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Tiger Leaping Gorge
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 Tiger Leaping Gorge:If you look up a map of China, you will advert, lies between Thailand and Tibet, a province called Yunnan. Zoom in more closely and let your eye follow the line of the Yangtze River as it curves in a distinctive hook marking the great First Bend of China's longest river. As China's Mother River turns sharply northwards at the First Bend, its waters flow placidly a further 30 kilometers until confronted by a narrow gorge, Tiger Leaping Gorge; As it enters the gorge, the previously placid river writhes and roars for 17 kilometers through a series of rapids too dangerous for raft (ask Richard Bangs!). On the eastern bank above the surging river rise the imposing granite peaks of the Jade Dragon Snow Mountains (YuLongXueShan). On the western bank tiny hamlets are scattered amidst a mix of pine forest and terraced fields on the gentler slopes of the Haba Mountains. "The Yangtze flows at 6,000 feet elevation where it enters the gorge, and as the peaks of the range which it pierces as with a giant's sword are more than 19,000 feet in height, the gorge is approximately 13,000 feet in depth. (Joseph Rock: NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC, August, 1926) The Yangtze enters the Gorge at a town called Qiaotou (Bridgehead). Two hiking trails from Qiaotou follow the Yangze through the Gorge to Daju, a small farming community. From Daju buses go to Lijiang, a World Heritage protected city (1997)first introduced to the world at large by the BBC documentary series, THE LAND BEYOND THE CLOUDS. |
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