Yunnan Journals

Trekking the Tiger Leaping Gorge in Yunnan, China

An October 2006 trip to Yunnan by TwoIdiots

Owner of Naxi Family Guesthouse Photo - Yunnan, China

Quote: This is an account of our two day trek in Tiger Leaping Gorge (Hutiao Xia).

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Trekking the Tiger Leaping Gorge (Hutiao Xia)

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Day 1 – Taking It Easy

One early morning in the second week of October, we took a northbound bus from Lijiang and asked the driver to let us out at Qiaotou. A small group of touts awaited us at Qiaotou bus stop offering guide service and horse back riding. We finished lunch at one of the simple restaurants nearby, and headed towards the upper trail. Since the trail was used by both men and horses, the path had been churned into a muddy mess in the recent rain. At one point, we had mud (mixed with horse s**t) up to our shin. It was fun though, just had to make sure we didn’t fall into it!

After two hours of moderate uphill walking, we arrived at Naxi Family Guesthouse, and our hostess greeted us with complimentary hot tea, fresh fruits, and nuts. Beside us, there were only two other parties here – a single traveler from Australia and three Germans. According to the cheerful owner Mrs. Li, her guesthouse was built in traditional Naxi style. Dinner was served on tables set outside the kitchen with a view of Yulong Mountains over the roof top. Mrs. Li showed us photographs of the mountains taken on a clear day – it was awesome. However, we had to settle for a moody one hiding mostly behind the clouds.

Day 2 – Arriving at Half Way Point

It was drizzling on and off. Visibility was not good. We found out from the Australian that the lower trail/road was closed due to a major land slide. And the river crossing at Walnut Grove was in-operable. All hikers had to leave the Gorge by backtracking to Qiaotou or by heading over to Daju. We opted for Daju.

The trail between Naxi Family and Tea Horse Guesthouse was said to be the toughest because of the “24 bends” switchbacks. With a good night rest, the switchback was not that difficult. We made it to Tea Horse just in time for lunch. It had an outdoor dinning terrace with superb view even on a cloudy day. There we met a couple coming from Daju who confirmed the road closure.

Once we passed Tea Horse, the trail to Halfway Guesthouse was easy and scenic. We were the first to arrive on that day and we got one of their best rooms with a mystical view over the gorge (see pic.). Even though the weather was not cooperating, we were absolutely enjoying ourselves hopping from one mountain lodge to another. We checked out what was fresh in the kitchen and ordered supper early since this was quite a popular half way stop for trekkers. Sure enough, people started pouring in all through the evening and into the night.

Day 3 – Returning Through Daju

It was raining and the trail was slippery. We decided to cancel our side trip to the Mid Tiger Leaping Stone (which would require two additional hours), instead we took our time walking over to Daju.

As it turned out, we didn’t have to hike all the way to Daju. We hitched a ride with 4 young Chinese travelers in their hired “wagon” truck. We crossed the river just before Daju around 2 pm and hooked up with another mini van to take us back to Lijiang. We made several stops along the way including one at Maoniuping (Yak Meadow) cable car, taking us up the northern part of the Yulong Mountain Scenic Area. But of course, the view was pretty much wiped out by rain clouds. However, the cable car ride was fun – it felt like riding in the clouds (see pic.). We finally made it back to Lijiang at 8 pm.
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