Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
A
cable car
(¥172)
ascends the mountain to an elevation of 4506m; from
here you can walk up another 200m to a viewing point to see the glacier near
the peak. It can often get chilly, so bring warm clothes. You will also have to
pay ¥20 for the bus ticket to the base of the cable car.
Minibuses (¥20) leave from near the intersection of Minzhu Lu and Fuhui Lu
in Lijiang. Returning to Lijiang, buses leave fairly regularly but check with your
driver to find out what time the last bus will depart.
Tiger Leaping Gorge
0887
Gingerly stepping along a trail swept with scree to allow an old fellow with a
donkey to pass; resting atop a rock, exhausted, looking up to see the fading
sunlight dance between snow-shrouded peaks, then down to see the lingering
rays dancing on the rippling waters 1km away; feeling utterly exhilarated. That
pretty much sums up
Tiger Leaping Gorge
(Hutiao Xia; admission ¥65)
, the
unmissable trek of southwest China.
One of the deepest gorges in the world, it measures 16km long and is a
giddy 3900m from the waters of the Jinsha River (Jinsha Jiang) to the snow-
capped mountains of Haba Shan (Haba Mountain) to the west and Yulong
Xueshan to the east, and, despite the odd danger, it's gorgeous almost every
single step of the way.
The gorge hike is not to be taken lightly. The path constricts and crumbles; it
certainly can wreck the knees. When it's raining (especially in July and
August), landslides and swollen waterfalls can block the paths, in particular on
the low road. (The best time to come is May and the start of June, when the
hills are afire with plant and flower life.)
A few people - including a handful of foreign travellers - have died in the
gorge. During the past decade, there have also been cases of travellers being
assaulted on the trail. As always, it's safer in all ways not to do the hike alone.
Check with cafes and lodgings in Lijiang or Qiaotou for trail and weather up-
dates. Make sure you bring plenty of water on this hike - 2L to 3L is ideal - as
well as plenty of sunscreen and lip balm.
