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Published: October 31st 2010
Beth and John
Self portrait with the mountains of Yu Long Xi Sha in the background.Tiger Leaping Gorge
Tiger Leaping Gorge is well known for its scenic beauty and was what originally drew us to Yunnan Province so we were excited about the opportunity to walk it. TLG was carved by the Yangzi River. On one side are steep slopes rising 1500 feet above the river but the other side is sheer cliffs rising 12,000 feet above the river to snow-capped peaks reminiscent of the Maroon Bells in Colorado. The journey is a one to three day walk along small roads and well defined trails with guest houses every couple of hours for eating and sleeping.
In our first experience with Chinese long distance buses, we bought tickets from LiJiang to Qiaotou (pronounced chow-tow). We were prepared in case no English was spoken but they spoke enough to make it easy. The journey was a two hour drive through beautiful mountains then along the Yangzi River.
We were the only ones to get off in Qiaotou which is a small town that runs along either side of a tributary of the Yangzi. We were looking for a place for lunch and to store our bags and almost immediately found
Hiker’s which had everything
Lighthearted Locals
One of them rang a bell to spur us up the hill, resulting in peals of laughter. we needed…lunch, water, information and luggage storage. It is run single-handedly by a Chinese man named Charles who quit his desk job in Shanghai to be close to TLG. He made us lunch and gave us the info we needed. Also at Hiker’s was a German family consisting of the parents and their adult daughter and son. They set off about 30 minutes ahead of us. We packed what we needed into our day bags, left our big bags with Charles and set off at about 2:30. The info said it would take us about two hours to reach the Naxi Family Guesthouse.
The trail is marked with red, yellow and green arrows but they are at irregular intervals. We were warned in several books that the locals would try to lead us astray and get us to pay for whatever they were selling so when we were called to by an older man as we rounded the first bend, we ignored him. He was next to a building with a big English sign that advertised rooms to stay so we figured he was selling something. Just a few hundred meters later, a local woman waited for us and
Farming
A husband, wife and ox team plowing a field. in Chinese told us to go back to where the man had been. Again we assumed she wanted us to buy something so we waited until she was out of sight and continued ahead. The road was narrow but paved in concrete. It was, however, going up. It switch-backed its way through farmers fields where they were bringing in the harvest and plowing the fields for next year. We saw several farmers using oxen to pull a plow to till the field. We were passed by a group of 20-somethings in a pick-up truck who laughed at us and rang a bell. Finally after about three miles and 1000 feet in elevation, the road ran out and we had to admit we were on the wrong path. The man way below at the first bend may have been trying to sell us something but was also showing us the trail.
As we walked down, a man in his early 30’s called out to us and, in Chinese, explained that the trail we wanted was down below (as we had guessed) but when we said we were headed for the Naxi Guest House, he offered to guide us via a
Our Farmer Guide
He found us wandering lost and took us to where we wanted to go. shortcut. He was a farmer and the first part of the walk he carried a large bundle of field grass on his back. He showed us a map which we used to confirm where we were going then we agreed on a price (Y50). We set out through the fields then into the woods. There was a lot of “up” involved and, at times, we could see the trail we should have taken way down below. Our guide was very friendly giving us the names of mountains (Yu Long Xi Sha), waiting when I needed to rest and even carrying my day pack. The path led though the woods and frequently there were crumbling, ancient graves beside the trail, with any identifying marks or symbols lost to time. The views were spectacular. At one point, our guide answered his cell phone; this is a man who carries grass on his back and tills his field with an ox but he has a cell phone. It took about 45 minutes but he led us right to the Naxi GH. He told the staff he had found us (I bet we were not the first ones he had guided here), we took
Looking Upriver
View from the highest spot on the trail. his picture and paid him and he headed back. We then gratefully sat down and were soon handed a cup of tea.
As we arrived, we met once again the German family we first met in Qiaotou. The six of us were the only guests at Naxi GH that night but they had about 20 rooms. I was expecting rustic conditions and from the bathroom I used when we first arrived, I was not disappointed. But when we were escorted to our room we were pleasantly surprised. We had a private room with a king size bed, duvets, en suite bath with a western toilet and a shower and even a TV.
The next day we set out while the Germans were still eating breakfast but since Germans in general are known to be fast walkers I figured they would catch up soon. The hostess of the lodge showed us where to find the trail since we came in on a different route. Once on the correct trail it was pretty easy to follow. We walked about a mile then began the 24 Bends section of the trail. There were actually 32 bends but it was still an
Yu Long Xi Sha
View from the highest spot on the trail. effective way to gain over 1500 feet in elevation. It took 1.5 hours of aerobics but the views from the top were incredible. There was an almost straight drop over 1000 feet to the river below us. On the other side of the gorge, the cliffs rose 6000 feet to craggy, snow-covered peaks. There were mountain streams cascading down providing some texture to the scrub-covered cliffs. In just a few places the trees were turning yellow, our first glimpse of fall color this year. We stayed up there for 30 minutes just admiring the view.
We headed down and lost about half the altitude before we reached Tea Horse Guest House (yes, Tea Horse not Tea House). As we walked in, we found a young man washing sheets by stomping on them. He was wearing purple rubber boots and had a big container which he filled with water, soap and sheets. After letting the sheets soak, he stepped into the bucket and became the human agitator and washed the sheets like stomping grapes. After a 10 minute (or so) “wash cycle”, he wrung them out and put them in a container with clean water and was again the stomping
Lunch Spot
Our view from Tea Horse Guest House agitator for the “rinse cycle.” He then wrung them out again and hung them over the railing in the sun to dry.
We ordered lunch and drinks and sat in the shade enjoying the view. Just as we were finishing, the German family arrived. I was surprised they had not passed us on the trail but they explained that their guidebook had said it was flat after the Naxi Guest House so they were unprepared for the elevation gain. John and I just assumed that anything titled “24 Bends” would gain a lot of elevation.
We left them to order their lunch and set out for a several mile walk on a nearly flat trail with lots of waterfalls on our side and many spectacular views of the other side. We passed two more guest houses (Half-Way and Five Fingers) without stopping in. Just before we started down, we crossed the face of the largest waterfall. The trail crossed the stream and we stood in the spray looking up at the falls while the water cascaded away below us.
Also on the trail we encountered several domestic animals without any people. There were two different herds of
Greeting the Day
From our $10 room. goats: one herd was grazing near the trail but the other was using the trail to head home. They were polite and moved to the side (up the cliff face because goats can do that) to let us pass. They did check us out and one very curiously inspected my brightly colored pouch. We also passed two horses heading home. The second one kept to one side leaving us room but the first just walked straight down the center of the trail and actually bumped into us. We moved because he was bigger.
Finally the trail started dropping. We were headed for Tina’s Guest House because Dragon, our guide in Xian, had recommended it. But we also saw lots of advertising for the Bridge Café’ Guest House “Just a 1 minute walk beyond Tina’s.” So we checked out the room at Tina’s and were disappointed after the Naxi GH. It was adequate but dark and damp. They wanted Y120 so we decided to check out the BCGH. The rooms had floor to ceiling windows with a lovely view of the gorge and a toilet en suite for only Y70 ($10) so we took it. About dusk the Germans arrived.
They also decided to skip Tina’s and come here. I guess Tina is getting some competition.
I awoke the next morning with a curious feeling; I had no idea where we were going to end up today. Would we stay at TLG? Would we go to Shangri-La? Would we go to Dali? Or would we continue down the river to the next gorge? We tentatively decided to hike to the bottom then up to Walnut Garden (the next town down the gorge) then go back to Qiaotou and on to Shangri-La. Our plan was crystallized when we spoke with the Germans and they told us they had already organized a mini-bus back to Qiaotou and invited us to join them.
The narrowest part of the gorge was about 700 feet below us, most of that straight down. This is supposedly where the tiger leapt across the river giving Tiger Leaping Gorge its name. There are a least three trails to the bottom and we started out on the middle one. Each one costs Y10 to go down and up. If you go down one and up another you pay Y10 to each trail owner. As the signs stated
Beth and a Waterfall
The water flowed across the trail. in Chinglish, the trails were privately built and maintained, each by a different owner.
It started out a steep downhill walk and got steeper. There were times when we were climbing down a ladder. There were three ladders but one was three stories and had a “safe way” bypass so we took the bypass. Starting out at the same time was a local woman who ran the shop near the bottom. She was carrying one of the local carry baskets but quickly outpaced us, only partly because we were stopping for pictures. We met her again at the bottom of the three story ladder in a facility built from scrap wood. She had carried down drinks of several kinds and walnuts. I am guessing the walnuts were local because the next town is named Walnut Garden but I don’t recall seeing any walnut trees.
We continued down and finally reached the bottom. This portion of TLG trail is the only dangerous section. The high road was a regular trail but this section had us climbing down trails scratched from cliff faces. But the scene at the bottom was worth it. The entire river channeled through the narrow gorge
with waves reminiscent of a storm-tossed sea and the sound of rushing water filling our ears.
To return we decided to take the trail that ended up in Walnut garden. It was much less steep than the trail we took down. They actually carved a three sided tunnel along a sheer cliff face. After passing through that, our side of the gorge flattened out and the walking became pleasant. The last 15 minutes of the walk were through the fields of the farmers of Walnut Garden and it was fun to see their crops and walk along the terrace walls. We then walked along the road about 1.5 miles back to Bridge Café. We were in a hurry because we did not want to keep the Germans waiting. They had told us they were coming up the trail we took down plus, as I said earlier, Germans are known for being fast walkers. But they got back an hour after we did so we had a nice rest sitting at Bridge Café. Just before they arrived, an American from Glenwood Springs, Colorado arrived looking for a ride to Qiaotou so he was able to join us.
The ride
to Qiaotou was bumpy enough to be an amusement park ride. They are widening the road and although the signs say they will be done in just one more month very little of it is complete. There is even one big gap in the road near Qiaotou where we had to walk across and climb into a different van. During the ride we compared destinations with the Germans and found that they were also headed for Shangri-La so when we arrived at Qiaotou we negotiated with another driver to take the six of us to Shangri-La.
We loaded into the van but had to wait about 20 minutes for another passenger to finish seeing the doctor. This woman had been shopping and was bringing home a live duck in a plastic shopping bag with its head sticking out. We assume the duck was dinner that night.
Shangri-La
Shangri-La was called Zhongdian until someone in marketing noticed that, at least geographically, the valley resembled the Shangri-La described in
Lost Horizon by James Hilton. So the name of the town was changed and the tourist trade exploded. It is right next to Tibet and many of the residents are
Tiansheng Hot Springs
Hot spring pool with limestone formations in the background. Tibetan by descent. The town itself is very similar to LiJiang (see previous blog) but the surrounding area is even prettier. It reminds us a lot of Colorado so our judgment may be skewed.
Unfortunately my primary impression of Shangri-La will be “cold.” The outdoor temps were what should be expected for autumn (40-50) but there was no heat in the hotel so it was very hard to get warm.
Our first day in Shangri-La was a rest day capped by a good dinner. We set off with a new friend, Van, to find good Tibetan food. Our hotel host had recommended a restaurant for hotpot. I am not sure if we found the exact one but we did find one close with a very welcoming and helpful owner. We ordered hotpot for three which had two hotpots, one with meat and one with mushrooms and lotus root. The hotpot was a bowl with a brazier underneath and a chimney up the center. The pot is filled with broth and then the meat or veggies are added. Because of the brazier the broth stays boiling during the entire meal and is frequently being refilled by the staff as
Prayer Flags
Dadao Temple it boiled away. So while the locals looked on in amusement, we made our way through most of the food (except the really hot stuff). Afterwards, the owner also treated us to Shangri-la whiskey…a sweet liqueur. Maybe it was a reward for providing the evening’s entertainment to his other guests.
The next day we again met Van and walked down to where the drivers for hire were waiting. I started talking to the first one, explaining where we wanted to go by way of showing him the characters in the guidebook. He named the price of Y200 which was what I had expected to negotiate down to. By dint of drawings, we made sure he understood we meant a five hour trip then agreed to the Y200. At first I was kicking myself for not negotiating lower but by the end of the day, our guide, Ah-Ping, had earned way more than that. Ah-Ping speaks very little English so most of our “conversations” were pantomime or drawings.
So we set off for Tiansheng Bridge which the Lonely Planet described only as “a natural limestone formation.” What we found was a beautiful outdoor pool fed by natural hot springs.
We had brought our swim suits intending to soak at another hot springs but changed our minds and went for a swim here.
The pool is donut-shaped with a children’s swimming area in the “hole.” It is overlooked by a beautiful limestone formation and set in a small valley. The day had started rainy but we had blue sky. Even Ah-Ping bought a swimsuit and joined us in the pool. The water was warm but not too hot (100 degrees) so we stayed in for about an hour enjoying the sun, the warm water and the views.
Finally we were warm and hungry so we got out and dressed. Across the stream was a small hotel with a restaurant. Since we could eat outside we decided to have lunch there. With the help of a customer from Hong Kong who spoke both English and Chinese, we ordered food for the four of us. Ah-Ping joined us for lunch and we asked him if he had children. He told us he has a nine year old and a five year old but that took several minutes and stick figure drawings to figure out. I found it interesting that gestures
Handmade Prayer Flag
The monk of Dadao Temple and our guide Ah-Ping. we take for granted such as holding a baby did not pass the culture barrier.
After a lovely lunch, we headed for Dabao Temple. Ah-Ping led us on a tour of the temple and it was obvious the Temple meant a lot to him. When we first entered the main temple, he did a series of prostrations while we waited quietly outside the entrance. When he was done, he invited us in and showed us around. He showed us a second room where there was a picture of the Dali Lama and he again prostrated himself. After these two rooms we went outside to walk (clockwise) around the temple. It was beautiful due to the tens of thousands of colorful prayer flags all the way around the temple. Most of these were the commercially produced lines of flags but there were a few that were a brown print on linen. When I pointed those out, Ah-Ping told us we could have one made for Y15. So we went inside and found the monk who, using a stamp, made two of the homemade prayer flags. John and I signed one and Van the other. Then the monk wrote something (a
blessing?) on them and we went outside to hang them amidst the myriad other flags.
On the way back to Shangri-La, Ah-Ping stopped at one of the farmhouses and (we think) asked the lady if we could see the inside. It was a courtyard with the main two story building on one side and walls on the other three sides with some one story buildings next to the walls in the courtyard. The decoration was spectacular both colorful paintings and wood carvings. We saw the outside of the main building, the underside of the porch ceiling and a room (possibly the kitchen and eating room) on the inside.
After dinner, we walked to the square in Old Town where we had heard there was dancing. Sure enough about 50 people were doing a big circle dance. Either the dances are common all over China or the dancers were mostly locals because everyone seemed to know the steps. From grandmothers in traditional clothing to lanky teenage boys in leather jackets they danced dance after dance in this big circle. The music was fantastic and the dancing was fun so we watched for about 40 minutes until it ended.
Detail of Local House
This is the underside of the eaves on a typical farmer's house. It was even colder than before when we awoke the next morning but that is probably because it was a clear day. We rented bikes and we set off for Blue Moon Valley. There we took a gondola to the top of the Snow Mountains at 4500 meters. It was pretty expensive (Y220 each) but the views were worth it. From the top we saw snow-capped peaks in all directions and we are pretty sure we could see into Tibet.
We also got a close look at the fall color and the yellow we have been seeing is coming from an evergreen that is changing its color, presumably a prelude to dropping its needles. Since Ah-Ping referred to the color several times as “beautiful”, we assume this is normal and not something like the pine beetle in Colorado.
Upon returning we tried to ride to a very old monastery north of town but our map was unclear and we could not find the route. What we did find were several units of the Chinese army doing a training run in full combat gear, probably as part of some high altitude training.
What’s Next
We have now
Detail of Local House
This is hand carved coverings for the windows on a typical farmer's house. been in China for seven weeks and although we have really enjoyed our stay, it is time to move on. Up next: Vietnam.
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Susan Craig
non-member comment
I really love reading your blog!! I am so glad you are having a good time and really seeing and experiencing the cultures around you. The Sequim Clan sends you all our love and good wishes for a safe and fun trip. Oh we saw our friend George Thompson, and he left for Vietnam today. It will be fun to see if you meet up with them or not. Love you Susan