The Tiger Leaping Gorge trek (Pinyin: HuTiaoXia), near Lijiang in Yunnan, is one of the finest treks through some of the most naturally beautiful and diverse landscapes China has to offer. The trail runs high on the southern side of the gorge passing through quiet villages, shady forest, blustery precipice and verdant terraced farmland. The snow covered peaks of Yue Long Snow Mountain (5596m) and Haba Snow Mountain (5396m) shadow either side of the gorge.

An open ended ticket to the trail is \50 (\25 for students) purchased from the ticket booths at either end of the trail. Some trekkers have avoiding the entry fee by setting off early before the ticket booth opens or sneaking past when the guard is out.

Typically the hike is spread over two days but a slower pace will afford you to time contemplate the natural surrounds while unwinding in the quietude of the villages.

The trail stretches between Qiaotao and Walnut Grove, the more adventuresome types can continue to Daju or Baishuitai. Maps showing distances and guesthouse locations are available from the ticket office, Margos of downloaded from Seans website.

A little used side-trail to a remote waterfall just outside Walnut Garden is not shown on most maps but is marked with yellow arrows. The path is a challenging but worthwhile detour, passing through shady stands of bamboo to the base of the waterfall where the crashing water flows into tranquil jade-green pools.

Directions

From Qiaotou: Leaving from the ticket office, walk along the road till you reach the school gate. Stay on the road, following the schools grey-white wall till its end where painted arrows point up an embankment at the beginning of the trek. From here keep to the well worn path and follow the plentiful painted red/yellow arrows.

A misleading fake path before the school forks off at a brick wall painted with fading arrows. People may tell you it is the right way, but stay on the road to the school.

Annoyances

The instant you step off the bus in Qiaotou touts will insist you take their mini-van to the _estart of the trail_f (for \120+ one way) but they should be politely ignored. The real start of the trail is a 2 minute walk over the bridge and down the first road on the right.

On the trail there are endless efforts of varying legitimacy to help you part with your cash. At regular intervals old women, young girls and sundry others will demand small fees for using optional parts of the path. Some, such as the descent to the river below Tina's guest house, are particularly annoying, as you'll be asked for money at what seems like every step of the way, with an elaborate story to explain the cost. All claim to have constructed their particular part of the track without government funds, and no, your \50 entrance fee does not cover this. Be prepared to pay at least \25 per person at various 'checkpoints' on the way down to, along, and back up from the middle gorge, regardless which of the paths or ladders you take. While this part of the gorge is spectacular, it is by no means an essential part of the trek and could quite easily be skipped. Also be aware that some guest houses may try to mislead you about your hiking options. Tina's guest house has been known to insist that while you may descend to the river below, you must hike back up, and may not continue along the river to Walnut Grove - one of the most spectacular sections of the trail.

Sleep and Eat

Numerous family run guesthouses are conveniently dotted along the trail. Prices rise during the peak periods but outside of these times guesthouses are cheap and blissfully quiet. Qiaotou has a handful of comfortable hotels but there is little reason to stay. Starting the walk at midday leaves ample time to reach Naxi Guesthouse or push on to 5-Fingers Guesthouse. In (average) time and distance order from Qiaotou along the high trail.

  • 00h10m <sleep name="Jane's Guesthouse" alt="" address="" directions="" phone="" url="" checkin="" checkout="" price="Dorm beds 20RMB. Double with ensuite 50/60RMB" lat="" long="" email="" fax="">Tibetan family. Gee speaks excellent english and he is a fantastic cook. Very sociable, good information and safe bag storage.
  • When we had finished our walk, Jane's help was invaluable with catching those impossible buses out of Qiaotao (ie. you have to get to bus-stop at the right time on bus route from Shangri-la to Lijiang or Dali, and even then the bus might already be full). Jane was happy to do anything to help us, and when travelling such a long way, we really appreciated this - it saved us so much time and money. This was the most helpful guesthouse I saw in Yunnan. Beds in guesthouse were comfortable. Bathrooms okay. A bit of partying nearby by the locals (as in every single guesthouse in China) but we still slept well. A great place to stay, very cheap, fantastic food cooked by Jane's parents. You can leave store your backpacks with Jane too.</sleep><!-- facts correct as of April 2009 -->

  • ??h??m <sleep name="Sunrise Inn" alt="" address="" directions="" phone="" url="" checkin="" checkout="" price="Rooms/prices?" lat="" long="" email="" fax="">Little reason to stay other than as an alternative to staying in Qiaotou. </sleep>
  • ??h??m <sleep name="Old Horse Guesthouse" alt="" address="" directions="" phone="" url="" checkin="" checkout="" price="Same deal as Sunrise" lat="" long="" email="" fax=""></sleep>
  • 02h00m <sleep name="Naxi Family Guesthouse" alt="" address="" directions="" phone="" url="" checkin="" checkout="" price="dm: \20, d/tw: \40, d with bathroom: \70" lat="" long="" email="" fax="">A range of neat rooms looking into the central courtyard. Basic shared washing facilities with warmish showers and nice garden views from the toilet. Good-value freshly cooked Western/Chinese food made with locally grown produce (try the pumpkin!). </sleep><!-- acts correct as of January 2008 -->
  • 04h30m <sleep name="Tea-Horse Trade Guesthouse" alt="" address="" directions="" phone="" email="" fax="" url="" checkin="" checkout="" price="Double room 50RMB">Friendly atmosphere, very tasty food with huge menu but all freshly cooked.</sleep><!-- facts correct as of January 2008 -->
  • 07h00m <sleep name="Halfway House" alt="" address="" directions="" phone="" url="" checkin="" checkout="" price="20RMB for dorm beds." lat="" long="" email="" fax="">Cheap beer, great food, and simple and clean rooms. Double room with shared bath 50RMB. En suite rooms are 130RMB. Unusual (and completely unnecessary) "scenic toilet" with views of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. Be sure you can make it before dark. The guesthouse was being extended in March 2009, and when complete will be one of the largest guesthouses on the gorge.
  • This guesthouse can be very noisy as it is huge. It would be worth trying Five Fingers guesthouse about 500m up the road. If you are tired and it is evening, stay the night at one of these guesthouses - don't walk any further as the walk gets quite slippery and would be dangerous in the dark (no barriers to falling off the mountain).</sleep>

  • 07h15m <sleep name="Forest Inn" alt="" address="" directions="" phone="" url="" checkin="" checkout="" price="" lat="" long="" email="" fax="">In renovation (Dec 2008). [Note: march 2009 - appeared to be open].</sleep>
  • 07h30m <sleep name="Five Fingers" alt="" address="" directions="" phone="" url="" checkin="" checkout="" price="dm: \20, d/tw: \40" lat="" long="" email="" fax="">A friendly guesthouse with tiny but comfortable rooms and shared washing facilities. Has a decent selection of Chinese and Naxi dishes for reasonable prices.</sleep>
  • 08h30m <sleep name="Tina's Youth Hostel" alt="" address="" directions="" phone="" url="" checkin="" checkout="" price="" lat="" long="" email="" fax="">More than a Youth hostel, they added recently some twin/double rooms. Good Chinese and Western food, Internet and wifi. Some staff speak English.</sleep>
  • 09h30m <sleep name="Sean's" alt="" address="" directions="" phone="0887-8202222 / 13988745942" url="[http://www.tigerleapinggorge.com]" checkin="" checkout="" price="" lat="" long="" email="" fax="">Great food and no MSG! The rooms here are overpriced but the staff speak English.</sleep>
  • 09h30m <sleep name="Chateau de Woody" alt="" address="" directions="500m past Sean's" phone="" url="" checkin="" checkout="" price="dm: \15-30, d with/without bathroom: \180-320" lat="" long="" email="" fax="">Ignore the concrete building on the left and head opposite to the recently added rooms with hot (hot!) showers and big comfortable beds The paved courtyard overlooking the gorge is the perfect place to relax with some walnuts or something from the Chinese/Western menu. Jenny, the ever-helpful host speaks _egood enough_f English. </sleep>
  • Get In, Get Out

    '''From Lijiang:''' Morning buses to Qiaotao (\26, 2hrs) leave from the high-speed bus station, stopping to pick up passengers at the new Southern Bus station down the road. Catch it from either one.

    '''To/from Qiaotao/Walnut Garden:''' Minivans do the 30min trip between either end of the trek. The cost should be \80 for the entire van. Drivers will ask for more.

    If you are heading north to Zhongdian or coming from there, take the east alternative road instead of the main road. It is a little bit longer but quieter with fantastic mountain landscapes. The tarmac is very good for bikes. You can think about doing some camping along this road.

    At the east end of the gorge there is a ferry for bikes/people that allows to reach the south side of the river then to continue towards Lijiang.

    Daju

    Daju is a sleepy concrete town which you can use as one end of the Tiger Leaping Gorge walk. It seems like Daju is slowly becoming a ghost town as tourists numbers are declining, but despite the fact Daju isn't picturesque, it is a peaceful place to relax and the people are very friendly (the Tiger Leaping Gorge Inn, at one end of the concrete road and overlooking the town square, is run by a very helpful and friendly woman who speaks enough English to get by - her food is simple but delicious).

    From a Qiaotou start, just keep walking down the road from Walnut Grove and past the ticket office. There are two options for crossing the river to the Daju side. Either keep walking down to the permanent ferry, or not too far out of Walnut Grove you'll see a coloured sign on a pole to the winter ferry. It will tell you the ferry doesn't operate in July, August, and September because the water is too high (hence you continue to the permanent ferry). At this sign (there is also a faded red arrow painted on the road) you turn directly right off the road and start descending down a dirt trail to the river. This trail is quite steep. As you're descending you'll see the ferry and a hut on the far side of the river.

    When you get to the bottom hopefully the ferryman has seen you from the top of the cliff on the far side (always a good idea to yell out "ni hao" - great echo here), and he'll make his way down, calling out as he does, to bring the ferry across. The crossing costs \30 per person. The only reason he might not see you is he's just taken other tourists to Daju in his minivan, in which case you'll be waiting at least an hour for his return.

    It's a steep but short climb to the carpark at the top of the cliff and if you've nodded when the ferryman said something about "Daju" and "minivan" he'll be right behind you and will drive you to Daju for \20 per person. Alternatively you can walk the about 8km into town.