Tiger Leaping Gorge



The Tiger Leaping Gorge trek (虎跳峡; Pinyin: Hǔ Tiào Xiá), 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 northern side of the gorge passing through quiet villages, shady forest, blustery precipice and verdant terraced farmland. The snow covered peaks of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain (玉龙雪山; Yùlóng Xuěshān; 5,596m) and Haba Snow Mountain (哈巴雪山; Hābā Xuěshān, 5,396m) shadow either side of the gorge.

Climate
Tiger Leaping Gorge weather is generally mild, with abundant rainfall and plenty of sunshine. Summer is the rainy season. It has an average annual temperature between 13°C (55 F) and 20°C (68 F), without too much change from spring to winter. In summer, the temperature just falls between 10 - 26°C (50 - 79 F) because of the continuous rain. In winter, the high mountains block the cold air from northern China, so it is still as warm as spring for most of the days.

Tiger Leaping Gorge hike can be undertaken at any time around the year as it enjoys a mild climate even in winter (5-15 degrees Celsius), but the temperature difference of a day is great. Most of the days are sunny and dry, however, it rains a lot during the rainy season from July to September and there is some risk that paths could be blocked due to landslides. Check the Tiger Leaping Gorge Weather Forecast before you visit.

Spring: March and April are best months to hike in Tiger Leaping Gorge for the comfortable weather with temperatures up to 20°C. Take a light jacket. May is even warmer than April and there are more blooming flowers.

Summer: June to September is the rainy season. The heavy rain may result in the gorge being closed on certain days.

Autumn: The scenery from mid-autumn to November is also excellent. Usually dry and sunny, bring a light sweater and a coat.

Winter: A good time to hike the gorge for the sunny weather, dry and clear. It's cold at night and chilly at morning.

Ticket
An open ended ticket to the trail is ¥45 (as of Feb 2024) (reduced for students under 25, half-price for seniors over 60) purchased from the ticket booths at either end of the trail. There are travelers saying that each side of the Gorge requires different tickets. Some trekkers have avoided the entry fee by setting off early before the ticket booth opens or sneaking past when the guard is out.

Prepare
Almost everything on the way can be paid with Alipay / WeChat, so money is not really needed. There are a few ATMs in Qiaotou; however, they are only likely to take Chinese bank cards.

Get in
From Lijiang: Morning buses to Qiaotou (桥头), ¥30, 2 hr, leave from the bus station southwest of outside the Old Town, stopping to pick up passengers at the new Southern Bus station down the road. As usual, you would need your Passport to make the purchase. There are busses leaving to Qiaotou every 30-60 minutes, ¥24-33 (different price for different time). The journey takes about 2.5 hours. Get to Bus station from city centre by bus no.13. Make sure you only pay for going to Qiaotou if you plan to hike the upper gorge. They might sell you a more expensive ticket to "Tiger Leaping Gorge" but that would take you past the start of the trail.

From Lijiang Train Station: If you are arriving in Lijiang by train, it is only a ¥15 taxi ride to get to the main bus station from the train station. The public bus is also an option but requires transferring onto another bus. Avoid the private minivans waiting in the train station parking lot that will ask for ¥400-500 to drive you directly to Qiaotou.

From Shangrila: You can pick any bus to Kunming, Lijiang and Dali, there is a bus at least every hour. About ¥30.

If you are heading north to Zhongdian (Shangrila) or coming from there, there is an alternative road via Haba. It is a longer but quieter with fantastic mountain landscapes. The tarmac is very good for bikes. You can think about doing some camping along this road.

If you want to avoid any hassles of figuring out your own transportation and directions you can go with a guide and a group from Lijiang for about ¥500 (covers transport, one night lodging, and any fees; no food).

Watch the gorge without hiking
If you prefer to visit without any (strenuous) hiking, a road along the south side of the gorge enters from the west and goes for a couple kilometers before stopping at a parking lot. After that there is a fairly level paved trail to Upper Tiger Leaping Stone. Tours can be arranged in Lijiang or you can try to hire a driver to take you as a day trip from Lijiang, though drivers from Lijiang are not allowed to cross the river as that's outside their allowed territory.

If you prefer to see the Tiger Leaping Stone, you can take the special bus from Lijiang Bus Terminal, southwest of outside the Old Town. There are two morning buses at 08:30 or 09:30 for ¥24-33 (different price for different time). You will be driven to the ticket counter, and then dropped on the parking lot of the Tiger Leaping Stone. You still need to take the stairs a little bit to the gorge, but everything is furnished with wood planks and stone steps. The same bus is going back to Lijiang at 14:30 and 15:30, costing ¥50 (as of Mar 2019).

Walk the Tiger Leaping Gorge Trail
Typically the hike is spread over two days (one and half to three days) but a slower pace will afford you to time contemplate the natural surrounds and unwind in the villages quietude. The trail stretches between Changsheng Village (former: Qiaotou) 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.

End of the high trail
You can also go down to the gorge and come back up to Tina's two ways - Tianti (the heavenly ladder), or Teacher Zhang's trail - or take a trail that goes a little ways down the river before coming back up a little farther down the road.

Down to the gorge until Walnut Grove / Garden
You will see signs along the hike advertising a ride from Sean's GH in Walnut Grove to Lijiang at 15:30. However, this bus does not run everyday and should not be relied upon if planning to hike from middle gorge to Walnut Grove.

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 a series of tranquil water pools.

Get down to previous intersection if you want to check town and local market. Get up to next crossing and turn right to reach entrance of the park (and the counter)

Further to Haba
To Haba Village Tiger Leaping Gorge ends several kilometers east of Walnut Garden Village (Sean's and Woody's). You can continue on to Haba Village (哈巴村) at the base of Haba Snow Mountain (5,396m) by road or on foot.

Cope
Some locals in Lijiang will insist that this hike is dangerous, especially in rainy season. You probably will not want to go when it is pouring, or if there has been a huge amount of recent rain due to the threat of landslides, but if it hasn't been that wet lately, and you find a couple of dry days and are reasonably experienced at hiking, the worst that will happen is that you will get muddy and have to ford a couple of swollen cascades.

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. There is a 10 Yuan fee to hike down to the Tiger Leaping Stone, and another 10 Yuan fee if you choose to take the ladder trail back up. Locals will attempt to charge you fees to use the rocks as photo ops, but ignore them and take the trail to the building downstream, visible from the stream. The views are much better from there.

Nearing the most difficult part of the trail (the 28 steep switchbacks), local men with horses or donkeys who will offer to take you part way for a fee. They will charge anywhere from ¥150-300, regardless of where on the trail you decide you want to use their services. If you feel the need to have the accomplishment of doing the hike on your own two feet, they can help you by taking your bag for about ¥50.

Some guesthouses may try to mislead you about your hiking options. Tina's guesthouse 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. While this part of the gorge has its charm, some feel it is not an essential part of the trek and could be skipped, though some emphatically disagree.

However if you go out of season (Late March for example) many of the money collecting posts will be unattended and you'll be free to take advantage of the vistas without being harassed.

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 Halfway Lodge.

Qiaotou town has also some hotel but with very limited English speaking staff, no trek informations and not so competitive price against guesthouses on the trek.

In (average) time and distance order from Qiaotou along the high trail.


 * 0h
 * 02h00m
 * 05h00m
 * 06h23m
 * 06h25m
 * 06h28m
 * 06h30m
 * 06h50m
 * 08h30m
 * 08h40m
 * 09h30m
 * 09h30m
 * 10h30m

Buy
Before leaving Lijiang/Qiaotou/Daju, be sure you have enough water for the first part of the hike. On the way, there are no shops, but on the trek there are occasional vendors selling fruits, water and beer. Prices vary, but fruit will be ¥2-3 per piece. Guesthouses charge ¥5 per 1.5-litre bottle of water. Between Naxi's GH and highest peak is a shop (artistic use of Red Bull cans) where you can buy a variety of things. Don't count on open shops and present vendors in low season, make sure you bring sufficient supplies from Qiaotou or Nuòyú.

Go next
 Qiaotou <-> Walnut Garden: Minivans do the 30-min trip between either end of the trek. The cost should be ¥100 for the entire van. Drivers will ask for more.

 to Haba from Walnut Garden:
 * by road Tina's or Sean's guesthouse can organise a minibus (¥150-200) to Haba along a scenic road (1½ hr). From Haba, there is a daily bus to Shangrila, then. Lodging available in Haba.
 * by walking You can walk from Walnut Garden (Sean's or Woody's) to Haba in ten hours with an elevation gain of 1,200 meters. The route passes Benxi Village (本习村) on paved roads, then continues on sometimes obscure forest paths and might include a stretch of paved road north of Ennu Village (恩怒村).  You can save three hours by arranging transport to the top of the paved road above Benxi Village.  This also mitigates risk of stone fall on the road east of Walnut Garden, a concern especially in windy weather. With good map reading skills, adventurous hikers could try it on their own (see www.OpenTopoMap.org). Otherwise hire a guide.

 to Daju from Walnut Garden  If you are in Guesthouse as Tina's or Sean's, that means you are in the middle of the trek from Qiaotou to Daju. Walk down the low road 3 hours past a small town (三坝乡; Sanba village) near the Yangtze river. (This portion of the road is subject to rockfall, especially in windy conditions. You might want to consider asking a guest house to arrange transport by auto rather than walking.) Near the river you will see paths across the Yangtze river leading down to the river itself, with a shed and real staircase heading down to the river. Roads are constantly changing here and being constructed, there is a gentle car dirt trail down to the river, choose this option rather than the goat trail. Better is to ask locals, even if you don't know Chinese, just ask for "Daju" and point opposite bank of the river. They will show you how get down to ferry pier.

First ferry departure at 10:00, than every few minutes. The price depends on how many people is on the board and if you know some Chinese. The most locals is on the first ferry, which cheaper (¥5 per person) than the later ferry (¥20).

Daju to Lijiang If you are coming from Qiaotou over whole gorge or from Tina's of Walnut garden, you got to the river bank with ferry. After you cross the ferry, there might be two buses a day departing to Lijiang, first at 13:0), ¥30 per person. If you arrive soon, you can walk a bit to forward Daju because bus will stop by every guesthouse or shop on the way through village. The village is really long! (not sure where it starts and finish. there is just a lot of houses by the road) When you get on the bus, it will stop a lot and soon will be full of locals going just a few kilometers with goods, vegetable or whatever from place to place.

Along with a bus there should be a private minivan bus hustler. From here they take you on a road back to Lijiang, about 3 hours.

Lijiang to Daju For some reason there is no regular bus departuring from Lijiang bus station to Daju. You can find minivan who will take you there and you can do trek from opposite side and finish in Qiaotou.

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. He can be reached by phone at +86 13987049952.

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.