Tiger Leaping Gorge

The Tiger Leaping Gorge area is one of myths and legends. The Yangtzhe River bisects Jade Snow Mountain and Haba Snow Mountain to form the crashing gorge below. Above, miles of hiking trails give walkers vertiginous panoramic views of the sublime landscape. Words do not do this place justice. 

Sadly, soon pictures won't either. The Chinese wilderness is quickly being carved out in the name of progress. One dam already worked on changing the flow of the crashing water and as we hiked, we could see progress on a second dam not far away. First glimpses however, did not disappoint: 

We started our hike after a bus ride from Lijiang. After finding the ticket office at Qiaotou, my hardy group of fairly out of shape and always hungry students made our way to the 'trailhead' following our trusty 'map.' It turns out this 'map' didn't account for any of the construction or changes to the landscape that had recently happened. 

Up, up, up we went. Eventually, the mountains emerged and did not disappoint.

After passing men with donkeys, a man and his 'shop' selling Pepsi, sabres and weed, we reached the delightfully labelled first major viewpoint. The walk there took hours longer than my students had planned but food breaks, foot pain breaks, breaks added up.

Which is how we found ourselves spending the night at the Naxi Guest House, a stunning series of traditional wooden houses with an equally stunning view:

We ate dinner in the courtyard before retiring to our unheated rooms for the night. At nearly 1800 metres, the air became more than bitingly cold.

We woke up the next morning ready to tackle the aptly named 28 bends, a series of 28 uphill switchbacks leading to our next viewpoint.

Shortly thereafter, we had a little rest break at the Tea Horse Guesthouse before making our way to dizzying heights:

Our final guesthouse, the Half Way Guest House, yielded our final viewing points before we reached the truly terrifying portion of the trail.

A three-foot wide path separated us from the 1800 metre drop below. Mountain goats trekked up the side highlighting their death defying skill and I had several moments of panic. Having never been afraid of heights before, it was an unnerving feeling. Unfortunately for two of my students who had a legitimate fear of heights, the walk and mini-rock scramble induced near panic attack-like symptoms. They stopped, cried, breathed, stopped again. Progress was excruciatingly slow.

And still the view continued to defy logic.  We eventually made our way to the end of the trail where I dropped my students off at Tina's Guest House before making my way to the staff section at Woody's Guest House. Even on lower ground, the whole valley presented itself in its splendour:

After three days on my own with the students, it was great to reach civilisation in the form of the rest of the staff group. A weak Chinese beer and yak's cheese dumplings never tasted so good.

Lijiang

If you were to imagine the China of Kung Fu films, the China of ancient memories, the China of your imagination, you would be dreaming of Lijiang in Yunnan, South China.  It's the land of earthquakes and spicy food, of colourful ancient costumes and wide open spaces. After spending so much time in Shanghai, I didn't imagine that China could be this beautiful. 

Being a teacher and taking part in the Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award as a trip chaperone and advisor has its perks. This is how I found myself in Lijiang, being led by a group of eight 17-year-olds as they completed their practice 5-day expedition. They planned it all: accommodation, meals, hiking trails. They all spoke varying degrees of Mandarin, and in this way, the city opened up to me in a way that no other Chinese city did. 

Day one and five started and ended in Lijiang proper: 

Stunning rooftops and ancient (although) new architecture:

Bridges:

And photoshoots with people in traditional Yunnanese clothing:

Ukulele and drum shops dotted the pedestrian centre. Apparently the winner of China's version of X-Factor is from Lijiang and since she rocked the ukulele, the city went mad for it:

My students, in an attempt to fulfil DofE's 'cultural understanding' component, took to the drums: 

Canals and narrow lanes dotted the landscape:

Woman in traditional dress:

New meets old:

Traditional decoration:

Everywhere we turned we were greeted with something kitschy in all the right ways:

Alongside the Han Chinese people, four minorities take up residence in Yunnan province. They include the Naxi, Shui, Dai and Yi. The city was dotted with a series of art that I later found out was an ancient Naxi hieroglyph called the dongba script:

The script uses a simplified version of the area's flora and fauna to tell stories and fables of the local people. Thousands of books were published in this way. Sadly, after the Communist Revolution in 1949, the practice was largely put to rest. Lots of good information can be found here. 

The food of the region is known for being some of the best in the country. It's as diverse as the country itself and ranges from guoqiao ('Crossing the Bridge' hand pulled long noodles) to super spicy meats and yak's milk cheese dumplings. The restaurants boasted brilliant Chinglish translations. From 'Self Help Rice Noodle'

to 'It Hot and Spicy'

to my crossing the bridge noodles, all was very tasty. My students navigated my vegetarian ways expertly. 

From the vantage point of my little hotel room and open-air lobby on the last night, I reflected back on an amazing experience. Before the hiking begun, the city was beautiful. After the hiking was done, it became a place of marvellous reflection.

And from the little sitting area in my hotel room, I appreciated the diverse nature of a country as huge as China.