. If you don’t care about that sort of stuff, then you can disregard this section of the blog.
The 28 Bends
This is said to be the most difficult section of the trail. The trail heads up the mountain and contains 28 bends throughout this ascent. It will have you sweating that’s for sure, however, truth be told I didn’t find it as grueling as I heard that it was. The 28 bends is approximately 3/4 of the way until the guesthouses. After the 28 bends its all smooth sailing through relatively flat terrain. There are still areas that will need to be ascended and descended but they are short, few and far between.
Tina’s Guesthouse
Tina’s Guesthouse will mark the end of the first day of hiking. The speed in which you get here depends completely on how fast you can hike. I sure some people can make it there in 6 hours, others might need 10 hours. I personally took around 8 hours to make it to Tina’s Guesthouse. The overall beauty of the mountains and the gorge may make you want to slow down a bit and just enjoy the scenery.
Be aware that there is no obligation to stay at Tina’s Guesthouse, it is just being used as a marker to indicate the location. There are several guesthouses in the area, feel free to choose whichever you’d like.
You may want to book your room prior to heading to Tiger Leaping Gorge. While there are many guesthouses there are often tour groups that take trips to Tiger Leaping Gorge. They might not start at the beginning of the trail (they may start hiking from the other end, the pickup point), so you may not see them on the trail. All the same, they can occupy all the rooms in the guesthouse if you think you can just walk-in and stay in one of the guesthouses without booking prior.
Side note: You will pass other guesthouses on the trail, but these are guesthouse that are anywhere near Tina’s Guesthouse. If you stop and/or stay at these guesthouses there is nothing wrong with that, however, you will not finish the hike in the specified time. It will take an additional day minimum.
Day 2
On the second day there will be no need to wake up early to see the sunrise. If any of you all are like me you may be inclined to wake up early and find a good location to see the sunrise. There is no doubt that the sunrise over such a scenic place would be unbelievable, but that is not the case in Tiger Leaping Gorge. The reason why is because you are located in a gorge, sandwiched by mountains on both sides. There is no way to watch the sunrise. You won’t even see the sun come over the tops of the mountains until 10AM. So, take this time to rest and catch up on some much deserved sleep.
From Tina’s Guesthouse it will take about 2 hours, hiking downhill (much easier), to reach the river bank that forms the gorge. While on your decent to the side of the river, you will come across and old, rickety, wooden bridge that will take you to one of the locations where you can view the gorge well. If you’ve got the courage to cross it you can enjoy the views, if not, its not the end of the world there will be plenty of other spots to see the river.
When you reach the river/gorge you’ll see just how much the river changes from the one that you hiked next to for the better part of a day. In the gorge the speed of the current turns the river in rapids. Once down there the only thing that you will be able to hear is the sound of the water ripping through the mountains. However, because every other sound is drowned out by the flow of the water you will find the loud sound of the rapids strangely calming. One thing is for sure though if someone fell in the rapids there is a very slim chance that they would make it out.
Once you’re finished admiring the gorge and the river you’ll need to make your way back to Jane’s Guesthouse. It is there that you will be arranged to be picked up and taken back to Li Jiang. In order to get a seat on one of these buses back to Li Jiang, you will need to reserve a seat with the owner of Jane’s Guesthouse.
The statue above is one of the iconic places to stop and take pictures like the one above. This statue is located near the roadway but you may not see it on the hike. The most likely scenario is that you’ll have the opportunity to see it on the ride back to Li Jiang. However, the bus driver will just drive by this site if you don’t say anything. You will need to tell the bus driver (or find someone who can) that you would like to stop at this statue and take some pictures. Unfortunately, I fell asleep on the ride back and missed my opportunity, however that doesn’t mean you should miss yours.
Packing for Tiger Leaping Gorge
Depending on the trail you choose to hike will determine how heavy or light you should pack. Assuming that you choose to do the 2-day hike remember to bring a sufficient amount of water and food to last you for at least 8-10 hours (that is the expected amount of nonstop hiking time). When you get to the guest house you can always re-stock food and water.
In November/December time Tiger Leaping Gorge is cold in the mornings and evenings and warm in the afternoons. Be sure to bring both warm and cold weather clothes. You don’t need to go overboard but at least a jacket and pants for the mornings and evenings, and some shorts an shortsleeved shirts for the afternoons. It is very important to bring comfortable “broken in” shoes (hiking boots recommended). You will be on your fee literally all day don’t bring uncomfortable shoes or you’ll regret it by the end of the day.
Staying Safe in Tiger Leaping Gorge
So as a friendly reminder it is not recommended to hike this trail alone. While I personally did not see anything that looked sketchy or suspicious, you will be hiking in a very isolated place. So, if there were anyone on this trail that had bad intentions there wouldn’t be anyone that could come to your aid. That is a universal hiking tip though not specific to Tiger Leaping Gorge.
Weather
If the weather is forecasted to be rainy or inclement, cancel your hike. This hike (like many others) has an annual death toll. Tiger Leaping Gorge has several sections where the trail is very thin and close to the edge of the cliff. If you were to slip, it would be a long fall. Navigating these trails on a sunny day would not be considered difficult task for most people, but on a rainy day, when the ground might be slippery… I wouldn’t want to take that chance.
The intention of these pictures isn’t to scare or deter anyone from attempting this hike. On the contrary, it is to make you aware of what to expect so that you can make your trip to Tiger Leaping Gorge as safe as possible.
For more advise on how to pack and travel to Tiger Leaping Gorge and Yunnan in general click here or go to the Yunnan in the “Pick your Destination” section.
International Kev 