Tiger Leaping Gorge

Where And What is Tiger Leaping Gorge?
Dear all our kindly friends, Thanks for first thinking of us and our area about the earthquake and waterflood disaster ! Finely here we felling nothing about the earthquake and no water could reach here, no problem in this area. So please tell all your friend more as possible, no problem for travel 's Travel in Yunnan or especially in Tiger Leaping Gorge and Shangri-la area!! (June 27/2008)
Dear all nature-loving friends, if you really want to see the real Tiger Leaping Gorge, You have to come before the Dam-dam Gorge project which starts right after the 2008 Olympics!
　
Ge Quanxiao: Wuzhu Village, Jinjiang Township, Shangri La County, Yunnan Province
Abstract: As a villager living along the Jinsha River, I totally believe that the area of First bend of Yangtze River and Tiger Leaping Gorge is a real “Shangri-La”. The area covers the grandest scenery of the Three Parallel Rivers and owns abundant and unique natural resources, in addition, a great quantity of cultural relics and heritages can be found in this area. Many ethnic groups such as Naxi, Bai, Tibetan, Yi, Lisu live in the area, and create brilliant ethnic culture. From the viewpoint of economic development, the Jinsha River valley is the most fertile land in Lijiang municipality and Diqing prefecture. In order to protect the ecosystem of the river, we organized a villagers association on water resource protection. Recently, we heard that a big dam will be built in Tiger Leaping Gorge, which will flood a large area of land and a hundred thousand people will be resettled. The dam will have a big impact on the ecosystem and local culture.
The article is from the viewpoint of the local people interpreting how the people, as the most important stakeholders should participate in decision-making, so that the sustainable development of Jinsha River watershed can be realized. Tiger Leaping Gorge is a canyon on the Yangtze River - locally called the Golden Sands River (金沙江; Jīnshā Jiāng) - located 60 km north of Lijiang City, Yunnan in southwestern China. Around 15 km in length, the gorge is located where the river passes between 5,596 metre Jade Dragon Snow Mountain (玉龙山; Yùlóng Shān) Face to 5,396 metre Haba Xueshan Face (哈巴山; Hābā Shān) in a series of rapids under steep 2000 metre cliffs, you could see and link for this google map. Legend says that in order to escape from a hunter, a tiger jumped across the river at the narrowest point (still 25 metres wide), hence the name. Tiger Leaping Gorge is a contender for the world's deepest river canyon, depending on the exact definition used. The inhabitants of the gorge are primarily the indigenous Naxi people, who live in a handful of small hamlets. Their primary subsistence comes from grain production and foreign hikers. The gorge is not considered navigable. In the early 1980s, four rafters attempted to go down the gorge and were never seen again. In 1986, the first known successful attempt to sail through the gorge was made by the first expedition to float down the entire length of the Yangtze, starting at the river's high source at the Gelandandong glacier lake.
Hiking the length of the gorge is possible. The hiking path ("the high Trail") is well-maintained and is used by the Naxi as part of everyday life in before 1958. It features a surprising variety of microecosystems, waterfalls and a fair number of guesthouses for trekkers in after the 1996 of the Gorge earthquake.
In the raining season hike the Tiger Leaping Gorge only the way Join with local Guide trekking on the high trail is safe and happy (special place doing with special people) !!
The lower road is a stretch of pavement frequently beset by rockslides. Some portions of the road have been known to disappear into the river below. Where the high road descends to meet the lower road, you can go close by to see the Tiger Leaping terrace, the point at which the tiger is said to have leaped. Natural crystals are mined from areas in and surrounding the Tiger Leaping Gorge.
If you look on a map of China, you will notice, sandwiched between Thailand and Tibet, a Chinese province called Yunnan. Zoom in more closely and let your eye follow the line of the Yangtze River as it curves in a distinctive hook marking the great First Bend of China's longest river. As China's Mother River turns sharply northwards at the First Bend, its waters flow placidly a further 30 kilometers until confronted by a narrow gorge, Tiger Leaping Gorge.

As it enters the gorge, the previously placid river writhes and roars for 17 kilometers through a series of rapids too dangerous for rafting (ask Richard Bangs!). On the eastern bank above the surging river rise the imposing granite peaks of the Jade Dragon Snow Mountains (YuLongXueShan).On the western bank tiny hamlets are scattered amidst a mix of pine forest and terraced fields on the gentler slopes of the Haba Mountains. "The Yangtze flows at 6,000 feet elevation where it enters the gorge, and as the peaks of the range which it pierces as with a giant's sword are more than 19,000 feet in height, the gorge is approximately 13,000 feet in depth. (Joseph Rock:NATIONALGEOGRAPHIC, August, 1926) The Yangtze enters the Gorge at a town called Qiaotou (Bridgehead).Two hiking trails from Qiaotou follow the Yangze through the Gorge to Daju, a small farming community. From Daju buses go to Lijiang, a World Heritage protected city (1997)first introduced to the world at large by the BBC documentary series, THE LAND BEYOND THE CLOUDS.

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