<A> The Amazing Tiger Leaping Gorge

Tiger Leaping Gorge, or TLG as people would call it, I would say it is not a popular travel site. Yet that has its advantage. You would not see tourists all over the place like you would in Lijiang Old Town. Tiger Leaping Gorges is one of the deepest gorges in the world. It is flanked by Jade Dragon Snow Mountain on one side and Haba Snow Mountain on the other. On a clear day, you can see the majestic snow capped mountains. Sandwiched in between the two mountains is Jinsa River. If we follow the river eastwards, it became the almighty Yangzi River. Tiger Leaping Gorge has two hiking trails for nature lovers like me.

My visit was in spring of 2004. I took a mini bus from Lijiang to Qiaotou. Qiaotou is one of the two towns that travelers can start their journey to Tiger Leaping Gorge. It is on the west side of the gorge. On the other end of the gorge is Daju. I boarded the morning bus from Lijiang in front of the statue of Chairman Mao. It was the bus to Zhongdian (or Shangri-La). The way from Lijiang to Qiaotou was scenic. I was glad that I did not fall asleep on the bus. By the time I arrived in Qiaotou, it was almost noontime. Getting off the bus by the main street, I walked around and found a reasonable hotel that was not listed on my guidebook. The price was okay so I stayed in.

It was a cloudy day when I arrived. I had decided to explore Qiaotou town a bit and relax before my trip to TLG tomorrow. Qiaotou is a very small town. The main street of the town consists of restaurants, hotels, hair saloons and a few shops. The street parallels with a river. Therefore, you can constantly hear the sound of rushing water. The atmosphere is so relaxed. As the main street is the only road between Lijiang and Zhongdian, there are buses and trucks passing by all the time. These buses and trucks bring business to the local business. I walked across the river on the road towards the gorges and found two nice little caf?. An Australian lady, Margo, owns one of them. Her husband also owns a guesthouse in Walnut Grove inside Tiger Leaping Gorge. Another caf?is owned by a lady from Zhongdian. Both of them are nice to chat with. I walked further on the road and met a mini van driver. He offered to bring me to TLG with a good price. I got his name card and thanked him. After dinner, I walked back to my hotel and had a nice sleep with rushing sound of the river at the background.

The next morning, I woke up early. I had changed my mind about spending 6 hours hiking. I took the mini van drivers offer and follow his van into TLG. That way, he took care of the entrance fee to TLG that costs 30yuan per person. The morning sun was still very soft. But at least it was a clear day. I was so excited to enter the famous TLG! The van used the lower route. It is a paved road, winding and scenic. As I went on into TLG, the scenery became more and more breath taking. Layers and layers of mountains were before my eyes. They mountains on both sides were brown colour. Hardly any vegetation grows in this area. The first look out point that I stopped was where the gorge got its name. Legend has it that a tiger leapt across the gorge to escape from a hunter. That is how TLG got its name. We I look down to the rushing Jinsa River, I didn&#8217;t think it was possible for any creature to leap across it. But at least the legend adds something interesting into the place. From where I stood, I could see another road across the gorge. It was route that most tourist groups from Lijiang would come, take a picture and then leave.

Moving on, the van passed by a couple places where signs of landslide were obvious. The roads on TLG are actually dangerous as landslide occurs frequently. When that happens, the only road that allows motor vehicles to be on would be closed. Thank goodness that did not happen when I was there. Along the way, I stopped a few more times when it was safe to take some pictures of the magnificent scenery. Words and pictures cannot describe the grandness of the gorge. I could see sunrays shone through the gap between mountains. Jade Dragon Snow Mountain stood quietly on the side, overlooking tiny people like myself at its footsteps. When I come to places like this, I am always reminded that human beings are such tiny little creatures in this universe. It seems like many things that we worry or fight about in our daily life was so unnecessary.

Finally, I saw a piece of green amidst the brown verticals. I was told that it was Walnut Grove, a pit stop for most of the hikers. There are a couple guesthouses in Walnut Grove. The village was named after the walnut trees that grow in this area. It was spring when I was there, so there was no fruit for me to pick. But I was so mesmerized by the piece of terraced green wheat field. There was a route that people could walk all the way down to the river. If you follow the river, it would lead you back to the mid point of TLG. I walked in the field for a while and trying to enjoy the serene atmosphere that I longed for. It was like paradise to me.

Walnut Grove was as far away from Qiaotou as the van driver would bring me. From there, we headed back to the direction we came from. About 15 minutes from Walnut Grove, we stopped at Teacher Chang&#8217;s place. It is a place where a local teacher, Mr. Chang had opened up a path to go from the lower path down to the river. The trail was steep but it gives hikers a different look at the majesty scenery of TLG. Sorry but the trail is not recommended for people with acrophobia. Travelers from all around the world have left their footprints on the path. And after they came back up from the hike, many of them left a few words at Teacher Chang&#8217;s guest book. It was a recommended way to explore TLG. From Teacher Chang&#8217;s Place, as much as I did not want to, I had to rush back to Qiaotou as I planned to continue my journey to Zhongdian that afternoon.

TLG is a name that not as famous as the Three Gorges of Yangzi River. The beauty of it is truly magnificent. I think more people should visit TLG to enjoy the natural scenery of it. On the other hand, selfishly, I think it should not be over publicized to remain its undisturbed environment. Sadly, I heard from the van driver that the government was planning to turn the whole area into a dam to provide electricity to the region. I am not sure how true this is. If it was true, I am not sure how many years in the future this will happen. But I hope many more people have a chance to witness its beauty before it is hidden under water.