If you are in China and still haven’t been to Tiger Leaping Gorge (TLG), you should definitely add it to your travel list and things to see in China, especially if you love nature, and fantastic views.
Tiger Leaping Gorge 虎跳峡(hu tiao xiao) is located in China’s Yunnan province, 60 km from Lijiang 丽江city. It is considered to be one of the best hiking trails in China.
I have hiked TLG three times already and would love to share also my experience and photos. I will most likely repeat it again someday. Normally, I wouldn’t go to the same place many times, but Tiger Leaping Gorge happens to be an exception. I wasn’t really ‘into mountains’ before, it was always beaches and the sea; I was totally a ‘beach’ person. That was until I visited Yunnan, Lijiang and Tiger Leaping gorge. Then I truly fell in love with mountains. Hence I become passionate about hiking.
The Old city of Lijiang 丽江古城 itself is very touristy, therefore it can be quite crowded (as many other famous tourist sites in China), but I still love the ancient Chinese style buildings, narrow streets, and all the traditional and tasty things being sold there.
How to get there?
First trip to Yunnan. Soft sleepers here
Train to Lijiang
To get to Lijiang you can go by train or flight. There should be buses going too but that would be slow and uncomfortable. If you leave from Kunming, there is a night train going to Lijiang. I recommend taking a sleeper (soft or hard).
What is different about soft and hard sleeper?
The difference between those two is not that one bed is softer than the other. Soft sleeper (软卧) basically means that you get a compartment with doors that can be locked and 4 people maximum. Hard sleeper (硬卧) has 3 floors (I have tried all of them during my trips in China), and is not divided separately. It means less privacy and security. If you chose these, make sure that valuable belongings are put safe. I usually put them under my pillow or just close to my head somewhere. Soft sleeper from Kunming to Lijiang costs around 215RMB but hard sleeper 140RMB. The night trip takes 9 hours. For train schedule you can check this website https://goo.gl/9fTqCi or for those who understand Chinese https://goo.gl/1eAxmk .
Lijiang Train Station, just arrived from Kunming
Hard sleeper
Getting to Tiger Leaping Gorge
Once you get to Lijiang, and plan to go straight to the Tiger Leaping Gorge, get to the bus station (丽江客运站 Lijiang keyunzhan). From train station you can take bus No.26, it takes around 45 min, or go by taxi, just make sure meter is on. From bus station there are minivans or buses going to TLG. You have to buy ticket to Qiaotou (桥头), it will be around 20 yuan. Bus leaves at 8-8:30 in the morning. If you plan on hiking the trail (definitely recommend) instead of just driving to the tourist spot and see the gorge, don’t go till Tiger Leaping gorge stop; make sure to get off at Qiaotou because hiking trail starts there.
On the way to Qiaotou
Beginning of the trip, just purchased tickets, and ready for hike
One of the World’s deepest gorges
What should I pay attention to?
First of all, once you get there, find the ticket office and purchase entrance ticket. Even if you are hiking the upper trail, you have to buy ticket (they never checked our tickets, but once some locals noticed us sneaking up without buying one and called us to come down). Ticket costs 65RMB. For students under 25 years of age, there is a discount half price, so bring your student’s ID; also don’t forget your passport.
Next, prepare some snacks, water, comfortable shoes, waterproof clothes, and trekking stick would be useful too. It is certainly not an easy leisure hike; you will get tired and probably feel your muscles at the end of day, unless you do these kinds of hikes every week.
Finally, you always have to stay cautious due to falling rocks. Luckily, I didn’t encounter any, but it is very possible there, especially during rainy period.
When is it best to visit Tiger Leaping Gorge?
The best months to visit Tiger Leaping Gorge are from April to June, and September to October. Nevertheless, all three times I visited during winter season, and weather was mostly good. If it is raining, path can get slippery though! Trail itself is marked pretty well and there shouldn’t be a problem keeping the right track. The beginning of the hiking trail is also marked, just look for a sign and go up there. Sometimes there were few places when we were not sure where to go, but local people showed us right direction. They are very helpful; even more, they might offer you a ride on a horse for a certain price; however, normally will not bother much or disturb after you refuse.
Chilling out and enjoying the view
Tiger Leaping Gorge seen from upper trail. Most of tourists drive to viewing platform at the lower trail
We prefer hiking
Great weather for a hike
Where can I spend the night?
There are several guesthouses on the way. I heard good things about Tea Horse Guest house, but never stayed there overnight. We always hiked to the Halfway; that would take around 6-7 hours from the beginning of the trail. Halfway guesthouse has some awesome views; rooms are fine and clean, they have electric blankets there; you will need them because nights in winter and mountains are cold. You can get a room with a shower inside (or once we had shared bathroom which was outside). Hot water was available too.
Halfway guesthouse
Looking out of my window; there is a nice terrace in Halfway with fantastic view. I wouldn’t mind to spend here more than just one night
I never booked guesthouse in advance; there were always free rooms when we got to the Halfway. (I guess it depends also on the season).
Should I bring food with me?
There is no need to bring much food with you, only snacks and water! Don’t worry too much if you have finished all your water. There are also locals on the way selling water, snickers and so on, but for a higher price of course. As for lunch, you can have it in one of the guesthouses on the way. They make pretty delicious meals for good price. After an exhausting hike it will taste even better. My favorite is fried rice with beef (niurou chaofan 牛肉炒饭).
Start of the day
Trail starts getting pretty tough
What about my luggage?
If you have a lot of luggage with you, it is possible to leave it at hostels in Qiaotou. That’s what some people did. We were carrying our bags though; last time I had around 10kg on my back, previously had less. When the sun shines temperature can get pretty high even in winter. But the wind is strong up there, so be careful of taking off your jacket after you have reached the highest point, sweaty and happy about your achievement. It is easy to catch cold there.
Amazing sight
Halfway to Tina’s guesthouse
When we reached the Halfway, we had some beers and dinner and then we went to sleep pretty early. Next morning woke up before 7am, had pancakes for breakfast, snapping some more photos and we were one of the first to leave. You have to go down to Tina’s guesthouse, approximately 2-3 hours. At first I thought it will be just ascending down the mountain, but then suddenly there is way up again. But the views are amazing, and mountains in the morning are truly beautiful.
Getting back to Lijiang
Once you get to Tina’s guesthouse, there you can buy bus ticket back to Lijiang or Shangrila. Buses to Lijiang go only once in the afternoon. If you leave Halfway in the morning you will have plenty of time till the bus, so you should go down to the Middle gorge 中虎跳峡, you can access it really close there. There will be some fees to be paid again, but this is for locals that maintain this place and these are only few RMB, don’t bargain there. The climb down is quite steep, and you will have to catch your breath. Don’t take heavy staff with you, just camera, water and some cash. The climb down to the Middle gorge and back to Tina’s guesthouse took around 2 hours.
Bridge at the Middle Tiger Leaping Gorge. This is a place where you can get very close to the river.
Middle Tiger Leaping Gorge, here you can get pretty close to the river
Planning your trip
If you want to plan everything in advance, you can order bus tickets from Tina’s to your destination already in Halfway. Also book your desired guesthouse in advance if you are afraid that there might be no rooms left (never heard of this though). Prices for rooms vary, but it shouldn’t be more than 250RMB. We never paid more than 100 yuan per person.
Once you have decided to stay in Halfway, you should start your hike early. If you come from Lijiang, take the first bus that goes to Qiaotou. Otherwise you might end up hiking when it gets dark already. I had this experience during my second time there. We wanted to see Lijiang Old Town in the morning, and got later to the bus station. This way we ended up hiking during dark, sometimes it was not possible to see anything, and had to search for signs showing the right direction.
Lijiang Old Town, and Jade Dragon Snow Mountain or 玉龙雪山 Yulong Snow Mountain
I usually make my bookings on
https://www.hostelworld.com/ and
Visit Tiger Leaping Gorge ASAP!
I have noticed there are always small changes in the hiking trail. It gets more developed with each year. Several years ago hydropower companies wanted to build a dam on Jinsha River, that would flood TLG and it would be gone forever. Luckily a lot of protests were made, and this project had to be canceled. But now government sees that there is a good opportunity to make money with tourism. Seems like every year more tourists are coming there. For now most of them still choose the lower trail, and just go to the platform by car. But roads are being built, also to the upper part. I don’t even want to imagine what it might look after ten years or so. My advice is to go hike it while it is still a bit wild and not crowded with a lot of tourists.
More hiking options in the area
Last time when I was there, I didn’t go back to Lijiang after TLG, but were heading further to Haba village 哈巴村. I had one more amazing hike. Even more, I ascended Haba Snow Mountain 哈巴雪山 (you can read about it here) which was certainly an amazing experience. It is definitely worth visiting, Haba Snow mountain offers some stunning views and is perfect for those who love trekking.
For more photos see gallery below and leave a comment!
Leave A Comment